Changing Traditions

Perhaps because they've had to deal with so much change in their lives because of our Air Force life, our girls really hold on to certain traditions and are resistant to things being changed or eliminated. The years we haven't carved pumpkins at Halloween are not good years. Last year we didn't make gingerbread houses for the first time in a long time. I definitely heard about it and am already thinking ahead to December and figuring out when and how we'll do them this year. Don't even get me started on the year we had Thanksgiving dinner at the chow hall on base instead of at home with mom doing all the cooking. 

Our girls get attached to their traditions and even to the things that have made their way around the world with us as we've moved from place to place. The day we sold our van before moving to England in 2016 was a hard day for some of our kids. Even now when they see a white Kia Sedona they point it - "There's our car!" Before moving this summer, we sold our big green sectional that we bought just a week after Natalie was born. That monster of a couch somehow fit in every living room we had in six different houses over thirteen years. There were actual tears shed as the girls watched it being loaded up and driven away to its new home.

When Madison was an infant I made her a stocking from a kit I found at a craft store. I liked it so much I used it as a pattern to make stockings for Jared and myself. And then for each sweet little baby that joined our family. I'm pretty sure I even made stockings using the same pattern for our extended family members one year. I got really really good at that particular stocking pattern. I was thinking about those stockings a couple of weeks ago, probably when I was thinking about the Great Gingerbread House Failure of 2019, and I realized that I don't like them all that much anymore. They're made from felt and over the years they've gotten kind of stretched out from being stuffed full on Christmas Eve, the felt is a little sad and pilled, and the style is not my favorite. Can you see where this is going? 

When I mentioned it to the girls I was met with disbelief. How could I even consider replacing the stockings they've had their whole lives? They love those stockings! They're the only stockings they've ever known! They're a Christmas tradition! I told the girls they can keep the old stockings and do whatever they want with them, but I'm ready for something different. I started looking for ideas online, went out and bought supplies, and sewed a prototype new stocking. 

Old stocking on the left, new stocking on the right, old scratched up sewing table as background

So, I'm a fan of the Moran Stocking 2.0. My plan is to make quilted stockings using the six fabrics I purchased but each one will have the fabrics patched together in a different way. They'll all coordinate but not be exactly the same, which is actually what I like to do for family photos as well. Coordinated but not matching. The practice stocking is a bit smaller than I'd like, especially in the toe area, so I scrapped the pattern I found online and will be using the old beloved stockings as my template from now on. Whether or not I actually have time to finish them all in time for Christmas this year remains to be seen. 

Traditions are important. I believe this and we've tried to keep the traditions that mean the most to our girls going through the years. I also believe that it's okay to change or adapt traditions or to drop them altogether if your family has outgrown them. What are your family's most loved traditions? Would you ever change them or let them go?

Comments

  1. DennisNovember 3, 2020 at 6:09 PM

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  2. DennisNovember 3, 2020 at 6:09 PM

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  3. DennisNovember 3, 2020 at 6:09 PM

    I like the old stocking best! 😊

    ReplyDelete

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