Holidays and Traditions

Something old, something new

Before getting started, I want to highlight a new post from Jay over at Listen Up, Nerds, about adopting his cat Hank, and getting sober. I’m always a fan of Jay’s writing, and I think this is some of his best work. It’s a really lovely piece, and encourage you all to give it a read.

Now onto business, and a picture of our little rescue.

Nami’s first Christmas. Once small, always a gremlin.

Based on the pictures of people’s trees and other decor going up all over the city, plus the opening of the Baltimore Christmas Village and the upcoming monument lighting ceremony, the yule season is upon us. As the kid¹ is a mere 4 weeks old as of today (!!) we will not be traveling, which is a bummer, but is the right call. This also gives us some breathing room to start thinking about what exactly we want holiday traditions to be for our little family going forward.

I honestly had not given much thought to my own traditions, though I certainly had them. The actual holiday was mostly passive for me; I’d be told where people were gathering and when, and I would show up with whatever food and gifts were required. Then naturally on Boxing Day I would make my way out to Boston (or home to Somerville, once upon a time) for several days of plaid-themed debauchery and nonsense at the Hometown Throwdown. Like you do.

If you’ve never had friends who would build a fully functional bar in a hotel room, do you even have friends?

Now, the Bosstones are kaput, and I am responsible for a tiny child, so holidays look different. And with any change comes opportunity. We can reevaluate our relationship with holidays, and decide what traditions stay and go. My relationship with Christmas in general is pretty good. It’s a time to gather with family and friends. I get to see people for maybe the only time that year. Not everyone can say the same, and that makes it complicated to choose what, if anything, to make into your new tradition. Maybe your tradition becomes not celebrating? For me, not doing Christmas would be nigh impossible, plus if I’m behing honest, I don’t think I would want to even if it were in the cards.

Maybe the biggest point of concern with the Christmas season is how to impress upon a child the parts that mean the most to me as a 40 year old while battling the all-powerful forces of capitalism and consumerism. Vox recently ran a piece about teaching children to be less materialistic, with a lot of good ideas and strategies. I hope they can work as well in practice as they seem to on paper!

Logistics are, of course, troublesome. Our families live 5-6 hours from us, in opposite directions. Traveling with a newborn is, I understand, difficult. That and a lack of vaccinations/immunizations led us to the easy decision to just stay home this season, and plan for 2024. There’s an argument to be made that we could just have our Christmas here, at home, with our little family. And that has a certain appeal! But in my conception of the holiday, so much of it is spending time with the extended family, it feels alien to consider not doing so.

There’s a lot I’m looking forward to! I already have an outrageously cute, seasonally-appropriate baby outfit. We’ll actually take some holiday photos and send them out as cards to friends and family. My family always got to open one present on Christmas Eve; I’m excited to one day do that with the kid. What’s a Christmas dinner look like when we’re in charge of planning it? As an adult, I’ve never done a lot of Christmas decoration inside or outside of the house, maybe that’ll change? I’ve already got a bit of an urge to do more with the tree, so my evolution into an urban Clark Griswold might well be starting. Exciting!

So we’re still figuring out what this all is going to be. Obviously. But if anything, I’m trying to be as thoughtful as possible as we raise this little child. I think we’ll do ok. As long as there are happy memories later in life, I’ll take it as a win.

For Your Holiday Listening

We’ve all heard the classics. Probably more than you’d like. I have a limited tolerance for traditional Christmas songs. So I’ve got a playlist of we’ll say modern Christmas anthems. It’s a collaborative playlist, so anyone can add stuff. It’s got the usual suspects: “Merry Christmas (I Don’t Want to Fight Tonight),” “Last Christmas,” “Christmas in Hollis,” "etc. And also some new entries in the canon from Piebald, Jimmy Eat World, Charly Bliss ft. PUP, and others. Check it out, add some things, leave a comment!

1. I’ve considered coming up with a pseudonym for referring to The Child in the newsletter, and keep landing on Robocop. Probably due to finishing Rogue City recently. Thoughts?