Rockwall, TX (December 18, 2023) – Holidaze. A month of anticipation, lights and Shiny Brites, holiday programs and choruses. Gifts to be found, wrapping accomplished, Angel Trees and food banks to fill. So much packed into just about four weeks, from Thanksgiving to New Year’s.
A month of myriad emotions and some humbugs too. The years have changed the holiday experience for me, for many of you too I bet. As young parents I don’t know how we fit it all in. Thank goodness we (most of us) have children when we are relatively young. If I had children at home now, gifts might never be wrapped. Prime gift wrapping for me was after the kids were tucked in. These days I am often found snoozing in my chair during those hours! Days filled, families to raise, ramped up activities, calendars packed to the limits. I remember the years of exhaustion, and feeling the pull to do more, be more, give more. These years, I am able to keep things more evenly paced around the holidays.
I have memories of Mom and I on our annual marathon Christmas cookie baking day. (I may have told this story before. Here it comes again!) In my early childhood my mother was a stay-at-home mom. By the time I turned eleven she was working, and by the time I was a young mother, she was a bank executive. She managed the juggle between family and home. I know one of my son’s favorite Christmas memories is of sitting in front of the Christmas tree with her, in the late hours, listening to Christmas music. She seemed never be too tired, though she must have been.
Mom would take a day off, in December, and we would bake – all day. Some of the dough she would prepare the night before, and I would come over in early morning to begin. We worked well together, of course, I’d had years of experience learning her system! Tins and huge containers would be filled with multitudes of cookies and tarts. My favorites were the Finnish tarts, pinwheels filled with sweet, but not too sweet, prune compote. Don’t wrinkle your nose, they are marvelous! I’ve not made them in many a year. Over the years, as I began the cookie making in my own kitchen, the varieties varied as I added in some and subtracted others, to better suit my own family’s tastes. These years, baking is at a minimum. The kids are grown and gone, some with their own kids and traditions being built. Dietary restrictions for the two of us keep me from too much mixing of butter and sugar. I’ll whip up a little something here and there for The Big Old Bear’s sweet tooth. Frankly, since being diagnosed nearly twenty years ago with a condition that means I must not have gluten, I’ve not attempted to bake the Finnish tarts gluten free. GF flours have greatly improved, I think perhaps, one of these years, I will give it a go.
The laughter in the kitchen as we’d grow tired and punchy are wonderful pearls in my memory bank. I recall both of us sitting on the floor, backs against the kitchen cupboards laughing our heads off, at who knows what. And weeks and weeks’ worth of homemade goodies crowding the pantry. My granddaughter caught the baking bug as a tiny girl. She will often ask to whip up something when she stays at our house, though now that she is a teen, our time together is often taken with shopping trips. She has created some delicious gf muffins and berry bars in my kitchen. That ought to make me overcome my hesitancy to bake those traditional Finnish treats. Always lessons learned from my small hooligans. I asked her recently if she wanted to bake cookies over the holiday break and noticed her face light up, as she said “sure!” I’ll find a way to wiggle into her busy calendar and we will make that happen.
Noses were wrinkled when I asked the hooligans if they wanted to decorate gingerbread houses this year. We’d begun doing that several years ago, last year I could tell, I was more enthused than they. Traditions – come, go, and morph into revised versions.
One tradition I have brought down to a manageable joy, rather than a burden, is the decorating. I don’t think I’ll ever go without a Christmas tree. Back in the day, the tree(s) had to be perfect and I might spend an hour just placing the garland evenly. These days, I sort of toss the garland around the tree and let it lay. I think it’s even prettier when not perfect. The mantle is dressed in greens, small touches of greenery and decor are placed through the house. The color and greens are a balm for me as the garden fades, blooms drop, and grayer winter days set in. It’s colorful and pretty in the house! The wreath on the door is a welcome sign – it says “stop by, ring the bell, come in!” While some traditions have been adjusted, the season is here for warmth, shared meals, laughter, and love.
We will have celebrations in our home, with friends and family, in the next week. As the years have passed, my stepson and daughter- in-law scooted the Christmas Day prime rib over to their house. I always enjoyed dressing the table and preparing the meal. These days, I greatly enjoy that they share their table with us.
As I blink my eyes, Christmas will be behind us and the New Year barking at its heels! Wherever you are, whatever traditions you hold, I wish you well. Go with the flow. Take some quiet moments.
All the best as we move ahead!
Sally Kilgore is a resident of Fate, Texas, transplanted from Rowlett, across the lake. She is married to her long-time flame, Judge Chris Kilgore, (aka The B.O.B.) When not writing, gardening, filling in at the local flower shop or hanging out with grandkids, Sally devotes her time to serving Bob Kilgore, a well sized, Tuxedo cat with panache. You can contact Sally at SallyAKilgore@gmail.com . Please visit her website: SallyAKilgore.com
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