short stories: middle grade: Our christmas tradition
our christmas tradition
By Kelsey Gallant (2011)
My family has a plethora of traditions, and those that stick out in my mind the most revolve around Christmas. Of course, we follow major traditions, such as having a Christmas tree, stockings, and presents, and going to church on Christmas Eve night. But we also have our own special family traditions. On Christmas morning, somebody always makes my great-grandmother’s sweet Norwegian waffles, and everyone participates in the Christmas riddle hunt that I set up, usually leading to a bag of cookies. And every year, usually on December 22nd or 23rd, we have Polar Express Night.
It is night. Kelsey, Cameron and Cody arrive at the front door of the Milewskis’ house. Each child is carrying a plastic bag stuffed with clothes and bedtime supplies, and Cameron in addition is carrying a DVD. They ring the doorbell.
Sammy barks. Jo Ann comes to the door, opens it, and welcomes her grandchildren in. They put their bags on the floor of the front porch and enter the house.
Sometimes we eat dinner there, other times we have already eaten dinner at our house before we arrive at our grandparents’ house.
The children go into the kitchen, where the cookies are waiting. Jo Ann has set out homemade icing, made of confectioner’s sugar and milk, on the kitchen table, as well as chocolate chips to use as toppings.
The first few years we had a variety of other toppings as well, such as gumdrops and colorful candy balls, and different colored tube frostings as well, but that stopped when we found out my little brother, Cody, was allergic to artificial colors and flavors.
“Don’t start decorating yet,” Jo Ann tells them. “Somebody go down to the basement and see if Grampa wants to come decorate with us.” One of the children goes down and retrieves Jo Ann’s husband, Mitch. When all five of them are seated at the kitchen table, they can begin decorating.
Kelsey and Cameron neatly frost their cookies and add tasteful amounts of chocolate chips. Cameron goes more for the artistic, decorative factor, while Kelsey creates faces and borders to make hers look cute. Cody is an entirely different story from either of his siblings. He ladles on as much icing as possible, then crams as many chocolate chips as will fit onto his cookie—and even more into his mouth. Jo Ann takes pictures and laughs, occasionally admonishing Cody, “I think that’s enough” or, “Remember, we’re not eating yet!” Mitch watches too, smiling at his grandchildren’s creations and commenting, “That looks good enough to eat!”
Once everyone finishes decorating, Jo Ann takes pictures. She always takes pictures. She takes pictures of the cookies, of the kids, of the kids with the cookies, and some of the kids, the cookies, and Mitch. Then she puts the cookies away and everyone washes their hands and goes into the family room. They rearrange the couches so that everyone has a clear view of the television. Mitch gets the movie set up, and everyone settles down on the couches and gets comfortable.
The movie is The Polar Express. They have all seen it before, of course, they see it every year at this time. But that is part of the magic. They all quiet down and enjoy their favorite timeless Christmas movie. Cameron and Jo Ann comment on the “Hot Chocolate” song, saying, “I wish we had waiters like that!” and Cody asks, “When do we get to have hot chocolate?”
The answer is, “Soon”. When it gets to the part that the train is spiraling up the mountain, they pause the movie. Jo Ann goes to the kitchen and makes hot chocolate. They all sit at the kitchen table once more, sipping their hot chocolate and eating the cookies they made earlier that night. Cody, of course, puts extra whipped cream on his hot chocolate, and some on his cookies for good measure. “Make sure you save some for tomorrow morning,” Jo Ann reminds him.
After refreshments have been finished, they get back to their movie. They get to the part where Billy is singing, and Jo Ann comments, “I love this song. It’s so pretty.” Kelsey agrees with her.
When the movie is over, it is time for Kelsey, Cameron, and Cody to get ready for bed. Cody protests, “But it’s a sleepover! We always stay up late at sleepovers!” Kelsey and Cameron remind him that it’s a special sleepover, and the rules are different.
