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I grew up with a big lineup of fun with all of the cousins: pinata busting, caroling to country neighbors on a hayride, mexican stackup and desserts, putting on the nativity story play for family and finishing it off with my uncle dressed up as Santa and coming in to deliver presents.
My childhood holidays at Grandma’s were pure magic.
When I had kids I wanted to explore other family traditions and read about Sally Clarkson’s Shepherd’s Meal in her book the Life Giving Home. It was one that I instantly knew I wanted to do with my boys.
Shepherd’s meal is candlelight dinner with simple foods that would have been available (well, that’s a stretch!) to the Shepherds who were watching their flocks when the angels appeared to announce Christ’s birth. We put together a charcuterie board of cheese, meat and crackers and then make a big fruit salad to share together.
This meal is one of the only times that my boys will sit at the table longer than 5 minutes to eat. Something about the candlelight really draws them in and I love it. We ask and answer questions about what the hardest and best parts of the year were and what we are thankful for.
After dinner we either read the nativity story or watch it on TV. This year we watched the pilot nativity story from The Chosen series.
After that we went on a night time bike ride to the football fields at Founder’s park and looked at the Christmas star and played flashlight tag.
Silas hugged me at bedtime that night and told me that he loved me so much and that I was the best mom in the whole world. Shepherd’s meal always connects us deeper as a family and I hope that my kids will reflect back to so many great memories from their Christmas seasons like I did.
Do you have a favorite Christmas season tradition that you can share with me? I’m always looking for more to add!
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