Today, I’m tickled to introduce author Nicole O’Dell to my readers. Nicole is the author of a fabulous series of YA novels for Barbour (which I’ve had the privilege of editing): Scenarios for Girls (so be sure to check out the link at the end of the post to learn more about them). Today, Nicole shares with us some of her family’s Christmas traditions.

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Happy birthday to you!
Happy birthday to you!
Happy birthday, Dear Jesus!
Happy birthday to you!

We sing happy birthday to Jesus every year. We have a birthday cake—usually angel food cake (get it?) with peppermint icing—with three candles on top. We turn off the lights, sing a rousing celebration chorus, and then the kids blow out the candles. The young children always feel a little sad that Jesus can’t be there to blow out His own candles, but they’re more than happy to step in when needed. After we sing, we cut the cake and share it like we would at any birthday party. We make everyone take a least a small piece even if they’re stuffed–if they’re going to eat anything, it’s going to be Jesus’ birthday cake!

It might sound like a simple tradition, but, in my opinion, it’s one that has really shaped our view of Christmas and has helped keep our kids’ focus where it needs to be. They always, always comment how strange it feels that Jesus can’t eat His own birthday cake. Then someone will mention how sad it is that everyone else gets the gifts and Jesus doesn’t get any.

It’s a perfect, beautiful picture of how a sinless Jesus bore the punishment for the sins of all mankind, giving them the gift of eternal life which only He deserved. With that truth in the forefront of our minds, we open gifts and thank each other for the wonderful things, but we keep in mind that the greatest gift of all came from Jesus.

Our other traditions are pretty simple. We have a big dinner—usually on Christmas Eve at my mom’s house (pictured)—and then open presents after we beg the kids to give us 20 minutes to get the kitchen cleaned up. By cleaned up, I mean the food put away and the dishes stacked in the sink. There’s no way they could tolerate the time it would take to load the dishwasher, wash the crystal and silverware by hand, dry it and put it away. Not to mention the pots and pans.

We gather in the family room around the tree–kids on the floor, adults in the chairs. With my brother or my husband holding the video camera, Grandma Party (my mom) starts to pass out presents, one at a time. It takes a long time, but we love it. We savor the thought that went into each gift and linger over the process. One year, when my daughter Natalie was three, every time she opened a gift, no matter what it was, she gasped, covered her mouth and squealed, “It’s just what I almost wanted!” Precious memories.

This year will be very interesting because the triplets will be 16 months old. Three toddlers who are experiencing Christmas for the first time will likely keep us all very busy. Something tells me there won’t be a whole lot of “savoring” or “lingering” going on. It’s certainly been interesting to have the Christmas tree up in our home. The babies toddle over to it and touch the few lights they can reach. I have it pretty barricaded off from their curious little fingers. They love looking at it, though. They stare up at it and blink in wide-eyed wonder. I wish I could read their thoughts.

One year, when my oldest son, Erik was almost two (he’s almost 18 now), we were staying at my mom’s house. She put up her tree and, with a burst of inspiration, made gingerbread cookies to decorate only the very bottom branches. She told Erik that all of the ornaments on the tree were Grandma’s and he couldn’t touch any of them except for the gingerbread men. She told him those were his and he could do whatever he wanted to with them as long as he didn’t touch anything else on the tree. Deal!

Every day, she’d check the tree and it looked untouched except for a poor gingerbread man missing an arm and another one missing a leg. He never touched anything else and by Christmas, the cookies were gone. Smart grandma!

Not to get all somber on you, but I do want to mention that this holiday season I’m thinking of the families who have lost loved ones—three families in particular come to mind, one of them lost an 11-year-old daughter last week. It’s so difficult and confusing to try to say goodbye in the midst of all of the celebrating going on everywhere around you. So, this Christmas, I’ll look around the packed dinner table with gratitude, then later, I’ll smile upon the children as they gather under the tree in anticipation. I will be praying for my grieving friends and thanking God for my family and all of the wonderful gifts—especially the gift of Jesus Christ.

I’d love to hear about some of the fun things you do with your family during the holidays! What are your traditions?

Nicole O’Dell
www.nicoleodell.com
www.scenariosforgirls.com

Truth or Dare and All that Glitters, 8/09, Barbour Publishing
Magna and Making Waves, 4/10, Barbour Publishing
High Stakes and Essence of Lilly, Spring, 2011, Barbour Publishing