Christmas is a time of traditions for every family, things are done a certain way year after year after year and there is much to love and find joy and comfort in about all of that.
I’m also musing, though, on the process of change and especially, right now, around this Christmas period.
After spending every Christmas with my children for the first 20+ years as a parent, this year marks the fifth year in a row I have been separated from them by thousands of miles. Yes, we did intend to change that rhythm starting with Christmas 2020, but, you know, Covid. Bah Humbug 😉 However, it is with joy now that we have a new tradition, of Zoom calls on Christmas Day for my boys and their grandparents, often with uncles and others joining on screens. We have even got set times of the day set so that they happen after the Christmas meal for those in the UK and before it for the boys in Cayman. I very much hope we can flip this ritual at the end of 2022 with them being with me here, then they can zoom with Cayman family at those same times.
Now, this new tradition was a “forced” change, but without such impetus, how often do we change anything at Christmas at all?
I find that each family tends to believe that they keep all of their traditions every year, year after year, decade after decade, but if we really think about it, each family shifts and changes with every generation and with every new addition, from children arriving to, perhaps, (and many years later) children’s partners being welcome by asking them what traditions they would like to add to the occasion.
Over time, traditions change as we change. As my personal life has seen a number of major changes in recent years, so I have been part of Christmas occasions with different traditions. Do I miss some of the old traditions I was a part of? Certainly. Do I love some of the new ones I have embraced? Absolutely. Would I have thought of any of them had I not seen changes in my own personal circumstances? Most likely not.
Doing things the way we have always done them can be valuable and valued, Christmas traditions are a great example of this. However, change is also something we can embrace too. You never know, you may find a new Christmas tradition that you love.