Tis the season that ads are full of large family gatherings celebrating Christmas. But what if the family is small?
When we could not travel with our young daughters, we started a tradition of sharing the day with another nuclear family. One year we were hosting and our refrigerator broke. Our neighbors carried their small spare refrigerator over and with the addition of the back porch “refrigerator,” the meal was shared at the right temperature.
Our two families are now many more and we celebrate on Christmas Eve. When the children were younger, they sat on Santa’s knee for gifts. Now more than 20 years later, the children are grown (although we’ve added some grandkids) and we have a wild, raucous gift exchange (beer and spirits are very popular.).
I recently talked to another woman who grew their small family to include an entire neighborhood. The O’Hara’s started their tradition when they were sitting around stuffed after Christmas dinner. They decided to dress up, (Santa gear for Jim and elf hats for Maureen and the children) and bike and run around the neighborhood. The goal was to see other people, socialize and take some action.
They succeeded. Now neighbors with young children or visiting grandchildren ask, “When is Santa coming?”
They drop by for a brief visit with the elves and Santa, getting in reminders of why we celebrate the day. They now are joined by in-laws who look forward to the foray outside their own insular family. Maureen hopes that someday young children also will join them in spreading cheer.
I know the joy we feel every Christmas Eve when we see how two families and eight people have grown to 30-plus with four generations, fun, laughter and an appreciation for family of all sizes.
