I love Christmas traditions, don’t you? One annual tradition I’ve enjoyed was buying a Christmas ornament for my kids. I chose an ornament that represented something they were crazy about at that time. Lauren played soccer so one year she got a soccer player. Timothy likes to cycle so he got a cyclist. In 2002, Lauren was a cheerleader and fortunately so was Barbie! Whenever possible, I tried to get the year on the ornament as well.

The tree had a central color scheme, like red and gold for example, and I added plain balls, picks and garland in those colors. After I put the lights and the base items on the tree, the children could then decorate their side. I kept each child’s ornaments in separate ornament trays so they could find theirs easily. By keeping Timothy’s ornaments on one side and Lauren’s on the other, I avoided clashes over territory and added continuity to the tree. Also by grouping each child’s ornaments together, the tree became a visual representation of their lives.

When they have homes of their own, I’ll pass these ornaments on to them. But for now, I’ll take them out each year and remember.