Tradition or Not?

When I was little my mom started a tradition with us kids. Every year she would buy rolls and rolls Christmas ribbon (the kind you use to wrap presents) and then she would cut it into 2 inch strips. Mom would put the ribbons into her two big tupperware bowls with tape all around the edge of the bowls. Then the kids would make them into ribbon chains. Sometimes we would do a pattern, sometimes not. The goal was to make your chain longer than anyone else's. Eventually we would connect with someone else's chain just so we could claim the longest. We had chains all over the house. We had them on the tree, in windows, over mirrors etc. It was a good time.

Anyway, a couple of years ago I decided to have my kids make a ribbon chain for our tree. This year when we got it out though it was incredibly smashed. So I bought new ribbon and had the kids make me a new chain.

I was telling Mom about this and reminiscing about the tradition of ribbon chains. She started to laugh. She then told me that our ribbon chains was all started because we had so much time out of school during Christmas time that we would drive her nuts with our fighting. So one year she decided to do ribbon chains. It kept all the kids busy and we stopped fighting. So every time we started fighting she would cut more ribbon and tell us she needed one for the front window or that we should make one for our room. It worked so well that she did it every year to replace the chains that were too smashed to put up again.

We also had a Christmas puzzle every year that I have also came to find out was for the same reason. It gave us something to do so we wouldn't fight.

Initially these revelations took a little bit of the fun out of these traditions. Then I thought about it as a mom, and I smiled. What a great idea! If they worked for Mom they can work for me too.

One day my kids will look back and talk about the tradition of ribbon chains and I can pass on the secret of the ribbon chain.


By the way when the kids all connected all their chains it was long enough to go from the far side of the basement up and around the stairs to the kids bedrooms up stairs.

Our decorated tree with the ribbon chain and all!