Flip of Tradition

A pierogi ornament?? Yes, that is exactly what it is. I opened this gift on Christmas morning and it brought tears to my eyes.

This year my son graduated college, found a wonderful job and moved to a new city. All very exciting things and I am happy for his success. But with this move, our Christmas tree would change too.

A tradition in our home was that Santa brought an ornament each Christmas as a memory of that year. My son has received a cheeseburger which was his favorite food, a gecko for his favorite animal, a new driver ornament, a Class of 2018 ornament and many others. The point of this tradition was that when it came time to have his own tree, he would have at least 20 or so ornaments to decorate with that were memories of growing up. My son had those for this year but I realized that my tree is now fairly empty, at least there were still my daughter’s to use on our tree.

I had mentioned to my son that I needed to start getting new ornaments for my tree. That is how this pierogi ornament came to be. He flipped our tradition and bought me one this year! A pierogi is an important part of my family’s Christmas Eve traditions and I make about 300 each year to eat and share. When I opened the box and found it inside, happy tears crested in my eyes.

As a parent, you hope that your children appreciate the traditions you put in place in your family. This so confirmed for me that he cherished it as much as I did. Now each year I will be receiving an ornament to adorn my tree with special memories. I am so grateful for this flip of tradition.