When I was a little girl each year my Grandma S. (who lived in Saskatchewan) would send a big box in the mail to us a few weeks before Christmas. Inside would be all kinds of magical treasures that she had collected through the year (nothing expensive) necklaces and cheap jewelry, treats, holiday tea towels, fun dodads she’d snagged through the year and put it all into a box for us kids. It was the most exciting mail we ever received, I can remember Brett and Courtnee and I bouncing off the walls excited that Grandma had sent us her famous Christmas Care Package.

Grandma is now gone, but the tradition of her Christmas package lives on thanks to my own Mother. Today was Christmas Box day, it arrived in the mail on this cold blustery afternoon and my own children got to experience the sheer thrill of this tradition from my youth. True to Grandma’s formula my Mom filled it with salt water taffy, butterscotch candy, play dough, holiday tea towel, a battery operated candle, pens with the kids names on them, and the list goes on. It was a virtual treasure trove for my boys to enjoy and discover, and the best part is that it was all inexpensive and has no real rhyme or reason – it’s just stinkin’ fun!!!!!

Thank you Mom for carrying on one of my most cherished memories of my childhood for my own kids. I told them all about Grandma S. and the Christmas Packages we received when I was a little girl, and they thought it was so cool that Nan would do that for them too! It makes living in another city just a bit more bearable.

What Holiday Traditions do you cherish from your own childhood? I’d love for you all to share them here.