Traditions are important...

Christmas is only a few days away, and it's always been my favorite holidays of the year. I don't think it has much to do with the presents (although I did love presents growing up). For me, Christmas brings back all kinds of memories and traditions. Here are a couple...

• Every Christmas Eve before bed, we would read Luke 2.
• My dad would always let us open one present on Christmas Eve to "prime" the pump.
• When I got older, our family would sit down and watch our favorite Christmas movie, "A Christmas Story" and laugh about BB guns, frozen poles and tongues, and leg lamps.
• As much as we wanted to rush through the pile of presents, my parents only allowed one person to open a present at a time. We all took turns and everybody got to see the joy on the face of the person opening the present (plus, it taught us a little patience, too).

If you have children, know this. Christmas time is full of opportunities to create long-lasting, meaningful traditions. Some of them are goofy and some are very serious, but this time is like no other when it comes to memories being made and traditions being created. Look for ways to create those kinds of special moments with your kids over the next couple of days.