We had an ornament exchange, as is typical around this time of year.
I’ve led a college small group for the last two years. They started as baby freshmen and now they are juniors who are figuring out life and making adult choices and WHERE DID MY BABIES GO.
I have a lot of goals when it comes to how I want to lead this group, but a most important one is to build them each a pretty decent ornament collection before they graduate. When they are having their first Christmas out in the big world as graduates and they can’t decide if they can afford to decorate, I want them to have a handful of ornaments that they can hang on some tiny tree in the corner of their first apartment. (You know the one – that first apartment that you think is AMAZING and GORGEOUS when you are 22 but would not even consider as appropriate living conditions when you are 30.)
As I perused the ornament section last week, trying to decide which one to purchase for our ornament exchange, I couldn’t get past the hilarity of the baby blue One Direction ball, covered in pink hearts, with a photo and autograph of each band member. It was perfect. I bought it. Wrapped it. And when all the girls arrived on Tuesday night, my wrapped ornament got mixed in a pile of other wrapped ornaments, ready to be traded and shared.
We drew numbers, the old Dirty Santa way. The girl with #1 picked the first ornament and unwrapped it. Girl #2 got to either steal the first ornament or open her own. I ended up with the last number.
The game moved quickly, and as each ornament was opened, I realized these girls had purchased genuinely beautiful ornaments for each other. And then there was mine. Oops.
And the girls barely stole from each other – we weren’t very dirty Santas – because they each really loved the one they had opened. They love each other so well, it’s a gift God has given our group. And in the gift exchange, they couldn’t bear to steal from another.
As the game moved on, my wrapped ornament (that no one knew was the jester in this ornament court) kept being overlooked. And me, being the last one to pick, realized that it was down to me stealing from one of my girls or ending up with a boy band on my tree.
I got what I deserved. A teeny-bopper ornament now added to my own collection, while the other girls took home trendy gold snowflakes or wooden reindeer.
Every time I see it, I will be reminded of my girls and the joy they take in giving gifts that mean something.
A lesson well learned.
Do you have a favorite ornament story?
. . . . .
By Annie Downs
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Annie,
Love your story…I have lots of stories…there’s the Christmas wreath, with macaroni noodles on it for decoration, that my son made in preschool. I made the mistake of hanging it on a lower branch. It looked lovely until the dog thought it would make a tasty snack and meticulously chewed each of the noodles off. My daughter is 25 and her “Baby’s First Christmas” ornament with picture must hang front and center on the tree. Her brother’s similar ornament is strategically moved each year to the lower almost back side of the tree. It’s been a running joke for years that has continued…lots of good Christmas memories with ornaments.
Blessings,
Bev
I was a fussy and rather obsessed decorator of the Christmas tree. Everyone knew my ways while I lived at home with my parents and once I got married, my husband obliged every Christmas. I was picky about the type of ornament, colour and placement of the ornament. How things change! On the 1st of December, I sat back and watched as my 7 & 5 year olds took over the decorating of the tree… And my favourite ornaments now? They’re the handmade ones in all shapes, sizes and colours placed any which way by two pairs of little hands!
Oh Annie…..This made me laugh out loud!!!!!!!!
My many favorite ornament stories would take much too long but I want to say how good it is to read about how much you care for these college students and how much you pour into their lives, we need more hearts like yours for our young people!
What a fantastic story! We call that kind of exchange a White Elephant here (no idea why). My old small group used to hold one every year. We once went home with a collection of old cell phones, which my young children loved! We sent people home with a board and nails, a “deck starter kit,” the year my husband missed many meetings when he replaced our old deck. Love those silly games. Your New Direction ornament would have fit right in!
I love the baby blue and pink hearts but not the boy band photos on it.
So funny and poignant too. If One Direction could be called poignant, which is questionable;) Love how you love your girls.
its been 5 months since my 15 yr old daughters brain injury, to her this will be her first Christmas. since i couldn’t find an ornament that said first Christmas without it being for a baby or a couple newly married, we will make our ornaments this year, creating them to say what we want. maybe we will make this a new tradition.?
We grew up with a group of families that gathered primarily for an annual holiday Christmas party – these were my preschool classmates, so we all went to different schools as we grew, but our parents remained friends. The annual christmas party continued through our akward teenage years, high school, and college. The year I got engaged, I was the first to bring “someone new” to the gathering. That year, each “kid” (now grown) surprised my now-husband with an ornament to say “Welcome to the Christmas Family.”
I’m now 35. This year will be our first without an offical party as marriage, kids, in-laws, and other obligations mean fewer folks making it “home” for the holidays, but those ornaments are still prominent on my tree!
What a great story! Had me smiling all day. 😀
Thank you for helping me to remember “what Christmas is all about” like buying a pair of shoes that are the right size for someone else that doesn’t have quite enough money to purchase them on their own. It’s about seeing those COOL homemade ornaments from when we were kids & sharing them with our own children. It’s about remembering past holidays with loved ones that are no longer with us for they have moved on to that eternal place with only peace and goodwill forever. Thank you for the reminder to stop and take some time to make new memories TODAY!
Theresa, I had a closed head injury 24yrs ago this 12/24. I’d be happy to talk with you about your daughter. Maybe it’d help to talk with someone who has ‘been there done that.’ Feel free to email me at jennifer.sladek@yahoo.com.
Merry Christmas everyone.
BTW, I am on need of two 1D ornaments…where did you purchase yours Annie Downs?
I have 3 of them. One is a paper up angel with Huge yellow head and wings, a mason jar lid wreath, and a clothes pin butterfly. All made in kindergarten by my 3 grown children. Love love love em.
Since my son was in kindergarten they would make ornaments for the Christmas tree. I have a wooden rudolph reindeer with a painted red nose, a foil bell, christmas felt tree with his grade one picture on it, a christmas stocking, painted wreath and a beautiful painted ball with glitter on it from the 4th grade. Those ornaments mean so much more to me than the ones I purchased for the tree. My son is now 19 and in college and as I don’t feel up to putting up the tree this year this reminds me of just how important it is to see those ornaments that he brought home to his mummy out of love…
Thank you Annie for loving on those girls so much. They will never forget you or the lessons you taught.
I find homemade ornaments the best. It means the person took time to make something they thought was beautiful.
Love your story, so funny!
We have been putting a 2″ monkey dressed as Santa on our treetop for 30 years. He was
99 cents at CVS. We purchased him because we had no money and couldn’t afford a tree topper. . .now he is a well loved tradition. Such a memory.
What a great story <3
What a precious ministry you have! God bless you!
Thank you for sharing