Carolling with friends just seems like something I wouldn’t enjoy. We were invited to sing with some neighbors and the kids were excited to try.

I had a lot of doubts. Was this a family tradition? Would we be outsiders intruding on a family gathering? Would I be embarrassed to sing with these people? Would it be too cold?

As soon as I got to the house, I could see it was good I came. Family was there, but the ‘tradition’ was three years old, and there were plenty of other non-family members there. My kids were excited and happy. And they had good drinks and tasty cookies.

The singing was not very good, but we had spirit and everyone who came to the door looked happy. It’s a small thing to carol for strangers for an hour on a random night before Christmas. But it’s one of those things that makes our neighborhood a good place to live. I’m glad I went and hope to get invited again next year.