Christmas Traditions For Your Family

Photo Courtesy

By: Angie @ Kids Matter

As the holiday season gets into full swing, lets discuss traditions that families have. I personally feel it is important to have traditions, not just for holidays but throughout the year. Kids will not always remember the gifts they received each year, but they will carry your family traditions with them forever.

1) Christmas Books: Many people collect 24 different Christmas themed books and wrap them individually. Each evening, a child opens one of the books to be read together as a family.

2) Baking cookies for Santa. We love to decorate special cookies for Santa and he even has a special plate at our house.

3) Special foods served each year at the big meal. For our house, it is always scalloped oysters on one side of the family and dumplings on the other. Delicious!

4) Gingerbread houses. You can bake it from scratch, but in our house we just buy the kits. It makes my life easier and the fun is in the decorations, not the baking for this.

5) Visiting Santa. We actually see Santa twice each year. We go to see him at the mall and have a great picture taken, but our church also has Santa come to a big breakfast that they have at the beginning of December.

6) A new ornament for each child, each year. We always do this with the intention of when the kids move out, they will already have ornaments for their own tree. I try to make it personal by selecting something reflective of the past year and I prefer the ornament to be home made, whether by us or someone else.

7) Writing a letter to Santa. In our house, you can't ask Santa for more than three things. It can be hard to narrow it down, but somehow he manages to do it each year.

8) Angel Tree. Each year we select a kid to buy for. The kid is either my son's age or has the same interests as him, then we go shopping and my son picks out a gift or two for the Angel.

9) Salvation Army. Each year we participate in the red kettle campaign by spending a few hours ringing the bell with some friends. In addition, I have to keep lots of cash on me for my son to donate in each and every red kettle he sees.

10) North Pole Breakfast. The morning after we decorate the tree, we eat breakfast under the tree. It is always festive, but we just eat donuts and drink hot chocolate. Our Elf usually shows up that morning also.

11) Elf on the shelf. We participate in the Elf on the shelf, but our elf (Buddy) knows that there are some rules he has to follow too. He is not allowed to make big messes or be bad. Buddy can be silly without making a big mess and we expect him to boost spirits by pointing out nice things we do and leaving little notes to parents about some nice things.

12) Birthday party for Jesus. Our church has a birthday party with snacks and storytelling and each family brings books to be donated to foster children. In addition to this, my parents always have a cake for Jesus and the grandchildren get a lit candle to blow out in each of their slices of cake.

13) A personal Christmas tree. We replace the nightlight in my son's room with a small tabletop Christmas tree that he decorates and we keep it lit for him each evening.

14) Drive around to see Christmas lights. If it is not too cold, bonus points for the kids being in pajamas for the ride.

15) Drive Through Bethlehem. Our church puts on a live action Bethlehem and includes real animals and actors portraying scenes. We always attend this event and it is a highlight of the season for us.

16) Stockings. Each year the stocking has a piece of fruit and 4 toothbrushes, in addition to small gifts. That is because my stocking always contained those things when I was growing up and I carried the tradition over.

What are some of the traditions that your family carries with you every single year?

Love Does Not End With Death: Coping Through the Holidays

Love Does Not End With Death: Coping Through the Holidays

Belinda @ Kids Matter

Never is anything related to death a pleasant and easy experience. But… we have to pick ourselves up and get through the holidays. Isn’t that what they would have wanted for us? Chances are your loved one was well aware of your love for them. I think that is the hardest part about grieving, beyond the actual physical missing of them. So many doubts run through your head. You wonder if they knew the depth of your love. You begin to go over every conversation you had with them, every fight, and each argument from small to great. This isn’t grieving. This is doubt, a seed you have planted in your own mind to prevent you from dealing directly with death. So, how do you cope with death over the holidays?

No, I’m not a certified expert, but I do have experience. The first step is allowing yourself to admit that your loved one was well aware of your feelings for them. There… doubt eliminated.  Secondly, your loved one would not want you to grieve through the holidays. They knew, as we do now, that holidays are for celebrating life. And lastly, with that being said, celebrate the life of your loved one over the holidays. Yes, they are gone, but… oh, what a wonderful life they lived and what glorious memories they left in our hearts. This is not the time to shut out memories, smiles, or happy feelings… this is a time for sharing all those wonderful things given to you by your loved one.

