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My oldest sister started The Christmas Book in 2001. Our family had always been extremely tight knit, probably even more than we would have been by default because we moved around so much. We were beginning to grow up – going to college, graduating, getting jobs, getting married, and starting our own families. My sister proposed that, every Christmas, we each send something that she could compile in a family book, so that – no matter how far away we were – we could share a piece of our lives, keeping family close during the holiday season in spite of physical distance.
Twelve years later, the Christmas book is still going strong – and, this year, six-year-old Emma started pulling out old volumes. She loves reading about her aunts and uncles and cousins over the years, and she finds my submission one year of some of my favorite kid quotes from when she was younger particularly amusing!
There are no rules about what you can submit. We have poems, songs, drawings, essays, memories, family histories, and old photos, letters, and journal entries. It’s a chance to share something that might not come up at a family gathering – especially when geography and the continued absence of teleportation (despite my constant requests for someone to please, please, please invent it) make family gatherings few and far between.
How do you keep in touch with family and friends from far away?
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I LOVE this idea!! Gives me an idea for our own family (in-law)….to keep close even though we are not ;-)
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I’ve read about this idea somewhere once and I thought it was great but haven’t put it into ptactice… yet. It’s still easy to keep in touch with my side but not with Robin’s. A MUST for Christmas 2013!
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What a wonderful tradition. Our family is much-much smaller, plus there is a language barrier. We mostly keep in touch in a very old-fashioned phone way.
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MaryAnne Reply:
January 4th, 2013 at 9:33 pm
The phone does work well!
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I LOVE this idea!!!!!!!!!! Thanks for sharing.
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MaryAnne Reply:
January 4th, 2013 at 9:32 pm
Thanks, Christy! I’m so glad you like it!
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I LOVE this idea! Thankfully most of our family and our chosen family live in a short distance, so we can keep in touch with them.
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What a wonderful tradition! I love that Emma is enjoying old volumes…
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I love the Christmas book!
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MaryAnne Reply:
January 4th, 2013 at 11:51 pm
I love your Christmas book entries!
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So does one member of the family keep the book or does it get sent around too?
love the idea and I would like to use it, just looking for inspiration in the logistics too. :)
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MaryAnne Reply:
January 5th, 2013 at 8:04 am
Copies of the book get printed for each family member – the pages go in page protectors in three-ring binders so they can be looked through over and over (and by young children) without getting ruined.
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That is a great idea! How sweet!
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What a great idea! We do a family recipe books/holiday card that has an update on each of us (at least the 3 families who participate). Who is in charge of the book? Does the copying responsibility rotate?
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MaryAnne Reply:
January 6th, 2013 at 2:16 pm
My oldest sister always does all the copying – it’s very much her project, but rotating every year would also work.
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This is Such a lovely idea, although my mum lives next door, gary’s family are in Ireland. I wonder if they’d be up for it? Have a lovely 2013!
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That is such a great idea! What a beautiful way to stay connected.
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MaryAnne Reply:
January 7th, 2013 at 8:39 pm
It’s my favorite family tradition now :)
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What a sweet idea! Thank goodness for Skype and Facetime. We use those weekly. But it is sad to be apart from loved ones. I, too, am waiting on that teleportation device!
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MaryAnne Reply:
January 7th, 2013 at 8:36 pm
Someday, Lynn…
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HOw exactly does your sis do it? Does she makes copies and send them to everyone or scan tham and send the files to everyone (having every family print them out individually)? Does she give you a binder? Do you have your own… one for each year? Thanks in advance for your reply!
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MaryAnne Reply:
January 7th, 2013 at 8:33 pm
We all send her electronic copies of our submissions, she prints them out, and sends them out in binders. We each have our own copy. Each binder lasts about three years – the years we don’t get a new binder she sends us our pages tied together with ribbon. She changes the page color every year so it’s easy to see where one year ends and the next starts in the binders. It’s a big project!
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Oh my goodness! I love this! I have to start that with my family…amazing!
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Oooh, I love this idea!:) We also have family in several countries, an this would be such a great way to save memories of them that the kids can read the whole year. I was going to ask how you did it, when I saw you answered in the above comment:).
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MaryAnne Reply:
January 9th, 2013 at 2:52 pm
It’s been a wonderful tradition for our family, Becky!
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Such a great idea. I wonder if my family would be up for it. I would love more ways to keep in touch and I miss them most over the holidays.
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MaryAnne Reply:
January 11th, 2013 at 6:24 pm
It’s also really fun when the in-laws get in on the fun. They don’t always, but when they do it’s a great way to learn a little bit more about them!
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