# Holiday Homemaking 2022 | Week 4 (2026 Re-release)

An episode of [The Art of Home: A Podcast for Homemakers](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1557993655), 30 Oct 2026, 55 min.

Audio: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1587457/episodes/20048755-holiday-homemaking-2022-week-4-2026-re-release.mp3

Send me a text about this episode! Merry Christmas 2022, Homemakers! Join us for more holiday stories of home. You will hear from 3 final homemakers today. Betty Hicks, Kimberly Simpson, & Michelle Poehlmann share their Christmas tips, traditions, memories, recipes and strategies for keeping the Main Thing the main thing during this busy season. 💌 HOLIDAY RECIPE EXCHANGE💌 Get recipes, make friends & support The Art of Home! Leave your tip of $5 or more by October 31, 2026!! https://www.theartofhomepodcast.com/recipe Support the show HOMEMAKING RESOURCES • Homemaker's Journal, AoH Seasonal Magazine • Private Facebook Group, Homemaker Forum • JR Miller's Homemaking Study Guide SUPPORT & CONNECT • Review | Love The Podcast • Contact | Text/Voicemail-use the link at top of description | Website | Email • Follow | Follow The Podcast • Support | theartofhomepodcast.com/support DISCLOSURE • **Buy | as an Amazon affiliate, AoH receives a small commission at no extra cost to you when you use our links to purchase items we recommend • AI Content | Portions of this episode’s copy and/or show notes may have been drafted with the assistance of AI and then reviewed and edited by a human, Allison Weeks.

## Transcript

[1:15] Allison: Hello, homemakers.
[1:17] Allison: Welcome to this final episode of Holiday Homemaking 2022 on the Art of Home Podcast.
[1:23] Allison: We are exploring how homemakers cultivate a place to belong during the Christmas season.
[1:28] Allison: I'm your host, Alison Weeks.
[1:30] Allison: I'm a wife, a mom to four kids, granny to one baby boy, and I've been practicing the Art of Home for over 30 years.
[1:38] Allison: When this episode airs, we will be just days away from Christmas, so I will keep it short.
[1:45] Allison: I know that you are likely making all the last-minute preparations, baking cookies, wrapping gifts, sending out those last few Christmas cards.
[1:54] Allison: Today you will hear from just three homemakers about their holiday traditions, recipes, and memories.
[2:01] Allison: A reading from The Gift of the Magi, a holiday poem, and a historical holiday homemaking hint from our old friend Margaret Sangster.
[2:12] Allison: And finally, at the close of this episode, I will share some of my thoughts about the past year and what is coming in 2023 on the podcast.
[2:21] Allison: So make sure you listen till the end.
[2:24] Allison: So whether you're roasting chestnuts on an open fire or Jack Frost is nipping at your nose while you hang garlands on your front door, I know you will enjoy these holiday stories of home.
[2:39] Allison: All right, I am back with Betty Hicks, and we are going to talk about Christmas.
[2:44] Allison: So, Betty, what does a typical Christmas day look like at your house?
[2:49] Allison: You can tell me what it looks like now.
[2:50] Allison: You can tell me what it looked like when your kids were at home, or both, or whatever you would like.
[2:56] SPEAKER_01: Okay.
[2:57] SPEAKER_01: Um well, I'll just start by saying what it looked like when I was growing up with my family, because um, or even as young adults, we all went to my mother's for Christmas Day um dinner, and um I would go out the day before and help her prepare things ahead of time.
[3:20] SPEAKER_01: But it was just wonderful because my three brothers, my two brothers and their families, and my sister and her family, um, and then uh my family would all be together.
[3:34] SPEAKER_01: So there were years when there were about 25 of us, and um sometimes we had um a friend or two from church or a um an in-law.
[3:50] SPEAKER_01: Um my my sister-in-law's mom used to come and spend Christmas Day with us.
[3:57] SPEAKER_01: Um and it was it was just a blessed time of um just being together and enjoying a meal and giving thanks to the Lord.
[4:08] SPEAKER_01: Um we didn't do as much as as we do now.
[4:16] SPEAKER_01: I I like to either read the story from Luke um or at least talk about it before we have our big family meal.
[4:28] SPEAKER_01: And then before we open gifts, uh, I especially like to talk about the reason why we give gifts to each other and talk about the gifts that were given to Jesus when he was born, after he was born.
[4:46] SPEAKER_01: Um I also um usually try to plan it where we'll play a C D or two and sing some Christmas hymns.
[4:58] SPEAKER_01: Um one of my favorites was played at my grandson Cole's um kindergarten school play.
[5:09] SPEAKER_01: That was the first time I'd heard Happy Birthday, Jesus.
[5:13] SPEAKER_01: Oh, and I just fell in love with that song.
[5:16] SPEAKER_01: And um so then the following year I was singing it with with the grandkids and and Cole's little sister Molly said, Mamie, where did you hear that song?
[5:33] SPEAKER_01: And I said, Well, I heard it last year at Cole's Christmas play, and she said, I didn't know you knew that song.
[5:43] SPEAKER_01: But but they all love it and we all love to sing it.
[5:47] SPEAKER_01: I guess the other thing that we've tried to do uh in the gift giving uh is give an ornament or something that would be a keepsake from year to year.
[6:01] SPEAKER_01: But mainly just to focus on the fact that it's Jesus' birthday that we're celebrating.
[6:08] Allison: Yeah.
[6:09] Allison: So nowadays, um do you do y'all have a you do you still go to your siblings or anybody's home, or do you have you host Christmas here for your children, or how does that work?
[6:22] SPEAKER_01: Occasionally we we go to my sister's house and uh my brothers kind of tend to do their own things with their families, but uh usually it's just um us and our children and their and the grandchildren here.
[6:38] SPEAKER_01: And they come on Christmas Day or do they come sometime before or after?
[6:42] SPEAKER_01: Uh usually Christmas Day and uh our Oklahoma daughter comes every other Christmas.
[6:50] SPEAKER_01: She comes Christmas one year and Thanksgiving the next, and um then the grandkids, and then uh my son lives out way out south of town, and so we usually um let them decide if if my daughter-in-law wants to do something with her sister and family, then we we'll do it either the day before or the day after.
[7:14] SPEAKER_01: So y'all having a big meal together?
[7:17] SPEAKER_01: What are you eating at this meal?
[7:19] SPEAKER_01: Uh Christmas, it's always turkey with stuffing, um, mashed potatoes, uh, green bean casserole, um, hot rolls, uh, sweet potatoes, candied yams, usually.
[7:38] SPEAKER_01: Uh-huh.
[7:39] SPEAKER_01: Um and sometimes we even throw in a ham.
[7:43] Allison: Is there a particular recipe that must show up every Christmas, either on Christmas Day or you have to make it sometime during the holiday season, like a traditional family recipe or a favorite cookie or something like that?
[7:56] SPEAKER_01: There is one that I think my niece started making several years ago, and it's a um it's a cranberry jello salad.
[8:08] SPEAKER_01: It's really delicious.
[8:10] Allison: Yeah, so that makes an appearance every year.
[8:13] Allison: That sounds wonderful.
[8:15] Allison: Do you have any particular family traditions that you guys did with your children growing up or that you do now during the season?
[8:25] Allison: Some people do caroling, some people always make gingerbread houses, or what's something that y'all do?
[8:31] SPEAKER_01: We have done gingerbread houses occasionally, but not every year.
[8:35] SPEAKER_01: Um, nothing really that um I guess because of our daughter coming in the off years and um and not always knowing when we'll have um our son and daughter-in-law.
