Tired Traditions?

I just spent the day performing CPR on an annual tradition that I have, for my daycare families. It's just one of those things that I've done for a few years and feel like I should keep doing ... but I wondered if it was really worth the effort.

I make up a yearbook for 'my kids' at Christmas time. This is the 4th in the 'series'.

The first year I did this, the families were so pleased and surprised. The second year it wasn't as much of a surprise but it still went over well. Last year, I'm not even sure if it rated a ''thank you'' from the vast majority of my families. That was rather disheartening, after putting as much work into it as I do. I thought to myself, that the tradition would end there.

But there is something that I like about this yearbook idea. It is a way of marking the years, acknowledging who has been here throughout the year - the comings and goings and the friends that remain constant. There is an autograph page at the end of it all and it is interesting to watch the scribbles go to faint first letters, to the full first name in Kindergarten and then it progresses from there. I have a lot of history with almost all of the families that come here, so it is a little bit like a growth chart. You can see the progress, look at the pictures from year to year and reminisce as you read the biographies and stories that I compile in this booklet.

This year, I just couldn't get in the right frame of mind to write the Christmas poem about all of the kids. I started with one idea (a spin on 'The Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe') but it didn't feel like a winner. So I started fresh and started again. Still rather blah. So ... I tried and tried again. Nothing. Maybe this was the year I would quit with the yearbook. I had compiled video footage for each of the families and put it all together on a DVD for them. That could take the place of the yearbook.

Then ... inspiration struck. It was like a bolt of lightening. My nursery rhyme theme was the way to go (my revamped version of 'The Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe' made it after all)! And today I was off and running. I'm not quite complete (I asked for some parental input, to add to my project a few weeks ago and I'm still waiting for a handful of parents), but I am so close. So very, very close. And this year, after all the stewing and thwarted attempts ... I feel like I have a winner!

What has this cost me? Printer ink, paper, 10 folders to compile all of it together ... and time. My gift of giving this year, all seems to stem from the time I am spending on my various projects.

As I see things come together in a form that I can 'gift', I get so excited. This is the year of true giving. I have received one of the best years in my life this year ... I hope that I can show my gratitude by giving as much as I have received. Even if it comes in the form of reviving an old idea.