WOMEN AT THE WELL WEDNESDAYS

 A Tradition is Made, by Teresa's Pantry

When Wendy first asked me to write a post on her blog about Christmas many things came to mind. I thought about the true meaning of Christmas, decorating, family, food…etc. All of which are great topics. Then it came to me. The one thing that I kept coming back to was traditions. How they are made and what they mean to us.

  So let me give you some background to this post. I’ve mentioned before in other posts on my blog, how my childhood wasn’t all that great. Not that it was completely terrible but it wasn’t anything that I would want for my child. I don’t have very many memories of it and the ones that I do have are not very good. So I try very hard to create a childhood for my children that they will remember fondly. I try to take time to do all the extra fun things that they enjoy. Like making snowflakes and cookies and paper chains.  I try not to be the mom who scrambles to clean up a well built fort made from coach cushions and sheets. I want my children to look back and smile when they think of the things that they did as kids. I also want to be included in those memories.  Now with all that said, let me get back to the topic “Traditions”. How they’re made and what they mean to me.

  When we first moved in to our farmhouse it was late in October and we had so many things left to do before the snow hit. We live in the great north east and winters here can be long and cold. There was a lot of buttoning up to be done outside and we still hadn’t finished the renovations that we had to make to our house just to make it livable let alone winter ready. We were tapped for money going into December and had no money for anything extra because we spent it all on renovations and we needed a Christmas tree for the kids. So we decided to go outback and cut down a tree. We put on our snow gear and grabbed a hand saw and trampled through the snow for an eternity. I’m sure it was maybe 30 minutes total, we have like 11 acres of land, but when you have three cold toddlers trampling through knee deep snow…. it seems like an eternity.  Finally we found a tree that was full enough and yet not too big for our living room. My husband and my oldest son who was around 13 at the time cut it down and we juggled the tree and the toddlers back to the house.  Now this tree was not your average tree farm Christmas tree. It was oddly shaped and bare in many spots. It hit the ceiling when we put in the tree stand. I really reminded me of the Christmas tree on National Lampoon’s Christmas vacation. Putting the lights on it was a challenge to say the least. But in the end it was beautiful and we all loved it. I look back on that winter with mixed emotions. I believe now that I went through a mild depression that winter with all the things that were going on in my life. It was also my first Christmas without my youngest brother who had just passed away in the summer. It was a long, cold, dark winter for me. Every year since that, we have kept the tradition of going into our backyard and finding the perfect tree. A tradition was made that year. A tradition that my children I hope will remember when they are older. We took something so simple in a time that was so dark for me and made it into something beautiful that will be remembered for years to come. So on that ending note… I’m encouraging you all to make a new tradition this year. You may not even realize that your doing it at first.

Merry Christmas!!

With love from Teresa’s Pantry

About Teresa: I was born and raised in a small country town in upstate NY. I'm the wife to an amazing man and mama to four beautiful children. I live in an old farmhouse with lots of land for my kids to play. This is where I craft my bags and homechool my children. I taught myself to sew when my daughter was born so that I could make an outfit for her first birthday. When I realized I could make things and enjoyed doing it, I just dove in and kept learning more and more techniques. After making many different things I decided that purses were my favorite things to make. I still through in a dress or two every once in a while for good measure. I like to make purses that tell a little about the person wearing it. You can tell a lot about a person's personality and lifestyle by the fabric choice and type of bag they choose to carry. For example a busy mama like me will choose a larger bag that she can carry all her children's needs in and maybe a little bit of something for her herself. I prefer a classy fabric that will go with most of the things that I wear. Whether I'm going blueberry picking with the kids or to church, I like to be ready for anything. 


Check out her blog at Teresa's Pantry
Buy awesome stuff from her at her etsy shop!- http://www.etsy.com/shop/teresaspantry