The Pickle, an Elf and a box with little doors...(continued from yesterday)

Yesterday I started blogging about some of the traditions that my family enjoys and today my plan is to share some more. (Go here to see yesterday's blog) So let's get this blog going...

Nummer drei - The Pickle! I love this one, my first husband, Nick, brought this one into our home. Now this is supposed to be a German tradition, however, there are some disagreements and questions as to the validity of who started it and if it is really a German tradition, but I'll let you google that if you want to find out more for yourself. For us it is a way to appreciate the tree and something else fun to do.  I originally thought it was an English tradition since Nick hails from England. Our understanding is that it was a way to appreciate the decorated tree and add to the fun of Christmas morning as for some of my early Christmas mornings consisted of a few minutes of present opening and then a long day of one of my favorite* children's phrases "I'm bored". (*insert sarcastic tone here)

I usually hide the pickle ornament on Christmas Eve and then the next morning everyone, except me because that would be cheating, looks for the pickle in the tree. The first person to find it gets a special gift. This gift is usually something inexpensive and delicious, like a big Hershey's kiss or a Terry's chocolate orange.  Now with only two kids it is usually pretty mellow and since neither of them are super competitive it is a pretty chill affair, however, if you have competitive kids you may wish to set some rules, like "break an ornament, get disqualified" or "knock over the tree, become the tree". I just got the mental image of my daughter, Lo, arms up, all decorated in lights with ornaments hanging from her, hahahahahaha. That would be quite entertaining in fact I may setup these rules for myself then subtly knock her into the tree...ok ,where was I?.  I love the Pickle because for me it allows me to reminisce and enjoy the ornaments on the tree, because in order to find the pickle you have to look at the ornaments. Often the kids will do the same and while looking for the pickle they will come across an ornament and say things like "I remember this one" or "I love this one". So for us the pickle serves its purpose.

Well that took a bit longer than I thought it would.  I originally thought this would be an all inclusive simple one page blog but alas things get "shiny" and stuff must get done. So I guess the rest will have to wait until tomorrow...TTFN!