Adventures in Christmas Family Rituals

Since I am now officially "anti-Santa*," (see previous post) I have decided to elevate the other, more meaningful (or at least less materialistic) traditions of the holidays. Tonight we head to Balboa Island for the Boat Parade. I am searching for a sticker-based Advent calendar as we speak (yes, I realize it is a little late!). And we have resurrected the Santa Lucia tradition this year, thanks to a book that Grandpa Gary and Pops bought Grace and Natalie (oh, crap, that's me blogging about my dad again).

Lucia Day is celebrated in Sweden on December 13th to honor St. Lucy and is a fun Christmastime ritual in Swedish families. We make traditional foods, like peparkakor (ginger snaps) and Lussekatt buns (saffron bread), and a daughter in the family dresses up like Lucia wearing a wreath crown with candles on it. The children then bring these special treats, with coffee and hot chocolate, to their parents in bed. The whole family often repeats the ritual at their neighbors’ homes, bringing cookies to remind us to “share the light” like Lucia did. You can read more about Lucia Day and St. Lucy here and here.

A sweet tradition, no? Grace became obsessed with Lucia after reading the book her grandparents gave her, and I was inspired to be a creative, crafty stay-at-home mom and do the whole Lucia thing. Lussekat buns and all. Never mind I don't have a crafty bone in my body. Nevermind that I've never cooked with yeast before. No, I can handle it! Afterall, suburban SAHM's are judged by two things only.
#1: how cute your kids are in their Halloween costumes, and
#2: how crafty you are at the holidays.

The plans were great but the execution left something to be desired. My plan to make the food items from scratch resulted in tastey, albeit chewy Lussekater. Rolling out ginger snap dough with a crying 8 month old glued to my leg was also interesting. I also figured that a trip to Michael's and a heart to heart with a craft specialist there would result in the Best. Lucia. Crown. Ever. I apparently had way overestimated the availabilty and skills of said craft specialists. But undiscouraged, I came up with my own plan to cut a ring out of styrofoam board, stick holly pieces into it, and use a hot glue gun to adhere battery operated candles on top. I even remembered the batteries. It was beautiful, this crown. Everything was ready.

This is the best part. We set out to deliver our pepparkakor to the neighbors. I put the plates of cookies in the stroller, Natalie on my hip, and turned around in the driveway to see if Grace was coming with the crown afixed to her head. The crown began to wobble and I raced back to grab it, letting go of the stroller, of course. The stoller with cookies went flying into the street as I grabbed the crown, broke it in two, and the candles shattered in the driveway. This was my moment of stay-at-home mom craftiness glory?!

Grace was crying, and a few months ago when I was more emotional about every motherhood flaw, I would have joined her. But all I could do now was laugh at myself. Did I honestly think this whole thing was a good idea to try with a 2-year-old and an 8-month-old? Never having done any part of the tradition before? After sweeping up the glass and reconstructing a much more realistic crown make of silver garland and holly, and after resurrecting one of the candles for Grace to hold in her hand, we completed our delivery operation and even had a great Lucia morning of our own with Daddy and then with Grandpa Chuck and Grammy. Lussekat buns and all.

All in all, it was a successful first attempt. Next year, I might even try to learn the words to the song in Swedish. And I am definitely purchasing, not making, the Lucia crown.



*Okay, okay, I am not really anti-Santa altogether. Santa WILL come to our house this year and we WILL put out cookies and milk. But I absolutely love that when I ask Grace to sing a Christmas song, she half-sings, half-hums "Happy Birtday, dear Jesus." And I would rather have Grace and Natalie take turns pretending to be Santa and selflessly giving to others without the need for anything in return, than believe in a person whose only mission is to bring kids more stuff. Share thoughts and ideas, dear readers!!