Each week Ruth Ayres extends an invitation to share and celebrate events, big or small, from our week. I cannot believe that this is the last celebration post of 2015. This year I have numbered my posts as Turns because that has been my one little word for 2015. Looking at the number, 33, I may not have written every Saturday, but I have always celebrated. I have learned it is the celebration that is most important.
I have written many posts this year about parenting my almost-adult children. It has not been easy. I have found that this type of parenting seems to be the most difficult during big moments such as birthdays, first and last days of school, but especially Christmas.
Thankfully my kids continue to let me celebrate their childhood at Christmas time. Or maybe it is because they are not quite ready to give it up either.
The night of the Christmas parade in our town, we always eat at a pizza place which is right on the parade route. We continued that tradition this year and even went to look at Christmas lights afterward. We hit our favorite spots and added a few new ones while singing..if you want to call it that...Christmas songs.
Christmas Eve the four of us continued our tradition of making homemade pizzas after Christmas Eve church service. And the 24 hour marathon of The Christmas Story movie began.
Santa no longer visits our house, but my kids want me to wait until Christmas Eve to put their gifts under the tree. I am glad they still want to feel that excitement of coming downstairs in the morning and seeing that "Santa" really did come. The biggest difference is that it no longer happens at 6:00 in then morning!
Christmas Day we were all getting ready for our family celebration at my aunt's house. Each of us came from our different corners of the house and arrived in the living room. Megan looked at all of us and laughed. We all had green on. Granted they were all different shades of green, but they were green nonetheless.
It was a perfect representation of our small family. We all have different hues and tones. We definitely have different contrasts and brightness. But when we our brushes come together and our colors are mixed, we make the perfect palette.
different hues and tones
mixed by our Creator's hand
a perfect palette
©Leigh Anne Eck, 2015
©Leigh Anne Eck, 2015
I love that your family has so many lasting traditions. And how funny that you all ended up in green! And then you got a haiku out of it. I agree with you- parenting almost adult children is really, really hard. Lots of our traditions revolved around my mom's house-- she's in assisted living now, so everything is changing. Didn't go very smoothly this year at all.
ReplyDeleteLovely palette of greens!
ReplyDeleteTraditions wouldn't be traditions if we didn't do things the same way every time, but that makes the going rough when traditions need to change with changing circumstances. It's hard (but important) to celebrate whatever you've got right when you've got it.
Love this post; the shades of green! That picture is classic. Growing up is a tough thing. Hard to find how you still fit into the world you grew up in.
ReplyDeleteI have a similar feelings in my household. No "child" was up before 10:30! Different but still we were together. That is all that matters! Happy Holidays Leigh Anne!
How wonderful that you took those clothing choices and created something wonderful, Leigh Anne. I love the picture, too. Our Christmases have changed through the years because of different needs of grown children and their spouses. We feel lucky that my son & family still get to travel up to be with the rest of us. Happy Christmas week!
ReplyDeleteLove all of the traditions and how they change and continue!
ReplyDeleteLoved reading this. You wrote it beautifully.
ReplyDeleteAnd for the record, my daughter was up at 6am :)
I love all these Christmas traditions! We're still figuring ours out. One of my favorite moments this holiday was when we were decorating the tree and my son placed a particular star ornament at the top and said "We always put it here." Nice to have things we "always" do. It's those rituals and traditions that make us feel like family.
ReplyDeleteFun picture! Yes, traditions are special - they bind us together.
ReplyDeleteLife is different with the almost adult children. They change. We change. Some things never change. MIne are at home and hope I will make pancakes on Sunday. I will. Your OLW Turn was significant. I wonder what your next year's word will be.
ReplyDeleteThis was the best haiku this month. It has been fun reading them.
ReplyDeleteLove that picture - such fun! I hope you had a lovely Christmas, too.
ReplyDeleteLeigh Anne, the haiku is a wonderful salute to your family and the nature's beauty. It could be a stand-alone parting thought on Autumn's Palette Gallery if you want me to place it there. Send me a DM about this.
ReplyDelete