[8:51] SPEAKER_01: Um, but we do try to to go out and drive around and look at Christmas lights, and well, we love it when there are things that you know, crosses and things like that there.
[9:05] SPEAKER_01: Um, I remember one year our granddaughter was like three, and she we went out to look at lights, and she wanted to hear we had the radio on and she wanted to hear Feliz Snoavidad because she loved the beat to it.
[9:22] SPEAKER_01: And um we couldn't explain to her why we couldn't just make the radio play Feliz Navi Dod.
[9:30] SPEAKER_01: And so we're driving along in the neighborhood, and there's several people out on a porch and they've got guitars and they're singing.
[9:38] SPEAKER_01: Oh, so we stopped and rolled the windows down and they were singing Feliz Navi Dot.
[9:44] SPEAKER_03: Oh, that's so cool!
[9:46] SPEAKER_01: I love that so but but yeah, nothing um especially that we did every year, but I I'm looking forward to reading the the listening to the podcast from your other ladies, and maybe there'll be something there that I'll start.
[10:07] SPEAKER_01: You might get some ideas.
[10:09] Allison: So, speaking of music, what is I I know you love music, so you might have a hard time picking one, but what's your favorite Christmas song?
[10:18] Allison: Oh, holy night.
[10:20] SPEAKER_01: Okay, that's a great one.
[10:22] SPEAKER_01: That's an all-time favorite.
[10:23] SPEAKER_01: That's a great one.
[10:25] SPEAKER_01: I love that.
[10:25] SPEAKER_01: Do you have a favorite Christmas movie?
[10:27] SPEAKER_01: It's a wonderful life, is one of them.
[10:30] SPEAKER_01: Um, the others don't come to mind, but I know there's two or three that we always like to watch.
[10:36] SPEAKER_01: I'm I'm a white Christmas uh girl.
[10:39] Allison: That's probably my favorite.
[10:41] Allison: White Christmas.
[10:42] Allison: Yeah.
[10:43] Allison: So wonder it's a wonderful life is great too.
[10:45] Allison: I mean, that's a classic.
[10:46] Allison: So well, you've already given us some ideas about um really keeping the focus on Jesus.
[10:53] Allison: Is there anything else?
[10:54] Allison: It can get so crazy and busy in the holiday season during the whole month of December.
[10:59] Allison: Is there anything that you particularly do to help keep your focus during that busy time um on the main thing on Christ?
[11:08] SPEAKER_01: Yes.
[11:09] SPEAKER_01: And and I didn't do it for a lot of years because I used to try to help my mom buy Christmas gifts and then buy mine and then wrap hers and then wrap mine.
[11:21] SPEAKER_01: And um and I would get to that point where I would be frustrated and I would think, this is not supposed to be like this.
[11:30] SPEAKER_01: And so in more recent years, I have started sometimes even before Thanksgiving, um deciding what to get everyone and getting them bought and wrapped and ready so that I can just enjoy celebrating the coming of Christmas.
[11:54] Allison: Yeah.
[11:54] Allison: Oh, that's a wonderful, that's a wonderful idea and a good practice.
[11:59] Allison: Just go ahead and get that done so that you can really soak in the season and enjoy it.
[12:05] Allison: Very good.
[12:06] Allison: Yes.
[12:06] Allison: Well, thank you for sharing your memories about Christmas and your thoughts and ideas.
[12:10] Allison: And Merry Christmas.
[12:12] Allison: And Merry Christmas to you.
[12:20] Allison: The week after Christmas with apologies to the old classic.
[12:32] Allison: Gifts were unboxed with no pretense of care, their wrappings in every available chair.
[12:38] Allison: The Christmas tree candles were burned to the end, the tree had grown wobbly and threatened to bend.
[12:44] Allison: The holly hung crooked at window and door, the tinsel and cotton were strewn on the floor, the boxes of candy all week had grown thinner, and no one was hungry for breakfast or dinner.
[12:56] Allison: I nibbled at fruits and at nuts on the shelf and seemed to feel rather peculiar myself.
[13:02] Allison: With rooms in a glorious, toy-filled confusion, with cakes unforbidden and sweets in profusion, the week after Christmas puts gray in my hair, the children's delight and the housewife's despair.
[13:16] Allison: Marjorie K.
[13:17] Allison: Rawlings, December 1926.
[13:22] Allison: I'm back here with my friend Kimberly Simpson, and we are going to talk about Christmas.
[13:27] Allison: So, Kimberly, explain to me what a typical Christmas day looks like at your house.
[13:33] SPEAKER_05: Well, being the honey that I am.
[13:37] SPEAKER_05: Right, that's your grandma name.
[13:39] SPEAKER_05: Okay.
[13:39] SPEAKER_05: And the papa that Jim is, we just never know from year to year.
[13:45] SPEAKER_05: Because as anyone with married children knows, then there's a there's a trade-off and there are other families to be visited.
[13:52] SPEAKER_05: So I it can look like a child, son, daughter-in-law, grandchildren here, grand a father-in-law, Jim's daddy is alive and my mama is alive.
[14:06] SPEAKER_05: And so it can be that size of a group, or it could just be us and and father-in-law and and my mom, or uh so it varies who's here.
[14:17] SPEAKER_05: If we're if we don't have the day together, uh, or we don't we have gotten to go to the to our kids and grandkids because they were starting their own traditions.
[14:28] SPEAKER_05: So we've gotten to go, they've cooked breakfast for us on Christmas Day, which is such a treat.
[14:33] SPEAKER_05: That's sweet.
[14:33] SPEAKER_05: It was very loving, it was wonderful.
[14:36] SPEAKER_05: And if if we don't see them on the day, then we have another day.
[14:41] SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
[14:41] SPEAKER_05: And and that's okay too.
[14:42] SPEAKER_05: So sometimes it's rather quiet.
[14:45] unknown: Yeah.
[14:45] SPEAKER_05: Um, but we do, I don't have any regular recipe, or in fact, I'm notorious for trying something new on Chris.
[14:56] SPEAKER_05: If there's a big crew and there's sleepovers involved, then typically there will be a breakfast casserole of some sort, usually with spicy sausage and green chilies and some sweet bread.
[15:10] SPEAKER_05: Last year, I think I've made an apple cake and it turned out really yummy.
[15:15] SPEAKER_05: Yeah, it was yummy.
[15:16] SPEAKER_05: So that would be breakfast, is probably the most consistent thing of what I do.
[15:21] SPEAKER_05: Um otherwise, we're trying different things.
[15:24] SPEAKER_05: We we'd we've done a beef tenderloin recently, and that was something my father always did.
[15:29] SPEAKER_05: He passed in 2013, and but we would normally go to their house for Christmas.
[15:35] SPEAKER_05: Um, and so I've I've missed that and thought, well, maybe I'll start trying.
[15:40] Allison: Bring that in, bring his tradition into your family.
[15:43] Allison: Exactly.
[15:43] SPEAKER_05: How do you guys prepare it?
[15:44] SPEAKER_05: Do you grill it or smoke it?
[15:46] SPEAKER_05: Marinade and then both.
[15:47] SPEAKER_05: Okay.
[15:47] SPEAKER_05: Both.
[15:48] SPEAKER_05: Yeah, there's he did both grill and then oven.
[15:53] SPEAKER_05: So I'm trying to work through those nuances.
[15:56] SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
[15:58] Allison: But it's a wonderful meal.
[15:59] Allison: It's a special, that's a good Christmas meal because it's not something that you want to do.
[16:04] unknown: No.
[16:05] Allison: You want to take because it's expensive.
[16:06] Allison: It's an expensive cut of meat.
[16:07] Allison: So you want to make sure you really take your time with it.
