Thursday, December 15, 2011

Christmas Tradition #4 from the pigpen

I realize this may be hard for you to even imagine as it seems a bit surreal to even talk about now, but I used to go on the Christmas program circuit ever year... at least that is what I called it.

You see my grandparents belonged to several different organizations that had a Christmas party every year.  I'm not quite sure how it all started, but from a young age I would go to the different Christmas parties with my grandparents and perform as part of the entertainment.  I'm not saying I was talented, but the price was right... I was free.

In the beginning, I would sing a selection of Christmas songs.  One year I even sang The Friendly Beasts complete with hand puppets for each of the different animals in the stable.  (This really is an amazing Christmas song that Garth Brooks actually cut for his Christmas CD.)  As I learned how to play the piano, I would take my electric keyboard to play for them in addition to singing and eventually moved on to playing the flute.

Really though I have great memories of doing this as a child and often wondered if I would ever be able to recreate it for my children.  Well last year, it all came together.

You see I belong to a local club of Extension Homemakers  with my mother-in-law (my grandma belonged to this as well) and last year I started a new tradition of hosting our Christmas party at the pigpen.

After a yummy meal, if I do say so myself, provided by my mother-in-law and myself, all of the children of the club members (well at least the daughters) entertain us by singing Christmas songs while Big Sissy accompanies them on the piano often with assistance of my mother-in-law.  This party really is a lot of fun and something all of our members look forward to each year as our members range from 30 something to 80+ in age.

It is a long story as to why my mother-in-law is wearing a paper crown, but she is the queen of our family.

And ultimately, I'm really honored to be able to share the tradition of the "Christmas Circuit" with my children even if their circuit currently only has one stop.


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1 comment:

  1. Paper crown = Christmas cracker. Even this scrooge knows that!! I'm guessing someone in the Extension Homemakers club has a connection to England.

    ReplyDelete

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