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A Very Offbeat Christmas

by Shauna Reynolds -- Being Savvy Nashville

Some families top their trees with angels or stars passed down from generations before them. In our house, that sacred spot is occupied by an angel with undeniably canine features. We call him Max, and he sits there in honor of a dearly departed dog by the same name. In some homes It's A Wonderful Life is required viewing on Christmas Eve. At our house it's that other holiday classic, Christmas Eve On Sesame Street. I've watched it with my mom every year since I was a wee one, and now my daughter Siri and my husband sit beside us as we sniffle at Bert and Ernie singing "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" Some families decorate their trees in all blue and gold or in a perfectly curated theme. Our tree is a hodgepodge of ornaments collected throughout the years, including The Incredible Hulk. Some families celebrate holiday traditions straight out of a storybook -- and then there's my family.

Many of our offbeat traditions are holdovers from my childhood. A similar Hulk ornament hangs on my mom's tree. When I was Siri's age my parents gave me permission to choose anything from a shop filled with Christmas ornaments. Rather than a snowman or a golden star, I chose the green muscleman. He has always held a place of honor on the tree at my mother's house, and a few years ago she found a special Hulk for my house. It's weird, but it's very us. Eating pizza and drinking Coke out of glass bottles in December was something my family always did when I was a teenager, and I now share this annual meal with my husband and daughter. (No Coke for her yet, but she appreciates a good pizza pie.) Other childhood traditions have stopped with my generation. My brother used to pile the holy family into Tonka trucks and run them through a pretend car wash, but we now keep our nativity on a high shelf. (Siri has her own Playmobil nativity to act out the Christmas story or whatever other story is on her mind.)

We do hold some more conventional traditions. Each year Siri and I put together a paper chain to count down the days until Christmas. We alternate red and green links, interspersing gold ones to signify special days such as Thanksgiving and family birthdays. We convene in the kitchen to bake Christmas cookies for our friends and neighbors. These activities become more special to us as each year passes by.

So maybe no one ever illustrated a Christmas card with a doggy-topped tree. And maybe Norman Rockwell never painted a family dining on pizza and Coca-Cola. You might call our traditions silly, but I'm learning that the content of the tradition isn't nearly as important as taking part in it year after year with the people you love.