[16:10] Allison: And honestly, I'm a little fearful of it.
[16:12] SPEAKER_03: No, for that reason.
[16:14] SPEAKER_03: I I've never tried to cook a whole beef tenderloin.
[16:17] SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
[16:17] SPEAKER_03: That's that's a lot of pressure.
[16:18] SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
[16:20] SPEAKER_03: It can be done.
[16:21] SPEAKER_03: Well, good.
[16:22] SPEAKER_03: Good, good, good guides.
[16:24] SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
[16:24] Allison: Good for you for trying something different.
[16:27] Allison: Well, what about traditions for your family?
[16:29] Allison: Do you guys have special holiday traditions?
[16:31] SPEAKER_05: You know, we do, and it's fun, the ones that have that will carry have carried through even until to child leaving the home and then child coming back with bride and then grandchildren.
[16:41] SPEAKER_05: And uh, we typically, my son and I go pick a tree.
[16:47] SPEAKER_05: We don't cut our own down, but we go to a tree lot and pick it together.
[16:52] Allison: The grow like, I don't even think we have any places around here where you can go and cut one down.
[16:57] Allison: It'd be kind of hard to hard to grow them.
[17:00] Allison: It's so hot here.
[17:01] Allison: So hot here.
[17:02] Allison: Okay.
[17:02] SPEAKER_03: So there's some lovely tree lots.
[17:04] SPEAKER_03: We do.
[17:04] SPEAKER_03: We have great tree lots.
[17:05] SPEAKER_03: So you go pick it out with your son?
[17:07] SPEAKER_05: We do, except for last year.
[17:09] SPEAKER_05: We didn't get to connect.
[17:10] SPEAKER_05: And so I was on my own, but I was so excited.
[17:14] SPEAKER_05: And my faithful little Walmart.
[17:17] SPEAKER_05: Well, and right after Thanksgiving, a week after Thanksgiving, they had cut their prices in half.
[17:23] SPEAKER_05: Because they've been out there since right after Halloween.
[17:27] SPEAKER_05: Well, but they still get new, you know, they get new supply.
[17:30] SPEAKER_05: So I found the prettiest little Christmas tree.
[17:33] SPEAKER_05: And I, you know, it lasted the longest.
[17:35] SPEAKER_05: It was well into January before we took it to awesome.
[17:38] SPEAKER_05: I know.
[17:39] SPEAKER_05: So getting a Christmas tree, picking it out.
[17:41] SPEAKER_05: That's been a tradition.
[17:42] SPEAKER_05: Colored lights.
[17:44] SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
[17:44] SPEAKER_05: I never made the switch to the white lights, although they're beautiful and I love them on others.
[17:50] SPEAKER_05: My great-grandmother had colored lights, even the bubble blowers.
[17:55] SPEAKER_05: Oh, those are fun.
[17:57] SPEAKER_05: And so sometimes I have bubble blowers, not this year with two toddler, toddler grands.
[18:03] unknown: Well, yeah.
[18:04] SPEAKER_05: But um, yeah.
[18:06] SPEAKER_05: Colored lights is a is a is a tradition.
[18:09] SPEAKER_02: Okay.
[18:09] SPEAKER_05: We have an advent manger scene.
[18:12] SPEAKER_05: That's just my favorite.
[18:13] SPEAKER_05: It's a cloth calendar that hangs, and then everything comes out of the number pockets and velcro's.
[18:19] SPEAKER_05: Yep.
[18:19] SPEAKER_05: So from Cole from the earliest stage was making the story himself.
[18:24] SPEAKER_05: So now I carry it on here with your friends.
[18:27] SPEAKER_05: And we have to FaceTime uh daddy, if he's not here, so that we know where things go.
[18:33] SPEAKER_05: Oh, because they have to go in a particular place.
[18:35] SPEAKER_05: Oh, there it is.
[18:36] SPEAKER_05: It is a particular place.
[18:38] SPEAKER_05: So that's super fun.
[18:39] SPEAKER_05: So fun.
[18:40] SPEAKER_05: I think my favorite, and I I don't know if I probably picked this up from somebody, but we always left a baby Jesus out of one of the major scenes around our homes.
[18:53] SPEAKER_05: And that baby Jesus got wrapped.
[18:55] SPEAKER_05: And in a in a special, I always had like a gold paper or a shiny paper, and was all and was under the tree.
[19:03] SPEAKER_05: And that was always the first gift opened.
[19:07] SPEAKER_05: And from from when Cole was born and now the grands, you know, this is this is the best gift of all.
[19:15] SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
[19:19] SPEAKER_05: That's my favorite.
[19:20] Allison: That is a great tradition.
[19:21] Allison: Yeah.
[19:22] Allison: That's really special.
[19:23] Allison: That's so sweet.
[19:24] Allison: So you do that on Christmas whenever you open gifts.
[19:27] Allison: Yes.
[19:27] Allison: That special gift of him, the baby Jesus is gets opened first.
[19:31] SPEAKER_05: That's first to be open.
[19:33] SPEAKER_05: Who opens it?
[19:34] SPEAKER_05: Well, it's been our son, but I'm wondering this year if it will be our grandson.
[19:41] SPEAKER_05: Okay.
[19:41] SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
[19:41] SPEAKER_05: And he's two and a half.
[19:43] SPEAKER_05: Okay.
[19:43] SPEAKER_05: He's he's definitely old enough to start um participating in that one.
[19:49] Allison: Uh-huh.
[19:49] Allison: That's fun.
[19:50] Allison: When you when you mentioned the advent calendar, it brought back memories of I have one of those.
[19:55] Allison: It's not um a manger scene, which that is really cool that it's a nativity.
[20:00] Allison: I don't think I've ever seen one of those.
[20:01] Allison: Mine is a Christmas tree.
[20:03] Allison: And you take the ornaments out every day.
[20:05] Allison: And it was my grandmother's that she made.
[20:08] Allison: It was one of those kits, you know, that you can buy them.
[20:11] Allison: They're still there.
[20:11] Allison: They still have them at Hobby Lobby.
[20:13] Allison: Um, and all the little ornaments, like she hand sewed all these little sequins with little beads on them and stuff.
[20:18] Allison: And it's really special.
[20:19] Allison: Ours are ours is not velcro.
[20:21] Allison: This was made in the 70s before velcro was a thing.
[20:25] Allison: But um, you we use straight pens.
[20:27] Allison: But when we were kids, she always had it at her house.
[20:30] Allison: I, my cousins and I would like fight, like who gets to put the ornament on straight that year?
[20:38] Allison: You know, if we both got there at the same time, we would just run to the tree to be like, I'm gonna get it first, I'm gonna get it first.
[20:45] Allison: And my kids were sort of doing the same thing because I she passed when my oldest was a baby, so I inherited it.
[20:51] Allison: I'm the oldest grandchild, so I got that, and it's really special.
[20:54] Allison: And so my kids grew up all their growing up years doing that calendar.
[20:58] Allison: Love that that same one.
[20:59] Allison: And we had to like create a system because there was just too much fighting going on.
[21:04] Allison: Okay, this is today's your day, and then they would go in order, and then every four days they would they'd get another turn.
[21:10] Allison: I love it.
[21:11] Allison: I love it.
[21:11] Allison: So I was just wondering about unwrapping baby Jesus.
[21:14] Allison: How is that gonna work?
[21:15] SPEAKER_05: Well, see that having only had a child, yeah, those are experiences I didn't get to relish in.
[21:23] SPEAKER_05: Oh, too bad for you.
[21:26] SPEAKER_05: But mentioning kits, kits are awesome.
