Family Tradition

The holidays are all about traditions. When I first moved to Michigan, it was hard to leave my old family ways behind. I still miss many of the things I did over the holidays with my Mom, Dad and brother, but now at least I've made some new traditions here with Mrs. Wahoo and the kids - and some of them go back to my days in good ol' Virginia.

Old Wahoo admits to being a sentimental sap about Christmas trees. I always liked decorating the tree when I was a kid, even if my parents can attest differently about 26 years ago. (The Redskins were playing the Cowboys that afternoon. The 'Skins were awesome that year - at least until the Super Bowl.)

Now, the Christmas tree remains a big deal, and Rob said it was his favorite holiday tradition. It means a lot to have the tree be a connector between the generations. Some of my favorite ornaments are the ceramic ones by Grandmother Iris made for us each Christmas, and I always point them out to my sons when we decorate the tree. I also like the knit ornaments of Snoopy and some snowmen that my great aunt Pattie made when I was young. I'm not sure that the boys make the connections (they probably don't) but I like that it continues a family link.

(More after the jump.)

There are other traditions I miss, particularly the annual Father-Son football game that was held each Christmas Eve. For more than 10 years, from elementary school to college, my brother, cousins, friends and our dads would play a colossal touch-football game that was posititvely Kennedy-esque.* The people changed over the years, and some of the dads would drop out (though one dad made it longer than his son.) By the end, I was even getting sore (though I never got sore from the tackle football games we had my first year in college, and I was the sixth- or seventh-best player on the field, and we always had at least eight players for each game) after the games.

But I miss those games. So maybe that's why I asked Santa to bring the boys a Nerf football this year. I hope he delivers.

What holiday traditions do you remember? Which ones do you miss? Which new traditions have you started?

*It wan't at all exactly.