Dr. Alan Wolfelt said it best, “love does not end with death”. So, if it doesn’t end with death then we must celebrate love every opportunity we get and holidays are no exception to that rule. Odds are you are going to gather with family that loved this person as well. Take this opportunity to include the deceased in your holiday celebrations. One suggestion would be to have an object that meant something to the deceased at the family get together. Allow this object, or even a picture of the loved one, to be discussed openly among the gathered. Allow people to recall those memories, smiles, and happy feelings. Will this be easy for you? Maybe not, but I assure you, your heart will feel better.

The roughest hurdle in grieving is the feeling that you have to let go of this person you loved so dearly. Why? “Spend time thinking about the meaning and purpose of your life.  The death of someone loved created opportunities for taking inventory of your life— past, present and future.  The combination of a holiday and a loss naturally results in looking inward and assessing your individual situation.  Make the best use of this time to define the positive things in life that surround you,” as Dr. Wolfelt advises. Keep in mind that you were most likely not the only person on this earth to care about the deceased. That means you should connect with those whom you have an eternal bond with through life and death. Don’t push people away because you are in so much pain that just the thought of taking one more breath seems like you are committing a crime against the one you lost. Stop that! The person you lost loved you just as much as you loved them. They want you to continue on your journey through life and be fulfilled by the things in life that made them happy the short time they were with you. Live for them. Celebrate your life and theirs.

Death Came December

Written by: Belinda

Winter comes,
An unforgiving season,
Hazards at every turn,
We are unprepared.

Days grow shorter,
Darkness looms,
Depression sets in,
Minds grow weary.

Holidays come,
Days grow frantic,
Bills pile up,
Stress becomes reality.

Life goes on,
We travel to work,
Accidents happen,
We aren’t prepared.

Bodies grow old,
Organs fail,
God comes to call,
Families left to mourn.

December came,
Took many we love,
Memories it left,
We must carry on.

The hole in my heart,
One day will be filled,
With memories of you,
Until I see you again.

At the Gates of Heaven,
Steadfast you stand,
Your hand guiding me,
Your light protecting me.

Death came December,

Holidays upon us,

Memories heavy,

Heart’s a blaze.

Christmas… Truly the Busiest Time of the Year

Christmas… Truly the Busiest Time of the Year

Kim @ Kids Matter

Christmas is such a busy time, especially when you work full time.  Most moms have to cook dinner and attend to the daily routine. There is never enough time to shop, have pictures made, send Christmas cards, bake, decorate, yada yada yada. The list is long. 

When I was younger, I actually dreaded Christmas. It was so much work for one day (December 25^th).  Now I reflect back and wish I knew then what I understand now.  Remember that old saying, “too old too soon, too smart too late”?   Yes, it is so worth it to run crazy for a month or more to prepare for that one day.   It isn’t until years later that the impact is understood through the memories of our children and what they have to tell us about yesteryear. 

My daughter made the statement; while she was dating her now husband that, “Mom transforms the house into a Christmas wonderland. It is so great. I love Christmas!”   My children appreciate the old Santa pictures and also tell stories remembering those special presents.  For me, over the past decade, I have grown to appreciate the family gatherings while watching the children grow. This year my daughter is the mother of a one year old.  She is experiencing the stress of all the Christmas chores, but she does it, as we all did, for the child(ren).   I do think she “gets it” even if she might complain a little. I have only heard her complain about the expense of it. She is beginning to think about maybe a scarf and gloves or a candle.  We found inexpensive toys for children at Walgreens too.  After all, it really is the thought that counts.