[21:30] SPEAKER_05: Yeah, I was not a crafty person.
[21:32] SPEAKER_05: I mean, I tried different crafts over the years, did some cross stitch at some point, but not anything like yeah.
[21:39] SPEAKER_05: But kits has everything together, it has everything you need, and it's fun to see it become something special.
[21:47] SPEAKER_05: That's what I did with the I did felt Christmas stockings and have kept that up for now.
[21:52] SPEAKER_05: I have both grandchildren done, and the only one needing help is mine.
[21:59] SPEAKER_05: It may not be finished.
[22:01] SPEAKER_05: That's okay.
[22:02] SPEAKER_05: Well, yeah.
[22:04] Allison: You'll get it, you'll get that, you'll get there.
[22:06] SPEAKER_05: That's right.
[22:07] Allison: All right, so let's talk a little bit about keeping the main thing the main thing in the midst of all the hectic, crazy, busy season.
[22:15] Allison: What are some of the things that you do practically to set your heart in the right place and keep it there throughout the season?
[22:24] SPEAKER_05: I usually look for some kind of advent book uh or an Audible, or uh there's a new one.
[22:34] SPEAKER_05: Hannah Anderson again did a new one this year called uh Heaven and Nature Sing.
[22:41] SPEAKER_05: And every chapter she brings in something from creation and ties it to Jesus' incarnation.
[22:47] SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
[22:48] SPEAKER_05: And she has a gift with words that way.
[22:50] SPEAKER_05: So I look for something like that.
[22:52] SPEAKER_05: I uh and then I just seek early.
[22:57] SPEAKER_05: Like we're in November, we were just commenting on a couple we're taping in November a couple weeks from what will become, could become a big rush.
[23:08] SPEAKER_05: But I find if I start early Making sure I am taking time out regularly with the Lord, uh thinking on the gospel, um, and whatever aids me in in doing that, then it it it he does remain the one who receives the attention and the glory, you know.
[23:31] SPEAKER_05: Thanks for sharing your Christmas memories and stories.
[23:34] Allison: Merry Christmas.
[23:35] Allison: Merry Christmas.
[23:39] Allison: We will get back to these holiday stories of home in a moment.
[23:43] Allison: Right now, it's time for historical holiday homemaker hints.
[23:48] Allison: This is the part of the show where we highlight some of the helpful and not so helpful hints doled out to homemakers throughout history.
[23:56] Allison: Today's hints come from the book The Art of Homemaking in City and Country in Mansion and Cottage by Margaret E.
[24:06] Allison: Sangster, published in 1898.
[24:10] Allison: Margaret has some advice for us in the area of gift giving.
[24:15] Allison: The giving of holiday presents varies from year to year.
[24:19] Allison: Sometimes it is the fashion to give indiscriminately, even lavishly, to everybody far and near.
[24:27] Allison: Again, custom decrees that only a favored few dear ones shall be the recipients.
[24:32] Allison: At times, useful presents are in vogue, and again we are enjoined to let people buy useful things for themselves and give for presents only pretty ones.
[24:43] Allison: One of the first essentials of a gift seems to be its appropriateness.
[24:48] Allison: It may be very beautiful and costly, yet if the receiver does not know what it is for, much less have an opportunity to use it, the present is but an incubus and confers a burdensome obligation.
[25:01] Allison: Such a giving over people's heads savors of sarcasm more cruel than neglect would be.
[25:08] Allison: Yet when you select for your friend's need or pleasure, it is well that your gift should have a degree of daintiness which the friend would not get for himself.
[25:18] Allison: He wants a footstool, yet he would not buy such a handsome one as you buy for him.
[25:23] Allison: You know his favorite colors too, and it is well to think of them at the right moment.
[25:28] Allison: In short, your affection should not only meet his need, but it should give the little touch of something more which he would not otherwise have secured.
[25:39] Allison: And on the topic of gift giving, Miss Sangster gives a word of warning about overspending.
[25:45] Allison: Christmas is so dear and sweet a season, so full of jollity, so radiant with loving thoughts, that it seems a pity it should ever be spoiled or shadowed by a misconception.
[25:57] Allison: A truer self-respect, a finer feeling for the meaning of the day, a greater delicacy and discernment would save us from clouding our sunshine or wronging our creditors, or defrauding ourselves of the ease of mind which should be our right, or making our homes unhappy because of anxieties induced by wasteful spending during the holidays.
[26:20] Allison: By all means the open hand where it can be afforded, but never the expenditure which transcends honor and honesty and is weak and ill judged, and leads one not to Christmas merriment, but to Christmas folly.
[26:37] Allison: And finally, even in eighteen ninety-eight there was controversy over Santa Claus.
[26:45] Allison: Here is what Miss Sangster has to say on the matter.
[26:49] Allison: There are people who have scruples of conscience about our dear old Saint Nicholas.
[26:54] Allison: They fear to inculcate falsehood when they talk to the children about Santa Claus.
[26:59] Allison: But if they could see with my eyes, they would perceive that the symbolism of Santa Claus is the garment of a profound truth, that the reindeer and the stealing down the chimney with the gifts while we sleep, and the whole poetical machinery of the Christmas pageant are the husks beneath which, safe and sweet and forever true, abide the solemn realities of the Christmas tide.
[27:24] Allison: The love, the self-denial, and the abundant goodwill of the annual festival of the Blessed Lord's Incarnation.
[27:32] Allison: The children will gradually discover for themselves what is truth to our material perceptions and what is the everlasting truth beyond them.
[27:42] Allison: Till they do thus differentiate and decide for themselves, let Santa Claus be to them a stepping stone to the knowledge of the great love which keeps the world in its grasp.
[27:53] Allison: On Christmas morning, when the stockings have been explored and the gifts apportioned, when there comes a moment of quiet, read with the children once more the beautiful story of the babe who was and is born in Bethlehem, of the shepherds of the star, of the wise men, of the angelic song.
[28:15] Allison: Then tell the children that this child shall be named Jesus, because he saves his people from their sins.
[28:23] Allison: Margaret Sangster, 1898.
[28:27] Allison: Well that's all for today's historical holiday homemaking hints.
[28:32] Allison: As always, these hints are intended for entertainment purposes only, and we leave it up to you, the listener, to determine the safety and soundness of this advice.
[28:44] Allison: Now back to our holiday stories.
[28:48] Allison: I'm back with my friend Michelle Pellman.
[28:51] Allison: Ooh, I said your name right.
[28:52] Allison: Yeah, you did.
[28:54] Allison: Okay, we're gonna talk about Christmas.
[28:56] Allison: So tell me, what does a typical Christmas day look like at your house?
[29:00] SPEAKER_02: Okay, well, I guess that depends on if we're actually there.
[29:04] SPEAKER_02: Okay.
[29:05] SPEAKER_02: Um, we kind of alternate between my family back in East Texas, and then you never really know what's gonna happen on the Pellman side, to be honest, but it's always fun.
[29:16] SPEAKER_02: Um so um I I do love being home for Christmas, though, especially as our kids are getting older.
[29:23] SPEAKER_02: Um we love going to a Christmas Eve service.
[29:28] SPEAKER_02: Um, we've kind of started a tradition of eating steak and salmon.
[29:32] SPEAKER_02: Oh, on Christmas Eve.
[29:34] SPEAKER_02: Nice.
[29:34] SPEAKER_02: Kind of random.
[29:35] SPEAKER_02: I don't know.
[29:36] SPEAKER_02: Are you grilling it or are you cooking it inside?
[29:39] SPEAKER_02: Well, we do usually my husband does the steak in like the cast iron pan and then finishes it in the oven or something.
