"Jump In Bed. Cover Up Ya Head, 'Cause Santa Claus Comes Tonight."

I am a traditionalist at heart, generally speaking. Once something is started and some sort of emotional or sentimental attachment is made, it is important to be to keep it going. This ranges from listening to the soundtracks to Major League and Bull Durham, in addition to 2 mix CDs of all baseball songs, in the days prior to and on the way to a baseball game. As for hockey games…you don’t wanna know. Put a pair of tickets to a hockey game in my hand, and I am back to being 6 years old, walking with mom and dad, hand in hand across Exchange Blvd in downtown Rochester into the Rochester War Memorial (can’t bring myself to call it Blue Cross Arena) to see our Amerks (usually) destroy their unlucky opponent.

#30 on my list of The 31 Things I Love About Christmas is: Ornaments and jammies.

Every Christmas that I can remember have been accompanied by the presentation of a new Christmas ornament and pair of pajamas, usually the afternoon of Christmas eve.

Anytime of the year, whenever we are in a mall that houses a Hallmark, a quick visit inside is in order, especially when the Christmas stuff is out. Sadly, most of the stuff there is on the tasteful and pricey side (which is why you wait for the after Christmas sales….kinda got my eye on a Snoopy doll that rings and plays Jingle Bells.) The Hallmark Christmas ornaments are the stuff of priceless memories and lifelong treasures. What kind of dope would drop $20 per ornament? My mother. She wouldn’t have it any other way.

I can still remember when Hallmark was in Ridge Culver plaza in my hometown of Irondequoit, NY (they would later move to the now long gone Irondequoit Mall). It was such a joy seeing all the new ornaments that were out that year. Always sure to grab a catalog and find the ones I wanted the most, as additional “community” ornaments were usually purchased as well. These ornaments are amazing quality and are worth every penny.

In 1994 hallmark began to roll out a Baseball Heroes line. A pewter medallion ornament with a red, white and blue ribbon proclaiming the player’s name at the top, a 2-D color likeness of the player in the center, with the year of manufacturing etched into home plate. A short summary of the player was on the back. It was wonderful getting that first ornament and I looked forward to the next one each year. It was supposed to be a series of 12 and it was staggering to think I would be 19 and a sophomore in college when the set ended. I envisioned my tree covered in a dozen baseball legends, perhaps a collection to pass on to my own son someday. Baseball was to me, what Batman or Legos were to normal children. Sadly this wasn’t to be and the series was discontinued after the 4^th ornament. Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Satchel Paige and Jackie Robinson are alive and well (Robinson is missing an arm, I’m sorry to report), and they will hang proudly on our tree.

As for pajamas, this too has accompanied the ornament, on Christmas eve afternoon, shortly before the family arrived for dinner. We made sure to keep spare hooks handy for the immediate transfer of our ornaments from box to tree. I certainly remember at least one set of Buffalo Bills PJs, maybe around 93 or 94. I loved (still do) old man PJs. Long sleeve or short sleeve polyester with long pants. Something like you might see Ricky Ricardo wear. Flannel PJs were also suitable (Christmas ’97 I had red, white and green striped ones…”the Italian pride/Candy Cane PJs.” Later this would evolve into t-shirts and hilarious PJ pants (think AC/DC, Superman, Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd.) Not to mention the now famous purple and black silk PJs. While I usually stick to the t-shirt and pajama pants these days. I wouldn’t refuse those old man PJs.

It should be noted that we got these gifts at that time of day not because my parents had any grand attachment to doing it just then, it was to shut us up. And even then, we would be foaming at the mouth at the thought of the treasures that awaited us. We wanted something to open…an ornament, a box of crackers, anything. We usually got our small gifts we had “bought for each other” at this time. A small toy, wall calendar or CD was usually the variety of gifts we received then.

These are the things I remember and it doesn’t seem quite like Christmas without them. An ornament (or two) a year and pajamas are both traditions I look forward to continuing with our family in the coming years.