Acquiring Holiday Traditions in a Busy Holiday Season
As we enter a busy holiday season filled with turkeys, Christmas gifts and family gatherings it is easy to lose sight of the real reason we celebrate these events. Teaching children to be grateful can be challenging. As the mother of three girls, I can remember a time when my husband and I were pregnant with our first child and we discussed how important it would be to teach our children the meanings behind Thanksgiving and Christmas.
No matter how old your children are, you can start holiday traditions that will be meaningful to your family. All you have to do is decide what kind of message you want them to have about this special season and then find activities that help reinforce those messages. After all, that’s what families and holidays are all about.
Here are few ideas for traditions your family could start to help your children learn the true meaning of this holiday season:
Focus on the reason for the season
An easy way to take the focus off of the new toys, gadgets and video games and to place it back on the real reason we are gathered together is to bake a birthday cake in celebration of Jesus’ birthday.
Give back as a family
On Thanksgiving morning head to a local homeless shelter and help to serve the needy in your area a warm meal. Then you have the rest of the day to spend celebrating with your family.
Gift like the three wise men
Since Christianity is such an important part of our family life we felt like it was important to teach Biblical truths through our modern day experiences. Our four-year-old can now tell you that she and her sisters get three Christmas gifts because that’s how many gifts Jesus got on his birthday from the three wise men. We give three gifts to each child: one from us, one from their siblings and one from Santa.
Skip spouse gifts
In lieu of you and your spouse buying each other gifts, consider picking two angels off the angel tree and buying gifts for the angels instead.
Be thankful
On Thanksgiving Day at the dinner table, go around the table and say what you are thankful for that year. The comments made by the children are priceless and really set the tone for a fun family gathering.
Celebrate accomplishments
A simple and fun idea to do with children and adults for Thanksgiving is to place a Christmas ornament on their plate representing something that child or adult has accomplished during that year. Each person is individually recognized for an accomplishment.
Read holiday-themed books
Keep holiday themed books with your decorations. No matter what religion you practice, an easy way to reinforce the messages you want your children to remember is by reading books to them. Keep your holiday books packed up with the holiday decorations. When you unpack them the kids will be excited to see them, and you can spend your holidays reading those special books.