[29:47] SPEAKER_02: I don't know.
[29:48] SPEAKER_02: He does that.
[29:48] SPEAKER_02: Cool.
[29:49] SPEAKER_02: And then we bake the salmon.
[29:49] SPEAKER_02: Awesome.
[29:50] SPEAKER_02: Um, yeah, it's really yummy.
[29:52] SPEAKER_02: And then we go to, we either go to a Christmas Eve service first and then do that, or vice versa, just depending on what time the service is.
[29:59] SPEAKER_02: Um and Christmas morning, okay.
[30:02] SPEAKER_02: We don't really do Santa.
[30:03] SPEAKER_02: Okay.
[30:04] SPEAKER_02: I've been like flip-flopping on this, and my family thinks I'm crazy, but we just don't really talk about Santa that much.
[30:12] SPEAKER_02: That's fair.
[30:13] SPEAKER_02: But they do get presents on Christmas morning.
[30:15] SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
[30:15] SPEAKER_02: And um, yeah, we do a big breakfast.
[30:20] SPEAKER_02: Usually we make crepes.
[30:22] SPEAKER_02: Oh, really know that how that happened.
[30:23] SPEAKER_02: These are kind of all our own traditions that we've made up.
[30:26] SPEAKER_02: It's not anything of that like neither of us really had strong traditions from either side.
[30:31] SPEAKER_02: It's surprising to me with your husband being of German parents.
[30:35] SPEAKER_02: Well, you know, I think it's um so my husband, his family, the youngest and oldest are 10 years apart.
[30:41] SPEAKER_02: They all played football.
[30:43] SPEAKER_02: And so from the time my his youngest brother was like 10, the or eight, the oldest was playing football in like New Mexico.
[30:51] SPEAKER_02: Oh and they would always be gone on Christmas.
[30:53] Allison: So, well, because that's typically the end of the season and there's like traveling for championship games and that kind of thing.
[30:59] SPEAKER_02: So a lot of times the six of them weren't even together.
[31:02] SPEAKER_02: And if they had any family traditions, but like because they have gigantic families on both of their sides too.
[31:07] SPEAKER_02: I just don't know about them.
[31:08] SPEAKER_02: Okay.
[31:09] SPEAKER_02: So, all right, so you're making crepes on Christmas morning.
[31:11] SPEAKER_02: Making crepes.
[31:13] SPEAKER_02: Um we're last year or two years ago, we did a gingerbread house competition, and we'll probably do that again this year for sure.
[31:20] SPEAKER_02: That's fun.
[31:21] SPEAKER_02: Our kids are kind of getting old enough to where they can sort of build something out of graham crackers and marshmallow cream or whatever.
[31:28] SPEAKER_02: Um, so that's fun.
[31:29] SPEAKER_02: And then we usually just hang out as a family, like Christmas night.
[31:34] SPEAKER_02: We like to go Christmas, look at the lights.
[31:36] SPEAKER_02: Um, yeah, so we just hang out as a family.
[31:39] Allison: Cool.
[31:39] SPEAKER_02: I don't know, go on a walk or something.
[31:41] Allison: So your your kind of like big Christmas meal is the steak and salmon on Christmas Eve.
[31:45] Allison: Yeah.
[31:45] Allison: Christmas Day, we'd we'd do a turkey.
[31:48] SPEAKER_02: Oh, yeah.
[31:49] Allison: Okay.
[31:49] Allison: We I we eat a lot.
[31:51] SPEAKER_02: I mean, because who doesn't?
[31:53] SPEAKER_02: Well, uh, what I want to know what you're putting in your crepes on Christmas morning.
[31:56] SPEAKER_02: Oh, like Nutella and bananas, strawberries and Nutella.
[32:02] SPEAKER_02: A lot of Nutella.
[32:04] SPEAKER_02: Mostly Nutella.
[32:06] Allison: Cool.
[32:07] Allison: Who makes the crepes?
[32:07] Allison: Do you make them or do your does your husband make them?
[32:10] Allison: We both do.
[32:10] Allison: Okay.
[32:11] Allison: Yeah.
[32:11] Allison: Hey, I mean, we just had a big conversation about what a terrible baker you you think you are, but well, that's great.
[32:17] Allison: That's easy though.
[32:18] Allison: It's just it's just like pancake batter.
[32:20] SPEAKER_03: Yeah, but it's it's there's an art to it.
[32:22] SPEAKER_03: Oh well.
[32:23] SPEAKER_03: I'm impressed.
[32:24] SPEAKER_03: I think well done.
[32:25] SPEAKER_02: Probably not as fancy as what you're thinking.
[32:27] SPEAKER_02: I don't know.
[32:27] SPEAKER_02: I can't make crepes, they always break.
[32:30] SPEAKER_02: So um we do it on the flat top, and then we have this little tool, you make it really thin, and then you have the big flipper, and yeah.
[32:37] SPEAKER_02: Oh, so you've got like the spatula flipper flipper, whatever.
[32:41] SPEAKER_02: I knew exactly what you meant.
[32:43] Allison: So you you're doing crepes, you're just chilling on Christmas Day, um, and you do gingerbread, you said.
[32:49] Allison: Any other traditions?
[32:51] SPEAKER_02: Read the Christmas story.
[32:52] SPEAKER_02: Okay.
[32:53] SPEAKER_02: So I when do we do that?
[32:54] SPEAKER_02: Now I'm second guessing.
[32:55] SPEAKER_02: I guess we do that on Christmas morning.
[32:58] SPEAKER_02: We read the Christmas story and then usually like the children's book version.
[33:02] SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
[33:02] SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
[33:03] SPEAKER_02: And then open some presents.
[33:04] SPEAKER_02: And they open some presents on Christmas Eve too.
[33:07] SPEAKER_02: That's nice.
[33:07] SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
[33:08] Allison: That's fun.
[33:09] Allison: So do you have a particular um I'm guessing probably not, but is there like something you make every year?
[33:18] Allison: Like a cookie or something like that?
[33:21] SPEAKER_02: No, not really.
[33:22] SPEAKER_02: Because we don't really do the cookies for Santa.
[33:25] SPEAKER_02: Oh, no.
[33:26] SPEAKER_02: We all I will say we always have an argument on lights in the tree.
[33:31] SPEAKER_02: Oh, yeah.
[33:32] SPEAKER_02: Like the color debate.
[33:34] SPEAKER_02: What color they're gonna be?
[33:34] SPEAKER_02: Or yes, every single year we have the same discussion.
[33:38] SPEAKER_02: Are you team white lights?
[33:40] SPEAKER_02: Yes, of course.
[33:41] SPEAKER_02: Of course, yeah, and my husband's colored.
[33:43] SPEAKER_02: And so one year we did both, and that was a jumbled mess.
[33:46] SPEAKER_02: There were way too many lights on the tree.
[33:48] SPEAKER_02: Well, you know, they make lights now that will do white lights, I think.
[33:52] SPEAKER_02: Like a pre-lit tree that does both.
[33:54] Allison: I think it does.
[33:55] Allison: We need to get that.
[33:56] Allison: We we've never had a pre-lit tree.
[33:58] Allison: We always well, I don't believe in pre-lit trees because eventually those lights go out, and you can't just replace one because that never works.
[34:04] Allison: You end up having to take them all off.
[34:05] Allison: And I'm just like, I'll just string the lights on.
[34:09] Allison: Thank you.
[34:10] Allison: But you should look into that.
[34:11] Allison: There may be uh like you might be able to buy stringed lights that do both.
[34:16] Allison: If they can put it on a tree and it does both, I don't know why you can't buy lights that do both.