They go to bed and Kelsey doesn’t wake up until 9:30 or 10’. When she does finally wake up, it is because Cody is bouncing on the bed, telling her the waffles are being made. She asks him what time it is and he tells her. She gets up and joins Jo Ann in the kitchen, while Cody moves on to the other bedrooms to awaken Cameron and Mitch.
The table has been set with Jo Ann’s mother’s special collection of china cups and plates, which are only ever used on this occasion. Jo Ann’s mother died in 2006, but her memory lives on in all of their hearts. The children love using these special plates and cups. Cody’s favorite is the gold set, in which the plate, the cup and the saucer are all shiny gold. Jo Ann once made a chart of who gets the gold, switching every year, but whenever it is not Cody’s turn whichever sibling was supposed to get it usually lets him use it anyway.
Pretty soon they are all at the table once again, Cody with the gold set, eating huge Belgian waffles covered in fruit and ice cream. These are called “Frutti tuttis.” The frutti tutti tradition started the first year they watched The Polar Express together. When Jo Ann first served them frutti tuttis on the morning after the first Polar Express night, the children were very surprised. The surprise has worn off by now, but the enjoyment is still there.
Everyone enjoys their frutti tuttis, and they sit around sharing stories and memories of Jo Ann’s mother as well as the kids’ other great-grandparents. Most of these great-grandparents the children never got to meet, but they enjoy hearing stories about them. The stories continue until everyone is too full to eat another bite. Then they clean up, and then the kids go play until their parents come to pick them up.
“Polar Express night” as we call it, is the night my brothers and I always look forward to. I don’t remember when we started Polar Express night, or how it became a tradition. I presume that one night we watched the movie at their house, and the next morning was the first time we had frutti tuttis for breakfast. Although some elements of the tradition have changed over the years, it remains the same for the most parts and connects us to our past. We are all getting older now—I am 17, Cameron is 14, Cody is 9, and our grandparents are in their late 60’s—but the tradition continues. I hope that maybe someday it will be a tradition that I can pass on to my own children and grandchildren.
It is night. Kelsey, Cameron and Cody arrive at the front door of the Milewskis’ house. Each child is carrying a plastic bag stuffed with clothes and bedtime supplies, and Cameron in addition is carrying a DVD. They ring the doorbell.
Sammy barks. Jo Ann comes to the door, opens it, and welcomes her grandchildren in. They put their bags on the floor of the front porch and enter the house.
Sometimes we eat dinner there, other times we have already eaten dinner at our house before we arrive at our grandparents’ house.
The children go into the kitchen, where the cookies are waiting. Jo Ann has set out homemade icing, made of confectioner’s sugar and milk, on the kitchen table, as well as chocolate chips to use as toppings.
The first few years we had a variety of other toppings as well, such as gumdrops and colorful candy balls, and different colored tube frostings as well, but that stopped when we found out my little brother, Cody, was allergic to artificial colors and flavors.
“Don’t start decorating yet,” Jo Ann tells them. “Somebody go down to the basement and see if Grampa wants to come decorate with us.” One of the children goes down and retrieves Jo Ann’s husband, Mitch. When all five of them are seated at the kitchen table, they can begin decorating.
Kelsey and Cameron neatly frost their cookies and add tasteful amounts of chocolate chips. Cameron goes more for the artistic, decorative factor, while Kelsey creates faces and borders to make hers look cute. Cody is an entirely different story from either of his siblings. He ladles on as much icing as possible, then crams as many chocolate chips as will fit onto his cookie—and even more into his mouth. Jo Ann takes pictures and laughs, occasionally admonishing Cody, “I think that’s enough” or, “Remember, we’re not eating yet!” Mitch watches too, smiling at his grandchildren’s creations and commenting, “That looks good enough to eat!”
Once everyone finishes decorating, Jo Ann takes pictures. She always takes pictures. She takes pictures of the cookies, of the kids, of the kids with the cookies, and some of the kids, the cookies, and Mitch. Then she puts the cookies away and everyone washes their hands and goes into the family room. They rearrange the couches so that everyone has a clear view of the television. Mitch gets the movie set up, and everyone settles down on the couches and gets comfortable.
