Christmas is my favourite holiday. I love the peaceful music. I love the calm that comes over the world when there is snow on the ground. I love the twinkling lights and that we look forward to giving gifts to those we love. My favourite part of Christmas is bringing out my nativities. I don’t have a lot of Christmas decorations, but I do have nativities. Even my little Christmas tree is filled with nativity decorations. I love the nativities as they provide a simple reminder of the reason we celebrate Christmas, the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ.
Over the years, as my children have grown from being small children believing in Santa Claus to sometimes moody teenagers, I have tried to help them feel the joy of Christmas and the importance of this celebration in our lives. It has always been my goal to help them see Jesus Christ in the season. I hope they have been influenced by the things we have done over the years. When I asked my kids what their favourite Christmas memories were, their answers made me smile and reassured me that they had been paying attention to the lessons we have tried to teach them. I have tried to help them focus on the birth of Jesus and the opportunity we have of giving, rather than the worldly view of receiving.
Toys are telestial
Christmas doesn’t have to be big and shiny and include all the best presents and fancy meals. Sometimes, a simple tradition will make a big difference for someone. Sometimes, it’s making that year different from other years. Sometimes, we’ve been able to give them all they want; sometimes, we couldn’t. I know the stress of wanting to give children a magical Christmas full of everything they want. The most important thing I have learned is that they probably won’t remember the toys. But surprisingly, they’ll often remember things you don’t expect.
My middle child told me that their favourite Christmas memory was the orange in their stocking. This is something that I remember as a kid. We always got an orange in the toe of our stocking, and it just seems wrong not to have an orange on Christmas morning! In our little family, sometimes the stockings were stuffed full of candy and toys and various stocking stuffers. Other years, they weren’t nearly so full, with only a few little items tucked inside. But there was always an orange. Do you have this tradition? The simple, inexpensive things can create those lasting memories that perhaps will get passed down for generations to come. (The more I thought about it, the more I was curious, and according to Google, St. Nicholas threw bags of gold through the windows of young girls for their dowry, and it landed in their stockings. The orange represents the gold and prosperity.)
It took some extra persuasion to get a memory out of my university student. He told me his best Christmas memory was of the year I took them to the hospital to visit a special friend. This Christmas memory was something that wasn’t planned.
People count more than things
Years before, when we had only a toddler and a baby, we lived in a small town. There was an older couple with whom we attended church, and we loved to see them each week. We only lived in that town for two years before we moved to our current home, about 40 minutes away. This dear sister happened to be in the hospital in our new town over Christmas. That year, Christmas Day fell on a Sunday and was a quiet day for our family. After church, we visited her in the hospital for a short time. We took some Christmas books to read to her, mainly to keep the kids occupied. We didn’t stay long, but it did make her smile and apparently made an impression on my son. This confirms to me that our kids really aren’t going to remember the presents under the tree in years to come. They will remember things that we don’t expect.
Family memories last the longest
My favourite Christmas memory is of my dad reading Luke chapter two on Christmas Eve. I don't remember anything specific about Christmas Eve, except that before we went to bed, we would gather around the tree, lights on, and my dad would read the Christmas story. I knew it was important to him, because he would get emotional as he read to us. I'm proud to say I get that from my dad and tears are falling now.
This memory is what led to my youngest child’s favourite Christmas memory. I love having our little family act out the nativity on Christmas morning. I always wanted to give my own children this same experience, but in my husband’s family, they love Christmas Eve, which we celebrate with them each year. That often meant getting home late and the kids were already asleep by the time we got home. That is why we moved it to Christmas morning. After presents, we would take time to act it out as we read the scriptures. There are only five of us, so we often use stuffed animals to help us. I am grateful that this is a memory that my youngest loves to remember. We must have been doing something right.
What is your favourite Christmas memory? There are so many things you can do to make Christmas a memorable experience for your family. Remember, though, that it usually isn’t the big and elaborate things that make a lasting impression. It is the simple things that remind us of Jesus Christ as we celebrate His birth: family traditions, service to others, reading the Christmas story, or acting out the Nativity. This year, I hope we can take a step back and do one thing that might create a memory. Perhaps it will make someone feel the true spirit of Christmas this year and for many years to come. You never know what will touch a child’s heart the most.