Curiosity Saturday

I'm following up on the Aloha Friday theme of December 25th.

I decree that today shall be "Curiosity Saturday." And in honor of that decree, I have a few ideas and questions that have been swirling around in my mucky mind (because I overthink things, okay!!)

>If a person has twins (or multiples) and one is born at 11:59 p.m. and the other(s) after midnight the next day, does a mom (or parents) have the option of just saying they're born on the same day or does the hospital force them to say they're born on different days?
>If a train leaves St. Louis traveling at 60 mph and another leaves .... (JUST KIDDING!)
>What new holiday traditions are you creating and what "old" ones are you following? Why or why not?

In answer to the latter, I wanted to leave out cookies for Santa this year--my husband's family did that (and I imagine it was one of his dad's favorite parts of the holidays!) but mine did not--but before I knew it, our 26-month-old was in bed (hubby did it while I was with our newborn!) and I hadn't put out cookies yet. But it made me think like an anthropologist, I guess. Why would I want to instill that tradition? To perpetuate the myth of a cheerful, albeit chubby, guy bringing presents and chowing down on left-in-the-night cookies? Not exactly. I guess it gets down to one word: hospitality. Greek myths, which I love, are replete with cautionary tales of ingrates who turn away disguised gods (Zeus and Apollo, I think, are legendary for testing their countrymen's, if you will, hospitality). But, Janus-like (if a spectrum of tales can be Janus-like), there are stories of people--most notably, Baucis and Philemon (a sweet story; look it up and read it if you haven't already)--who welcomed with open hearts and humble table. Welcomed complete strangers into home and hearth. (Today, this action would be the recipe for a home invasion in the making, sadly.) So, in a roundabout way, leaving cookies for Santa might be teaching our little ones hospitality. And hospitality is another word for "generosity." Who wouldn't want that reflected in a child?

Nonetheless, I challenge you, today on Curiosity Saturday, to question your traditions and rituals (if you will). Think about how they got started, whether they are worthwhile and why or why not, and what new ones you hope to create (and why).

Then will it be ... Something old, something new, something accepted, something eschewed? Hmm?