Tradition

From the time I read Shimelle's prompt today I have been singing "Tradition" from Fiddler on the Roof. As that's the only word I know it has been fortunate that I have been on my own all day.
Hearing me sing out TRADITION! and then follow it with that growly uh, uh, uh, uh, da, dee, da da. and then again with the TRADITION! would surely have driven anyone mad. It drove me mad and I was doing it. Apparently that's called an earworm, when a song gets you in the memory and won't let go.
However, that's not the tradition I want to tell you about. We have quite a few things that can be called traditions although I was in denial about this last month and told someone that we don't have any! Gosh they could probably see my nose growing couldn't they?

Until we came to live with Mr M our Christmas tree was put up on Christmas Eve. That was how I grew up and my children were learning that this was how it happened. The tree would be brought in and set in its bucket in the hall. They could then spend the day decorating it, arguing, fighting, sitting on the naughty chair, saying sorry and taking their turn in Granny's kitchen or out in the barn with Grandad. I would be in my kitchen cooking the mincepies and sausage rolls and preparing all the stuff for the dinner the next day.
By the end of the day all three children would have worked themselves into a state of high excitement so they would be taken out to do the evening check of the animals and fences and then into the bath and pyjamas and a cup of cocoa the reading of the story of the Nativity and off to bed.
These days the tree goes up around two weeks before Christmas, just to keep Mr M quiet. I like the anticipation and having everything else up except the tree but he doesn't. He likes to be able to see it in the bay window when he comes home from work. He never makes a fuss about anything so the fact that he said anything at all about having the tree up shows how much it means. So, tomorrow we will get son-in-law to lift the boxes off the top of the cupboard on the landing and when we have recovered from the dust we shall put up the flashing lights and the tree and decorate the porch with flashing icicles and then Santa will have no excuse about finding us.

OH, OH I have just realised that every decoration on our tree is part of a tradition because some of them belonged to my grandmother, some to my parents and the rest have been collected over 47 years since I first had my own home. I still have a string of tinsel that belonged to Granny and the fairy at the top is on her third dress and wings but my Mum's relatives in America sent her  for the tree the year I was born - 65 years ago. So she has to be a tradition.
Now I have a lot of singing and growling to do while I pack the presents.