Dear Crabby,
My children are just getting old enough that my husband and I want to start holiday family traditions. Do you have any suggestions?
Thanks, Hannah Holiday
Dear Hannah Holiday,
In my opinion children are what make the holidays tolerable. Well, most children … usually. Anyway, I guess it all depends on how active you want to be and how much money you want to spend to create said holiday memories. 
A lot of people seem to be into something called Elf on the Shelf, which is an elf that you adopt, give a name, and he serves as Santa’s ‘scout’ who reports back to the big guy whether or not your child has been good. Personally, I find the whole idea a little creepy. Especially since you’re supposed to keep moving him around your house to keep your kids on their best behavior and leave small gifts to reward your child for being good. Now all this sounds like a lot of work to me, but if you’re interested, there’s a website devoted to the pointy-eared fella and scads of ideas floating around on the Internet on ways you can use the elf to make sure little Johnny and Susie are flying straight.
Speaking of elves, if you’re looking for something a little less time consuming, you could have a movie night and decorate your Christmas tree. I know of families who trek to Bronner’s Christmas Wonderland in Frankenmuth and let each family member pick out an ornament to add to the tree each year. As for movies, Mrs. Crabby loves It’s a Wonderful Life. She says it’s because it has a heartfelt message of hope and faith, but I think it’s because she has a little crush on Jimmy Stewart. As for me, I like those Home Alone movies. Sure they’re far fetched and the parents should be turned into social services for repeatedly losing their kid, but I tell you it sure is funny when that kid is beating the tar out of those burglars!
If your family enjoys spending time outdoors, there’s always The Big, Bright Light Show in Downtown Rochester, Holiday Nights at Greenfield Village, and a number of holiday-themed festivals around the metro Detroit area. You can even venture up to Owosso and ride a real steam train like the one in The Polar Express. It’s the best way to combine a favorite movie and an outing. And of course there’s the granddaddy tradition of the all — catching a performance of A Christmas Carol at Meadow Brook Theatre. That Ebenezer Scrooge is a hoot.
The bottom line is that no matter what you decide to do for your family tradition, the important thing is that you spend time together. Whether the outing goes off without a hitch or is a comedy of errors, the memories you make are what you’re family will treasure.
Hope you find something!
Dear Crabby
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