This is the first Christmas eve
and morning we will spend alone together (assuming the Mayans weren’t right). Though we miss our children and grandchildren
very much, we are kind of excited to see what Christmas will be like with just
the two of us. What will we do Christmas
Eve? How late will we sleep in Christmas
morning?
I guess, I had better explain
why the above questions are posed. It
all has to do with Martin family Christmas traditions. We did not necessarily set out to create these
traditions. They seemed to just evolve
over the years. Here are a few of our Christmas traditions:
Let’s start with the
Christmas Eve program. Every Christmas
Eve, Jerry (Sr.) would build a fire in the fireplace and we would read the
account of the first Christmas story from Luke.
Starting around the time the older children were elementary school-aged,
they began to put on a Christmas play.
Camie would act as producer. Alyssa
would write up the play (with Camie’s input), and together they would direct . (The girls can correct me if I am wrong.) I remember one year preschool aged Jerry
played Santa. He also was forced at one
time to play the mother. As the years
went by, and some children developed musical talents, those were utilized. Eventually, the play was dropped and the
program resembled a musical concert. Camie
played the violin and viola, Alyssa the clarinet. Kindra played the flute, and Jenae the
Cello. Justin and Chris played the
trumpet. We all sang Christmas
Hymns. Always, we would end on a
Spiritual note reading together the scriptural account of our Savior’s birth.
No gifts were placed under
the tree before Christmas Eve because they would almost certainly be opened by
whomever was the toddler at the time. One
year, when Adam was finally beyond toddler stage and I thought I could trust
him not to open gifts, I wrapped some and
placed them under the tree to help provide decoration. This was met by loud protests from the
children. “No,” one of them explained, “We
always go to bed Christmas Eve with no presents under the tree, and when we
wake up Santa has come to deliver them all!”
I’m not sure when it started,
but the children began sleeping together in one room on Christmas Eve. It was
wall-to-wall sleeping bags and air mattresses in one bedroom upstairs. I
guess they wanted to monitor each other and make sure no one got up and went
downstairs to peek. At about 4:30 AM Christmas morning, the upstairs toilets would start to
flush. (The plumbing from upstairs
happens to run down the wall behind the bed in the master bedroom so repeated
flushings would awaken us parents.) This
was the signal for Jerry to get up, build a fire in the fireplace, and start
the Christmas music playing. The
children would line up on the stairs, in descending order with the eldest at the
top and the youngest at the bottom to await my invitation. They would then march into the living room
and the gift opening would begin. Gifts
were distributed and everyone opened gifts simultaneously. It was somewhat of a frenzy. But delight was expressed and thank-yous were
said to each giver as the gifts were opened.
This Christmas there will be seven
families in various places in the United States, creating their own
family traditions or blending into the traditions of their spouses families. Adam, the only child
not married will spend his first Christmas away from home serving as a
missionary in Brazil. He gets to call home (we
will Skype) and that will be our best Christmas gift!
We wish you and yours the
Merriest Christmas ever, and a Happy and prosperous New Year!
