It's Begining to Look a Lot Like Christmas

 

I love Christmas, the whole Christmas Season.
Please don't ask why, no one quite knows the reason.

Well that's not exactly true. It's obvious why. (Happy Birthday Baby Jesus!)

Other than a couple of scary** moments involving Santa I've had a lifetime of great Christmas memories. Amidst the handmade ornaments, hundreds of cookies, TV Christmas Specials, tree trimming, radio contests, light viewing, live nativities, Christmas pageants, and family time my favorite has always been hanging our stockings.

As a kid we didn't have a fireplace, so our parent's would hang them on the banister and snap a photo of us standing by our sock. As an adult, I have a mantel to hang them from.

Over the years we have all grown, and started families of our own. As our family has expanded so has our collection of stockings. The first 5 were made by our Aunt Nancy. She no longer makes them, but she shared the pattern so that we could continue to get them knitted.

It comes without ribbons, it comes without tags, it comes without packages, boxes, or bags!

Even though Christmas means so much more. I love that I'm able to share the same joys with my own children.

(**I once got lost in the Sioux Empire Mall, while waiting for Santa to return from his break. We also had a surprise visit on Christmas Eve, my parents never did that to me again. I still remember hiding and crying!)

What childhood traditions/phobias have you passed on to your children?