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A Christmas tradition that has brought a great deal of enjoyment for me and my children is their Christmas ornament collection.

Many people collect ornaments, whether it is a particular series or a theme that is completed over a number of years.  In my case, I chose to keep a chronological “diary” of my kid’s growing-up years through their Christmas ornament collections.

Beginning with the year of their birth, I purchased a Baby’s 1^st Christmas ornament that had the year on it, then I had it engraved with their birth information.  After the first year, the ornament that I selected was one that was indicative of his or her interest or activity at the time.  For example, when my son was three, he had a “thing” about cars and trucks, so I bought a dated car ornament.  Through the years, his ornaments reflected his interests, such as a computer monitor ornament, coke machine ornament, and a blown glass Indian ornament (his school mascot).  My daughter went through the typical dancing, gymnastics, telephone stages, and her ornaments reflected these things according to what was important in her life at the time.  One year, we had an addition built on our house (a six-month endeavor), and I got both kids a Hallmark ornament that depicted Santa as a carpenter, hard hat, tools, and all!  Of course, the kids will always remember the year that we lived in the pigpen, and it is recorded for them through their ornament.

When my son and daughter were in their early teens, I decided that I would buy them a series as well as their “fun” ornaments.  I decided upon the Waterford “Christmas Memories” collection because it was a new series that year.  What I didn’t realize was that it was a series that was going to continue for ten years!  There were years that these pricey little ornaments were a little bit of a financial challenge for me, but once I started, I knew I could never quit. 

There were a few “special finds” that were a real kick.  My husband (then boyfriend) taught me to drive in the mid sixties in his turquoise ’57 Chevy.  Lo and behold, one year Hallmark featured a turquoise. ’57 Chevy. ornament.  My son got a real kick out of having a replica of his dad’s first car.  Another year, I was walking through a department store at Christmas time, and of course, I looked at the ornaments they had to offer.  In a basket under a tree-display were these little high school letterman-jacket ornaments.  My kids were in high school at that time, and their school colors just happened to be red and green.  (I know – kind of unusual!)  These jacket ornaments were not similar to our school’s traditional athletic letterman jacket, they were identical!  I am sure the reason for this perfect match was due to the fact that our high school had the traditional “Christmas colors,” and I snatched them up.  They were Kelly green jackets with white “leather” sleeves, and even had the white snaps up the front and red striped trim – just like my kid’s jackets.  I took a square of white felt, cut out tiny block “A’s” glued them on red felt, and cut them out again, leaving a tiny red border on each letter.  I then glued the letters on the jacket.  I even added red chevrons on the sleeves!  Voila!  An AHS (Anderson High School) letter jacket.  What fun!

It is advised that all dated, keepsake ornaments are kept in their original box with the price sticker intact.  Although their value is far beyond a monetary thing, I did keep them in their packages over the years. 

My children are now grown, married, and parents themselves.  Every year, by laying out all the ornaments in chronological order, they can see a swift review of their life, and my grandsons think this is quite a treat, too! 

Now Grandma is buying ornaments for the three grandsons.  My new grand baby's collection began with the Wedgwood baby ornament. Some traditions never cease….

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