TRADITIONS

Really??  I saw these at superstore today...is nothing sacred?!  What's next-carving a pumpkin for Christmas?

I don't know about you, but I kinda like leaving somethings "as once a year".  Take for instance Mandarin oranges (or Christmas Oranges or Chinese Oranges depending on what you know them by.)

Growing up we had 4 kids in the family and 1 box to last us through Christmas--it doesn't take a mathematician to figure out that we didn't get very many each .  Particularly by the time you picked out the bad ones!  We got one in our stocking-always at the very bottom.  Perhaps my mom put it in first in hopes of making the stocking appear more "full", right to the tip.  We would savour each and every piece.

Today I can afford more than one box, in fact they are typically one of the more inexpensive fruits to buy over the Christmas season, so we pig out! I buy them for the entire month of December with no limits per person!  BUT once the last box is done, that's it, no more until next year.  Even though you can buy them year round now, I think it makes them one of those "special treats" at Christmas.  

Does "restricting" them make me a bad parent?  I typically don't get requests for them unless they happen to be with me while I'm grocery shopping which isn't often now that they can stay home alone.  I guess if you look at it by saying that I'm not "allowing" them to eat them, it would appear restrictive. But it's not that, I just don't buy them for 11 months out of the year, and by doing so, I'm just trying to give them a special memory or tradition that they can carry on with their kids should they chose to do so. 

And when they do, who knows, maybe they'll start buying them in November....just as long as they're not buying "Easter Crackers".