The movie is The Polar Express. They have all seen it before, of course, they see it every year at this time. But that is part of the magic. They all quiet down and enjoy their favorite timeless Christmas movie. Cameron and Jo Ann comment on the “Hot Chocolate” song, saying, “I wish we had waiters like that!” and Cody asks, “When do we get to have hot chocolate?”
The answer is, “Soon”. When it gets to the part that the train is spiraling up the mountain, they pause the movie. Jo Ann goes to the kitchen and makes hot chocolate. They all sit at the kitchen table once more, sipping their hot chocolate and eating the cookies they made earlier that night. Cody, of course, puts extra whipped cream on his hot chocolate, and some on his cookies for good measure. “Make sure you save some for tomorrow morning,” Jo Ann reminds him.
After refreshments have been finished, they get back to their movie. They get to the part where Billy is singing, and Jo Ann comments, “I love this song. It’s so pretty.” Kelsey agrees with her.
When the movie is over, it is time for Kelsey, Cameron, and Cody to get ready for bed. Cody protests, “But it’s a sleepover! We always stay up late at sleepovers!” Kelsey and Cameron remind him that it’s a special sleepover, and the rules are different.
They go to bed and Kelsey doesn’t wake up until 9:30 or 10’. When she does finally wake up, it is because Cody is bouncing on the bed, telling her the waffles are being made. She asks him what time it is and he tells her. She gets up and joins Jo Ann in the kitchen, while Cody moves on to the other bedrooms to awaken Cameron and Mitch.
The table has been set with Jo Ann’s mother’s special collection of china cups and plates, which are only ever used on this occasion. Jo Ann’s mother died in 2006, but her memory lives on in all of their hearts. The children love using these special plates and cups. Cody’s favorite is the gold set, in which the plate, the cup and the saucer are all shiny gold. Jo Ann once made a chart of who gets the gold, switching every year, but whenever it is not Cody’s turn whichever sibling was supposed to get it usually lets him use it anyway.
Pretty soon they are all at the table once again, Cody with the gold set, eating huge Belgian waffles covered in fruit and ice cream. These are called “Frutti tuttis.” The frutti tutti tradition started the first year they watched The Polar Express together. When Jo Ann first served them frutti tuttis on the morning after the first Polar Express night, the children were very surprised. The surprise has worn off by now, but the enjoyment is still there.
Everyone enjoys their frutti tuttis, and they sit around sharing stories and memories of Jo Ann’s mother as well as the kids’ other great-grandparents. Most of these great-grandparents the children never got to meet, but they enjoy hearing stories about them. The stories continue until everyone is too full to eat another bite. Then they clean up, and then the kids go play until their parents come to pick them up.
“Polar Express night” as we call it, is the night my brothers and I always look forward to. I don’t remember when we started Polar Express night, or how it became a tradition. I presume that one night we watched the movie at their house, and the next morning was the first time we had frutti tuttis for breakfast. Although some elements of the tradition have changed over the years, it remains the same for the most parts and connects us to our past. We are all getting older now—I am 17, Cameron is 14, Cody is 9, and our grandparents are in their late 60’s—but the tradition continues. I hope that maybe someday it will be a tradition that I can pass on to my own children and grandchildren.
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The Story Behind The Story:
One of my college assignments was to write about a tradition that I observe. I wanted to write about something unique and meaningful, so I chose Polar Express Night. I wrote it partially in story format because I prefer writing stories to writing essays, and the assignment allowed that creativity. To the side is a picture of me, my brothers, and our grandfather during Polar Express Night 2015 (Our grandmother isn't in the picture because she was taking it!) |
"Jesus came to Earth as a regular baby, just like any of us. He cried, He spit up, He had messy diapers. But yet, He was God. Isn't that incredible?"
-Kelsey Gallant