[34:20] Allison: That's a good point.
[34:21] Allison: Then you could have peace in your household.
[34:23] Allison: I'm gonna look at that.
[34:24] Allison: Like on Tuesdays, they could be white, and on Wednesdays they could be, you know, you could just have a schedule.
[34:30] Allison: Yes.
[34:30] SPEAKER_02: I bet you could even program it.
[34:33] SPEAKER_02: Yeah, for a while the argument was on fake or real tree, but oh, after we got a couple real trees, it's like this is a mess.
[34:40] SPEAKER_02: I don't want to deal with this.
[34:41] SPEAKER_02: It's a mess, it's a fire hazard.
[34:43] SPEAKER_02: I think he agreed with me.
[34:44] SPEAKER_02: So we just said babies drinking the water out of the bucket.
[34:48] SPEAKER_02: I know.
[34:48] SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
[34:49] SPEAKER_02: I don't know.
[34:49] SPEAKER_02: I I mean one day.
[34:51] SPEAKER_02: Sure, we could probably do it, but it just seems like way too much work.
[34:54] Allison: It and they're expensive.
[34:56] Allison: Yeah.
[34:56] Allison: Every year you have to buy one.
[34:59] Allison: They're very expensive.
[35:00] Allison: Yeah.
[35:00] Allison: So I'm with you.
[35:01] Allison: I'm totally with you.
[35:03] Allison: Okay.
[35:04] Allison: How do you keep your focus on the main thing of the season when everybody else is losing their mind around you?
[35:13] Allison: How do you keep focused on Jesus?
[35:15] SPEAKER_02: Well, I love doing Advent, um, some sort of devotional with my kids or just for myself.
[35:22] SPEAKER_02: Um, you know, the how how many days is it that you well, it starts this so it's the four Sundays before leading up to Christmas, before Christmas, almost a month or basically a month.
[35:33] SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
[35:34] SPEAKER_02: Um, so that's one way.
[35:36] SPEAKER_02: I think we're also just constantly reminding our kids and each other.
[35:40] SPEAKER_02: We're not really gift people.
[35:42] SPEAKER_02: And so I don't, I don't really get hung up on like making it about gifts or anything.
[35:47] SPEAKER_02: And I try to instill that in the kids.
[35:49] SPEAKER_02: Like it's not about gifts, like it's Jesus' birthday, and you know, yeah, constantly reminding them of that and even just doing little, I don't know, little activities.
[35:58] SPEAKER_02: I need to find a good one for this year because just to remind them of the story of Christmas.
[36:04] SPEAKER_02: Um like for Easter, you know, we have the resurrection eggs.
[36:07] SPEAKER_02: I need something like that for Christmas.
[36:09] SPEAKER_02: I think there is something like that for Christmas.
[36:11] SPEAKER_02: Yeah, like a a tree.
[36:14] SPEAKER_02: Oh, yeah, I think you're right.
[36:15] SPEAKER_02: It's it's a Jesse tree.
[36:17] SPEAKER_02: Yeah, the Jesse tree.
[36:18] SPEAKER_02: Oh my goodness.
[36:19] SPEAKER_02: See, mom brain.
[36:20] SPEAKER_02: We did something like that last year where you because you can hide a pickle in it, right?
[36:27] SPEAKER_02: Isn't no oh that's a German tradition.
[36:29] SPEAKER_02: That's different.
[36:30] SPEAKER_02: Mixing up the traditions.
[36:32] SPEAKER_02: We don't really do the pickle thing.
[36:34] SPEAKER_02: Um what do you do with the Jesse tree?
[36:37] Allison: Well, usually I think traditionally it's all the symbols.
[36:40] Allison: Is it yeah?
[36:41] Allison: It's like yeah, symbols that talk about like either the names of Jesus or I think it's the names of Jesus.
[36:47] SPEAKER_02: I should remember because we literally have one and we put it on our fridge last year, and I'm forgetting.
[36:51] SPEAKER_02: But yes, and we didn't see, I think my kids were still a little too young to like hold their attention and tell the stories, but there was a piece of paper that came with it.
[36:58] SPEAKER_02: I just ordered something on Amazon and it was just this magnet.
[37:02] Allison: So it's either the names of, I think you can do it a couple different ways.
[37:05] Allison: And I think some of them trace like the story of Christ from you know, I think that's what it is from the story of Genesis all the way through, and just all the different ways, like in the Abraham story and in the you know, story of Joseph and all the different people who we can see Christmas.
[37:21] Allison: Okay, that's what it is.
[37:22] SPEAKER_02: That's there we go.
[37:23] SPEAKER_02: Oh, thanks.
[37:24] SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I'm gonna have to really work on that this year and actually read all the stories.
[37:28] Allison: That is a really good tool, though.
[37:30] Allison: We we always did something very similar to that, actually at Easter.
[37:33] Allison: We didn't do the eggs um because they weren't a thing yet, but we did like a tree at Easter where we traced oh that's cool the line.
[37:39] Allison: Yeah.
[37:40] Allison: Um, because Easter kind of doesn't really get as much attention as Christmas.
[37:44] Allison: And I'm like, yeah, well, we kind of like Easter's really important.
[37:47] Allison: Kind of sad, right?
[37:49] Allison: I know, yeah, yeah.
[37:50] Allison: So okay, cool.
[37:51] Allison: Boy, anything else you want to share about Christmas?
[37:54] SPEAKER_02: I don't think so.
[37:55] SPEAKER_02: All right.
[37:56] SPEAKER_02: Yeah, we're not super exciting.
[38:00] SPEAKER_03: That's okay.
[38:01] SPEAKER_03: Okay.
[38:01] SPEAKER_02: Thank you for sharing and Merry Christmas.
[38:03] Allison: Merry Christmas.
[38:07] Allison: The Gift of the Magi by O.
[38:10] Allison: Henry.
[38:13] Allison: One dollar and eighty-seven cents.
[38:16] Allison: That was all.
[38:18] Allison: She had put it aside, one cent and then another and then another, in her careful buying of meat and other food.
[38:26] Allison: Della counted it three times.
[38:29] Allison: One dollar and eighty-seven cents.
[38:33] Allison: And the next day would be Christmas.
[38:36] Allison: There was nothing to do but fall on the bed and cry.
[38:40] Allison: So Della did it.
[38:42] Allison: While the lady of the home is slowly growing quieter, we can look at the home.
[38:48] Allison: Furnished rooms at a cost of eight dollars a week.
[38:51] Allison: There is little more to say about it.
[38:54] Allison: In the hall below was a letter box, too small to hold a letter.
[38:59] Allison: There was an electric bell, but it could not make a sound, and there was a name beside the door.
[39:05] Allison: Mr.
[39:05] Allison: James Dillingham Young.
[39:07] Allison: When the name was placed there, Mr.
[39:09] Allison: James Dillingham Young was being paid thirty dollars a week.
[39:14] Allison: Now, when he was being paid only twenty dollars a week, the name seemed too long and important.
[39:20] Allison: It should perhaps have been Mr James D.
[39:23] Allison: Young.
[39:24] Allison: But when Mr James Dillingham Young entered the furnished rooms, his name became very short indeed.
[39:31] Allison: Mrs.
[39:31] Allison: James Dillingham Young put her arms warmly about him and called him Jim.
[39:37] Allison: You have already met her.
[39:39] Allison: She is Della.
[39:41] Allison: Della finished her crying and cleaned the marks off it from her face.
[39:45] Allison: She stood by the window and looked out with no interest.
[39:49] Allison: Tomorrow would be Christmas Day, and she had only one dollar and eighty seven cents with which to buy Jim a gift.
