I love Christmas. Not the mass consumerism part so much (though I like to shop as much as the next woman, especially for my lil' munchkin) but the nice Christmas atmosphere. The old Miracle on 34th Street (the best version with Maureen O'Hara) kind of atmosphere, when people can slow down and enjoy the holidays and think about others more often than they do in their day-to-day life. The Christmas tree, the wrapping of presents, the Gingerbread Men, and the lights. Maybe the reason I'm really loving it all is because it's our first real Christmas since I've been married and since I became a teen and the magic sort of disappeared. I have my own little girl now and I'm enjoying all of the Christmas magic because of and through her. I guess most parents do that. :-)What do you do to make Christmas special in your house? I've been reading of some wonderful traditions and I want to start some of my own. My favorites so far are:
- Wrapping a shoe box present for Jesus and putting it under the tree. Everyone writes something personal, something nice they've done or a blessing they're thankful for, and puts it in the box. Each year they add to it.
- Making Gingerbread Houses together or Gingerbread Men - the decorating is the fun part, of course!
- Making your own advent calendar (there are SO many options and tutorials online!) and opening one box a day for the month of December. You could make little ornaments out of boxes or shaped canisters from the dollar store, decorate and number them, and then put anything you wanted inside them for your little ones to be surprised with!
So what are your Christmas traditions? What is your favorite part of Christmas?
3 comments:
Are you bitter at me, dear? LOL.
Some of the kids I meet are on a constant diet of Simpsons and other sitcoms that are much too "adult" for their child minds.
I know the world is different now, you can't keep it all out of the home, and I'm not bashing tv, I love tv, but be careful what your little precious ones watch. It soaks into their inner being and changes forever how they see others and the world around them.
They'll get plenty of the real world when they are older and better equipped to handle it:)
Sorry, Mum on her soapbox.
I love the shoe box idea!
This year since money is so tight we are going to handmake all the rest of our gifts. We ran out of money after buying for like 4 members LOL
But I really hope that making gifts can become a tradition itself. Handmade gifts mean so much - even more when they are handpainted by a two year old :)
I too have recaptured the Christmas spirit. It really crushes me to know that I can't give Lizzie a huge Christmas full of gifts. But then I realize it is God's gift to me. He is helping me to teach her the true meaning of Christmas and not introduce her to the whole Christmas-means-lots-of-gifts thing too early!
I hope you have a merry Christmas!
-We have an advent calendar that I put a Hershey Kiss in each day for the boys.
-My husband's parents make us all Welsh cookies and send them to us.
-I torture my family with new Christmas pajamas each year. It also helps when looking back at pictures to know what year that was.
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