Several years ago we began going to the Children's Mass at St. Agnes Cathedral on Christmas Eve with my mother. We used to go to the Midnight Mass but I don't have to tell you, that makes for an awful long Christmas Day when you're up early with the kids. And besides, the Children's Mass is at 5:00 and that's plenty of time to go out for Chinese food afterward. I guess that that in itself has become a little Christmas tradition of ours too. I'm not sure but I think that it might stem from the movie "A Christmas Story" and if you're familiar at all with the only movie that I know of that's played over and over for 24 hours you'll know that the Bumpus' hounds break into Ralphie Parker's house and make off with the Christmas turkey leaving Ralphie and his family with the only restaurant that's open and that being the aforementioned Chinese restaurant. (whew...) So yeah, that's become a little tradition of ours.
I guess that there's a few things that have become a Christmas tradition for us now that I think of it. Charlie Brown Christmas , The Grinch Who Stole Christmas, not to mention actually watching A Christmas Story over and over (and over). We have to listen to the soundtrack to A Charlie Brown Christmas by Vince Guaraldi while we're decorating the tree, we have to.We find ourselves getting out the movies of Brendon when he was four years old and singing Feliz Navidad at which Brenda always tears up. And every Christmas Brenda makes tons of candies, cakes and breads that get distributed to our friends and neighbors. But all that aside, I do enjoy the Children's Mass. It's always an amazing experience of sights and sounds. But most of all it let's me feel Christmas in my heart and that's where it should be...
