On the Fifth Day of Christmas...
A freebie and a sneak peek
Tucson is a desert city. We have cactus, 110-degree summers, and very little Christmas tradition. But we make up for all this lackluster holiday charm with Winterhaven, our magically lighted 1950s ranch home community where everyone is required to cover their house and their yard and what feels like probably everything they own, in Christmas lights. Or Hanukkah lights. It is a large neighborhood and takes about an hour and a half to walk through. Unless you have toddlers. Then it takes at least 17 hours.
Every year, at least once and sometimes twice, we pile in the car with our hot chocolate from home because we used to go to the CircleK, stand in line for 30 minutes, press and press the hot chocolate pump pots which only spurted droplets everywhere but our cups...and now we know better. This is solidly a BYOHC (bring-your-own-hot-cocoa) event.
The thing about Winterhaven is that you can't arrive too early because it just doesn't feel right, but if you arrive later, the parking gets dicey unless you know that one apartment complex that hasn't blocked all their entrances yet and always has at least a handful of spots on their southside.
This is mostly a fun and jolly event for our family. Sometimes we join others, sometimes we go it alone. But we always show up. And we remember the years when we were hauling toddlers in wagons, wrapped in blankets with bags of snacks stuck in beside them; the years we did this thing because we knew what it could become more so than what it was. We have memories and pictures of our toddlers laughing out loud and then crying buckets as we pulled them away from the Christmas Story slide house. "We need to let other kids have a turn as well!"
Then there was the year that we drove all the way up from our home in Amado (50 minutes away) only to have the kids lose their minds when some family offered free hot chocolate at a table in front of their homes, arguing over who got to have the first cup. That was the year we marched everyone back to the car, said, "Enough!" and went home without actually walking through. But that year was followed by the years we shared the experience with our parents and friends—years of writing letters to Santa with their uncle and aunt, years of standing under the snow machine and always getting lost no matter how many times we walked through this same neighborhood.
Each year is a little different. But also, it is the same. Every year is worth the effort. Now the kids get themselves ready, walk their own bodies around, and carry their own snacks and hot cocoa. There's no more crying or arguing. Just remembering and being together, doing this thing that has become a part of our Holiday preparation each season.
: ) Cara
Coming Up in CPQ
The next quarterly theme for 2024 will be Personhood. Cara shares with us, “Personhood is the concept that first drew me to the Charlotte Mason method. I wanted nothing more than to give my kids a life that respected God's design of their minds and bodies. I am still in awe of how respecting personhood can change everything from interpersonal communications to the atmosphere of the home. It is a beautiful concept to witness and one that extends into our own lives as mothers, friends, and spouses.”
In this issue, we will look at what honoring born persons, whether our children or ourselves, looks like. To understand Mason’s first principle is to give our feet surer footing. This issue will have main articles from Lindsay Roberts, Elsie Iudicello, Liz Cottrill, and Ana Vargas.
Behind the Scenes: Did you know the CPQ Admin team is working behind the scenes about a year in advance? While you read our latest issue, The Habit of Reading, we are considering plans for quarter 4 of Year 6—which means it’s almost time to plan for Year 7! Articles have already been turned in for the first two issues of CPQ in the new year, our writers for Personhood are working on their articles, and our writers for the last quarter are being contacted and confirmed. The magazine process is a wild ride!
Fifth Day of Christmas Freebie