[39:58] Allison: She had put aside as much as she could for months with this result.
[40:03] Allison: Twenty dollars a week is not much.
[40:07] Allison: Everything had cost more than she had expected.
[40:10] Allison: It was always happening like that.
[40:13] Allison: Only one dollar and eighty seven cents to buy a gift for Jim.
[40:18] Allison: Her Jim.
[40:20] Allison: She had had many happy hours planning something nice for him, something nearly good enough, something almost worth the honor of belonging to Jim.
[40:30] Allison: There was a looking glass between the windows of the room.
[40:33] Allison: Perhaps you have seen the kind of looking glass that is placed in an eight dollar furnished room.
[40:38] Allison: It was very narrow.
[40:40] Allison: A person could see only a little of himself at a time.
[40:44] Allison: However, if he was very thin and moved very quickly, he might be able to get a good view of himself.
[40:50] Allison: Della, being quite thin, had mastered this art.
[40:54] Allison: Suddenly she turned from the window and stood before the glass.
[40:57] Allison: Her eyes were shining brightly, but her face had lost its color.
[41:02] Allison: Quickly she pulled down her hair and let it fall to its complete length.
[41:07] Allison: The James Dillingham Young's were very proud of two things which they owned.
[41:12] Allison: One thing was Jim's gold watch.
[41:15] Allison: It had once belonged to his father, and long ago it had belonged to his father's father.
[41:22] Allison: The other thing was Della's hair.
[41:25] Allison: If a queen had lived in the rooms near theirs, Della would have washed and dried her hair where the queen could see it.
[41:32] Allison: Della knew her hair was more beautiful than any queen's jewels and gifts.
[41:36] Allison: If a king had lived in the same house with all his riches, Jim would have looked at his watch every time they met.
[41:43] Allison: Jim knew that no king had anything so valuable.
[41:48] Allison: So now Della's beautiful hair fell about her, shining like a falling stream of brown water.
[41:54] Allison: It reached below her knee.
[41:56] Allison: It almost made itself into a dress for her.
[42:00] Allison: And then she put it up on her head again, nervously and quickly.
[42:03] Allison: Once she stopped for a moment and stood still while a tear or two ran down her face.
[42:09] Allison: She put on her old brown coat.
[42:12] Allison: She put on her old brown hat.
[42:15] Allison: With the bright light still in her eyes, she moved quickly out the door and down to the street.
[42:21] Allison: Where she stopped, the sign said, Mrs.
[42:24] Allison: Sofreny, hair articles of all kinds.
[42:28] Allison: Up to the second floor, Della ran and stopped to get her breath.
[42:32] Allison: Mrs.
[42:33] Allison: Sofreni, large, too white, cold eyed, looked at her.
[42:38] Allison: Will you buy my hair?
[42:39] Allison: asked Della.
[42:42] Allison: I buy hair, said Mrs.
[42:44] Allison: Sofreni.
[42:45] Allison: Take your hat off and let me look at it.
[42:48] Allison: Down fell the brown waterfall.
[42:51] Allison: Twenty dollars, said Mrs.
[42:53] Allison: Sofroni, lifting her hair to feel its weight.
[42:56] Allison: Give it to me quick, said Della.
[43:00] Allison: Oh, and the next two hours seemed to fly.
[43:03] Allison: She was going from one shop to another to find a gift for Jim.
[43:07] Allison: And she found it at last.
[43:09] Allison: It surely had been made for Jim and no one else.
[43:13] Allison: There was no other like it in any of the shops, and she had looked in every shop in the city.
[43:19] Allison: It was a gold watch chain, very simply made.
[43:23] Allison: Its value was in its rich and pure material.
[43:27] Allison: Because it was so plain and simple, you knew that it was very valuable.
[43:31] Allison: All good things are like this.
[43:33] Allison: It was good enough for the watch.
[43:37] Allison: As soon as she saw it, she knew that Jim must have it.
[43:40] Allison: It was like him quietness and value.
[43:44] Allison: Jim and the chain both had quietness and value.
[43:48] Allison: She paid twenty one dollars for it, and she hurried home with the chain and eighty seven cents.
[43:55] Allison: With that chain on his watch, Jim could look at his watch and learn the time anywhere he might be.
[44:00] Allison: Though the watch was so fine it had never had a fine chain.
[44:04] Allison: He sometimes took it out and looked at it only when no one could see him do it.
[44:09] Allison: When Della arrived home, her mind quieted a little.
[44:12] Allison: She began to think more reasonably.
[44:15] Allison: She started to try to cover the sad marks of what she had done.
[44:18] Allison: Love and large hearted giving, when added together, can leave deep marks.
[44:24] Allison: It is never easy to cover these marks, dear friends.
[44:27] Allison: Never easy.
[44:29] Allison: Within forty minutes her head looked a little better.
[44:33] Allison: With her short hair she looked wonderfully like a schoolboy.
[44:36] Allison: She stood at the looking glass for a long time.
[44:39] Allison: If Jim doesn't kill me, she said to herself, before he looks at me a second time, he'll say I look like a girl who sings and dances for money.
[44:48] Allison: But what can I do?
[44:49] Allison: Oh what can I do with a dollar and eighty seven cents?
[44:55] Allison: At seven, Jim's dinner was ready for him.
[44:58] Allison: Jim was never late.
[45:00] Allison: Della held the watch chain in her hand and sat near the door where he always entered.
[45:05] Allison: Then she heard his step in the hall, and her face lost color for a moment.
[45:10] Allison: She often said Little prayers quietly about simple, everyday things.
[45:14] Allison: And now she said, Please God, make him think I'm still pretty.
[45:18] Allison: The door opened and Jim stepped in.
[45:21] Allison: He looked very thin, and he was not smiling.
[45:25] Allison: Poor fellow, he was only twenty two, and with a family to take care of.
[45:29] Allison: He needed a new coat and he had nothing to cover his cold hands.
[45:33] Allison: Jim stopped inside the door.
[45:35] Allison: He was as quiet as a hunting dog when it is near a bird.
[45:39] Allison: His eyes looked strangely at Della, and there was an expression in them that she could not understand.
[45:46] Allison: It filled her with fear.
[45:48] Allison: It was not anger nor surprise, nor anything she had been ready for.
[45:54] Allison: He simply looked at her with that strange expression on his face.
[45:58] Allison: Della went to him.
[46:00] Allison: Jim, dear, she cried, don't look at me like that.
[46:05] Allison: I had my hair cut off and I sold it.
[46:08] Allison: I couldn't live through Christmas without giving you a gift.
[46:11] Allison: My hair will grow again, but you won't care, will you?
[46:14] Allison: My hair grows very fast.
[46:16] Allison: It's Christmas, Jim.
[46:17] Allison: Let's be happy.
[46:18] Allison: You don't know what a nice but what a beautiful, nice gift I got for you.
[46:24] Allison: You've cut off your hair?
[46:26] Allison: asked Jim slowly.
[46:28] Allison: He seemed to labor to understand what had happened.
[46:31] Allison: He seemed not to feel sure he knew.
[46:35] Allison: Cut it off and sold it, said Della.
[46:37] Allison: Don't you like me now?
[46:39] Allison: I'm me, Jim.
[46:40] Allison: I'm the same without my hair.
[46:43] Allison: Jim looked around the room.
[46:45] Allison: You say your hair is gone?
[46:47] Allison: he said.
[46:49] Allison: You don't have to look for it, said Della.
[46:51] Allison: It's sold.
[46:52] Allison: I tell you, sold and gone too.
[46:54] Allison: It's the night before Christmas, boy.
