Raising Wayland: Seasonal Family Traditions

This time of year brings lots of memories and magical feelings for many of us.  Whether it's which family member says the prayer while lighting the menorah, when to decorate the tree, or what special foods to eat, many of us take part in traditions established many years ago.

Traditions are even more special when there is some kind of personal family story behind it to explain how it came about. However, sometimes no one knows where they came from or how they came to be, but they still can seem just as important.

My family now has a tradition of our own. You will find green apple ornaments on our Christmas tree and green apples in our stockings on Christmas morning.

Here is the story behind the apples: After looking at catalogs of toys for a month, our 2-year-old son climbed onto Santa's lap and very sweetly asked for one green apple for Christmas. That's all he wanted. So now we have made it an active memory by making it a Harding family tradition to have green apples in our stockings and on our tree.