Yesterday was the last day of school before Christmas break for our Washington grandchildren. Our grandson in South Carolina has a slightly shorter break. He goest to school some days next week. The kids here go back to school on January 2. I think the children in South Carolina don’t go back to school until the 4th. At any rate, the break is two full weeks plus a day for the kids here. That’s longer than I remember the break being when I was an elementary school student. Our oldest grandson commented, “It isn’t often that you get a 17-day weekend.”

While the extended vacation probably poses some childcare issues for some families, it is a welcome change of pace for our family. Were’ve got enough adults to cover and the time gives an opportunity to spend a bit more time with our grandchildren. We live within walking distance of a community center operated by the local park district that has an indoor gym, and they were showing the movie “the Santa Clause” with Tim Allen. The free gathering offered an opportunity for pictures with Santa, cookies, popcorn and hot chocolate, as well as an opportunity to watch the movie with a group of other families from the neighborhood. It was a good opportunity for us to have the three oldest grandchildren over to our house for a pizza supper, the movie, a sleepover, and blueberry pancakes this morning. Their father and younger brother will join us for breakfast before taking the grandchildren home. j

I was listening to the radio earlier in the week and there was a discussion of holiday movies. Watching movies wasn’t particularly a part of my family’s traditions, so I don’t have a list of movies to watch over and over during the season. I do remember several holiday specials that were broadcast on television. We watched several Charlie Brown Christmas specials. I think I first saw “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” on television as well. My memories of Christmas break from school, however, don’t focus on holiday movies. I know some people who feel that watching “Miracle on 34th Street,” “It’s a Wonderful Life,” or even “The Muppet Christmas Carol” are important traditions for every year.

Christmas was a fun holiday for us as children because our father’s business was fairly slow at that time of the year. There would be some important sales in the week after Christmas as farmers and ranchers took at look at the impact last minute investments on their tax liabilities, but the shop didn’t have a rush of needed repairs and our shop didn’t have much merchandise that was part of normal holiday gift giving. Dad seemed to be able to take a bit more time off from work and we found some great family adventures. Most years our Christmas adventure included a trip to a nearby hot springs pool. Swimming outdoors in the winter is a special treat and we found the thrill of getting out of the hot pool, rolling in the snow and then returning to the pool to be a fun annual tradition.

We are hoping to build some holiday memories for our grandchildren even though we live where there is no snow on the ground. We could easily find snow by driving up into the North Cascades, but there a plenty of fun activities that we can pursue without needing to go anywhere. There may be some time for the children to make gifts for their parents before Christmas day, and I’m sure that there will be time for Christmas cookie baking and decorating at our home next week.

There was a school assembly at the elementary school last week. We weren’t able to attend as we had an appointment in Bellingham, but it wasn’t like the Christmas programs that were part of our childhood. I remember feeling a bit of pressure around school Christmas programs that seemed to always involved us having to get dressed up and sing in front of an audience. We also had the Christmas pageant at church that involved another bit of performance for an audience of parents and community members. I wasn’t that big on performance in those days and it seemed like a bit of relief to have those programs finished so we could really be on vacation for a few days.

At our house there was always at least one kid with a paper route and papers had to be delivered every day whether or not we were on vacation. Being on vacation, however, meant that I could usually recruit a little brother to help speed the deliveries and often on Christmas day our father gave us a ride in the car that really speeded up the process. When I got old enough to drive, I’d help my younger brothers with their paper routes. I remember on Christmas morning when I got a car stuck in a big snow drift and when I walked home to enlist our father’s help he grabbed a shovel and we all walked back instead of taking another vehicle. I learned how to shovel out a stuck car that day. It is a lesson I’ve employed several times since.

Last week when listening to the radio, there was an invitation for people to call in or email about the best and worst Christmas gifts they ever received. I thought back over my life and didn’t come up with either an all time best or a really bad present that I have received. There are a few that I remember, like the year our family got a trampoline, and the year our father built a color television from a HeathKit between Christmas and New Year’s Day. Instead of watching the Rose Bowl Parade in black and white, we got to watch it with a bit of orange and green while our father kept adjusting the various color adjustments of the new television. For the most part, although we gave and received presents at Christmas, the gifts weren’t the center of the celebrations and aren’t the center of my memories.

It makes me wonder what our grandchildren will remember decades from now. I pray that their memories are as fun as mine. Maybe they will even include the recall of a sleepover at grandma and grandpa’s home.