[46:57] Allison: Be good to me because I sold it for you.
[46:59] Allison: Maybe the hairs of my head could be counted, she said, but no one could ever count my love for you.
[47:05] Allison: Shall we eat dinner, Jim?
[47:08] Allison: Jim put his arms around his Della.
[47:11] Allison: For ten seconds let us look in another direction.
[47:14] Allison: Eight dollars a week or a million dollars a year.
[47:17] Allison: How different are they?
[47:19] Allison: Someone may give you an answer, but it will be wrong.
[47:23] Allison: The magi brought valuable gifts, but that was not among them.
[47:27] Allison: My meaning will be explained soon.
[47:30] Allison: From inside the coat, Jim took something tied in paper.
[47:34] Allison: He threw it upon the table.
[47:37] Allison: I want you to understand me, Dell, he said.
[47:40] Allison: Nothing like a haircut could make me love you any less.
[47:43] Allison: But if you'll open that, you may know what I felt when I came in.
[47:48] Allison: White fingers pulled off the paper, and then a cry of joy, and then a change to tears.
[47:56] Allison: For there lay the combs, the combs that Della had seen in a shop window and loved for a long time.
[48:04] Allison: Beautiful combs with jewels perfect for her beautiful hair.
[48:09] Allison: She had known they cost too much for her to buy them.
[48:12] Allison: She had looked at them without the least hope of owning them, and now they were hers.
[48:18] Allison: But her hair was gone.
[48:21] Allison: She held them to her heart and at last was able to look up and say My hair grows so fast, Jim.
[48:28] Allison: And then she jumped up and cried, Oh oh Jim had not yet seen this beautiful gift.
[48:33] Allison: She held it out to him in her open hand.
[48:36] Allison: The gold seemed to shine softly as if with her own warm and loving spirit.
[48:41] Allison: Isn't it perfect, Jim?
[48:43] Allison: I hunted all over town to find it.
[48:46] Allison: You'll have to look at your watch a hundred times a day now.
[48:49] Allison: Give me your watch.
[48:50] Allison: I want to see how they look together.
[48:52] Allison: Jim sat down and smiled.
[48:55] Allison: Della, said he, let's put our Christmas gifts away and keep them awhile.
[49:01] Allison: They're too nice to use now.
[49:04] Allison: I sold the watch to get the money to buy the combs, and now I think we should have our dinner.
[49:11] Allison: The Magi, as you know, were wise men, wonderfully wise men, who brought gifts to the newborn Christ child.
[49:19] Allison: They were the first to give Christmas gifts, but being wise, their gifts were doubtless wise ones.
[49:26] Allison: And here I have told you the story of two children who were not wise.
[49:31] Allison: Each sold the most valuable thing he owned in order to buy a gift for the other.
[49:36] Allison: But let me speak a last word to the wise of these days.
[49:40] Allison: Of all who give gifts, these two were the most wise.
[49:46] Allison: Of all who give and receive gifts, such as they are the most wise.
[49:51] Allison: Everywhere they are the wise ones.
[49:54] Allison: They are the magi.
[49:57] Allison: The end.
[50:03] Allison: Thank you for listening to these holiday stories of home over the last four weeks.
[50:07] Allison: I hope you have found some encouragement and inspiration for your own practice of the art of home.
[50:13] Allison: Before we close this episode, I would like to take just a little time to reflect on the past year and let you know what's coming in 2023.
[50:21] Allison: First of all, I want to thank you for tuning in every week to listen to these stories and deep dives.
[50:27] Allison: We have seen tremendous growth over the past year, and that is so exciting because it tells me that these stories and topics are resonating with you and striking a chord with women all over the world who long to cultivate places of belonging in their homes for the glory of God.
[50:45] Allison: This year we heard 18 stories of home from women of all ages and stages of life.
[50:51] Allison: That was a new addition.
[50:53] Allison: When I asked if you guys wanted to hear from younger women in addition to the older ladies, the answer was a resounding yes.
[51:00] Allison: We also introduced our topical episodes, homemaking deep dives, in 2022, and had the pleasure of diving into organization, sewing, words in the home, and special needs.
[51:12] Allison: We celebrated the Art of Home's first birthday with the special episode featuring helpful homemaking tips from you, our listeners.
[51:20] Allison: And finally, we spent the summer studying the timeless, rich words of J.R.
[51:25] Allison: Miller's homemaking.
[51:27] Allison: Wow, this was a busy year, and I wouldn't have it any other way.
[51:32] Allison: Thank you to every one of the women who said yes to sharing their stories or diving deep into a topic with me.
[51:38] Allison: Thank you to all of you who donated to the show through Buy Me a Coffee, to those who reached out on Instagram or by email just to let me know that you were listening and that God is using these stories to encourage you in your homemaking.
[51:52] Allison: Thank you to those who left ratings and kind, beautifully expressed reviews on your listening apps.
[51:58] Allison: And thank you to those who have shared their love of the show with other women so that they too can be blessed by these stories.
[52:05] Allison: I am beyond grateful because without all of you, there would be no Art of Home podcast.
[52:11] Allison: So keep sharing the episodes, keep leaving reviews and giving me your feedback.
[52:16] Allison: I really, really value that.
[52:18] Allison: A big part of content creation is sort of throwing things at the wall and seeing what sticks.
[52:23] Allison: And when I hear from you all, it greatly improves my accuracy because I could throw things at the wall all day long, but if it's not things that you want to hear about, it really doesn't matter.
[52:32] Allison: So as we head into 2023, I do have some definite plans and some dreams and some ideas.
[52:38] Allison: Here's what is definitely coming in 2023.
[52:42] Allison: We have an updated logo and updated artwork coming.
[52:45] Allison: And if you listened to Danny Hamilton's episode about a month or so back, you heard a little teaser about that because she's the artist who did all the original artwork based on some sketches I sent her.
[52:56] Allison: And then I just kind of gave her free reign to update it and modernize it a bit.
[53:01] Allison: And so I'm really, really excited to see what she comes up with.
[53:04] Allison: So be looking for that early in the year, probably in the spring.
[53:08] Allison: We will have lots more of our original homemaker portraits, but we will continue to bring them from all ages and stages of homemaking life.
[53:17] Allison: We will be bringing you some new deep dive episodes, and we kick off 2023 with a deep dive into wellness with our friend Leslie Licado.
[53:26] Allison: She was featured on the show this year for a homemaker portrait.
[53:30] Allison: We are also doing a deep dive into marital intimacy with Sandy Goforth and Gwen Cunningham, both of whom are seasoned homemakers.
[53:40] Allison: They were both on the show.
[53:41] Allison: Sandy was one of our first guests in our very first season, and Gwen was featured on the show this past year.
[53:48] Allison: And then I'm going to be doing a deep dive into design and decor in the home with some familiar voices that you will recognize from past episodes of The Art of Home.
[53:58] Allison: So definitely look for those things in 2023.
[54:02] Allison: I would love to hear from you all.
[54:04] Allison: What would you like to hear in the future on the Art of Home podcast?
[54:08] Allison: Let me know.
[54:09] Allison: You can send me an email or a voicemail.
[54:11] Allison: You can just go to our contact page on our website and the links for both of those are there, but you can also DM me on Instagram as well.
[54:21] Allison: Well, that's a wrap on not just holiday homemaking, but on the Art of Home Podcast 2022.
[54:27] Allison: I hope you all have a blessed Christmas filled with simple joys and surrounded with those you love.
[54:34] Allison: I will be back in January with all new episodes.
[54:37] Allison: Until then, keep practicing your art of making a home and have a very Merry Christmas.

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