December...Tis the Season!

This was a year of firsts for us, the first time we didn't decorate the tree on Thanksgiving night, the first time we didn't make an event of driving through Christmas lights, the first time that we didn't make an event of cookie baking, the first time we didn't put up two trees. We also changed up our advent calendar to be the nativity story with tiny ornaments to hang. It was cute and thoughtful but yet another FIRST TIME that we didn't fill it with special events and things to do each day. This is all very sad for me, but i am trying very hard to look at things differently. Just because something is different than the usual, doesn't mean that it's bad. Very hard for me. I guess I am a creature of habit and love the idea of traditions that never end....again, I said "idea". The idea of sipping hot cocoa while driving through a lights exhibit while listening to Christmas carols is the absolute perfect memory to make. In reality, making cocoa that will still warm by the time we get to the lights, that we have seen every single year for the last 10 identical years, no longer seemed exciting...so we skipped it. Yes, it tugs at my heart, the thought of letting traditions go, but as a family grows, what makes them happy changes too, so we will roll with it.