It is December, the first December that Sweet Sally and Loving Larry will spend together as husband and wife. Sweet Sally is so excited; she has made her to-do list and sits Loving Larry down to discuss all she has planned out for the next month.
“The first thing we need to do is drive out to the local tree farm and cut down our Christmas tree,” says Sweet Sally.
“Cut it down? In the freezing snow?” laughs Loving Larry. “My family always put up an artificial tree.”
“Oh,” sighs Sweet Sally. “Well, next I would like to send out invitations to friends and family for our Christmas Party.”
“Party?” asks Loving Larry. “My family always had a quiet evening at home in front of the fire, singing carols on Christmas Eve.”
“Oh,” sighs Sweet Sally again. “Well, maybe we should start a grocery list for Christmas dinner . . . ham, potatoes, what else should we buy?”
“Ham,” asks Loving Larry. “Our family always ate turkey on Christmas.”
“Oh dear,” sighs Sweet Sally yet again, as she crumples her to-do list and tosses it on the floor.
“Oh dear,” is right. What is a sweet and loving couple to do when their traditions just don’t mesh? The answer will depend on each individual situation. But here are some simplified suggestions.
- Does it really matter? – Maybe Sweet Sally only suggested a real Christmas tree because that is what she has always done. But after thinking it over, she realizes she honestly wouldn’t mind trying an artificial tree . . . after all it would save money in the long run and she wouldn’t have to clean pine needles off the carpet.
- Alternate. – A Christmas Eve party is just as important to Sweet Sally, as a quiet evening home alone is to Loving Larry. So one solution would be to alternate from one year to the next. Or to change the party to the weekend before Christmas Eve. Sweet Sally would get her party and Loving Larry would still have his quiet evening.
- Do both. – This is an awesome option whenever possible. For example, the turkey and ham. Sweet Sally can simply buy both for Christmas dinner.
- Start new traditions. – It is important to pass on traditions form one generation to the next. But it is also nice to add your own personalities to the mix. Think about what things are the most important to you and your husband. Then decide as a couple, what traditions you can begin now, to pass on to your children.
Good post! I did a talk on this at our MOPS group last month. It can be hard to let go of the traditions you are used to but a lot of fun to create new ones as well. I'm stopping by as part of the TOS Crew Blog Walk - just trying to catch up. ;-)
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