The Nativity

Today I shared one of my favorite Christmas traditions with my students - the Christmas Nativity. I brought along with me a small portion of my Nativity. My Mom bought this for me my senior year of high school and each year she and my aunt add to it. I just love to take the figures out of the box and anticipate which one is going to be unwrapped. It's something I've done since childhood. Both of my grandparents homes had nativity sets, strikingly different, but engraved in my memory as Christmas - as much as our Christmas tree would be.

The boys here are missing so many of these experiences - the traditions and constants in life, the things that tie them to a group of people and provide for them identity.

What are your Christmas traditions or childhood memories? I would love to hear from you.