Like most families, the Christmas season is a special time of year for mine. To me, the holiday season kicks off with our annual trip to cut down the Christmas tree in Connecticut. For the last few years, it’s been a pick-your-own experience at Geer’s Tree Farm in Griswold. As far as I can remember, that has been my favorite of my family’s Christmas traditions.
When I was a kid we would cut down and put up the tree, go to a holiday party at the school my parents worked at, and then, of course, visit Santa typically at the Norwichtown Mall. We weren’t inundated with holiday activities (like today) and honestly, I don’t believe a fraction of the festivities that take place nowadays were offered in the 1980s.
As I got older, I enjoyed filling the weeks before the holiday with fun activities such as tree lightings in various places, a visit to the Yankee Candle Factory in South Deerfield, MA, and Christmas shopping around quaint downtowns such as Portsmouth, NH, Newburyport, MA or Mystic, CT. It was almost too much. I wanted to try and squeeze in every Christmasy event each season with a booked calendar of fun “obligations.” Even though they were self-imposed obligations.
Just like my constant fervor to travel, which had to decrease with the advent of fatherhood, the same happened for holiday events. However, it took me a year or two to adjust to not going to every tree lighting in Plymouth County!
Holidays with Kids
Over the last few years and especially with two kids, I’ve finally embraced the idea of not having to fit in every Christmas-themed activity. Instead, I try to enjoy ones that fit into our schedule. This year I’ve been to the Plymouth, MA tree lighting and the Kingston, MA Luminary Night. To boot, I visited The Christmas Place in Abington, MA. None of these are far from home but are still wonderful events. This pales in comparison to the years before. I was once taking rides on country roads in Vermont with seasonal classics such as George Winston’s December or A Winter Solstice setting the mood, but these have been replaced by occasionally screaming children and threats that Santa is watching.
It dawned on me this year as we were driving on the highway to pick the Christmas tree. Instead of a well-thought-out seasonal album, Destiny’s Child was on the radio. It is a far cry from the soundtrack of George Winston for rides on country roads. It took me a moment to reflect. I realized it doesn’t have to be the perfect country road or have the perfect soundtrack. Instead, it was the fact that I was with my family. Also, I was keeping up my most favorite of the Christmas traditions, the simple act of cutting down a Christmas tree. Simplicity like this to me is now the essence of the holiday season.
Merry Christmas!