We have begun to draw names for children in the extended family.  My sister-in-law wished that we didn’t have to do that for our immediate family. She remembers going to Grandma’s for Christmas and having a stack of presents.  She wanted her children to have that same excitement and memories.   Times are not what they once were.  Things are so expensive.  She explained that the stack of presents could be a coloring book and crayons in one, or socks in another. It wasn’t the richness of the gift, but the excitement of receiving a gift.  She is so right.  We forget that children just love to open presents.  Ever watch children at a birthday party? They tear from one present to the next; barely even acknowledging what the present is at that moment.

So, I think we should remember it is all worthwhile, downsize our gifts, and that it’s the excitement of having the gift that is most important to children.   Christmas is all about giving and loving.  The Christmas “chores” we do might just be a gift of love.

Finding Christmas Spirit

Finding Christmas Spirit

Belinda @ Kids Matter

Oh, Christmas spirit… where art thou?? I seek you in the dark, in the light, through the ark, and with all my might. I cannot find you near or far, here or there, or anywhere. I beckon. I summons. I plead on my knees. Oh, the need to feel the reason for the season. How I long for the enthusiasm of thee. Each year races by quicker as age sets in. Frailty overtakes me. January to November passes with the brevity of a summer storm. Year after year, time grows shorter. I reach out, too slow, Christmas cheer sped right by. I lunge forward, too fast, Christmas emotions linger slowly. I stood, not with grace, but lifelessness on my face. Hopelessness doth quickly gait. In the distance… carried on the winds of bliss, drifting note by note into a joyful melody, came the sound of a Christmas bell. The heavenly tune inspired a growing light within. The light originated as an ember and grew hastily into a blazing flame thrusting Christmas cheer throughout mind, body, and soul. Hooray… it’s Christmas!  Laughter erupted from deep within; tears of joy streamed mercilessly over my cheeks. Dancing and singing burst forth with glee. Oh, Christmas spirit, there you are… in joy and in light, for good will and all right. You hug me tenderly and inspire me tremendously. You are ever so gentle, but ever so fierce, as you enter like a lamb, and exit like a lion. You are ever present but often hidden by our own hearts, through the reality of life the other eleven months. We seek you so hard, yet you come in as an ember, a melodious note, a tender hug, the smell of cinnamon, a special ornament, a favorite cartoon, or a handwritten card. We are the seekers but you are the finder. Oh Christmas spirit, Oh… Christmas spirit, what a wonder you are.

Often, we seek so hard for inspiration that it goes unnoticed as it glares us in the face. Our hearts are so blinded by the day to day realities of life that we don’t see those blessings or evidence right in front of us. We must force ourselves to push the pause button. STOP… breathe… listen… look… and smell the sensations around you. It only takes one small ember to build a giant bonfire within your soul. Here are some inspiring quotes to fan the embers of Christmas spirit. Enjoy!

Dale Evans: “Christmas, my child, is love in action. Every time we love, every time we give, it's Christmas.”

Alexander Smith: “Christmas is the day that holds all time together.”

Ruth Carter Stapleton: “Christmas is most truly Christmas when we celebrate it by giving the light of love to those who need it most.”

Norman Vincent Peale: "Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold; everything is softer and more beautiful."

Edna Ferber: "Christmas isn't a season. It's a feeling."

Dr. Seuss: “And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so? It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled 'till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store? What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more?”

Marjorie Holmes: “At Christmas… all roads lead home.”

Thankful November to Giving December

Thankful November to Giving December

Belinda @ Kids Matter

Did you ever stop to think about how the months transition into feelings and emotions? Truthfully, I sure didn’t until I was pondering what the next blog topic would be and I realized it happens quite often. I think that’s called being aware of your surroundings. How’s that? Are you always cognizant of the ebb and flow of the calendar year?

Let’s take a look; examine the 12 months that make up our emotional rollercoaster. First up we have January with its new year’s resolutions and grandiose plans. As we put that month to bed with our less than anticipated results, we slip all into mush mode with February. From there we kiss the blarney stone and welcome spring. Yes, then the April showers that bring the May flowers and long Memorial weekend. June rolls quietly till near the end when summer emerges and vacations begin. July explodes with amazement and color as the heat peaks and moves us to August when vacations end and school begins. The work force celebrates September and October emerges with horror and fright into the lengthening nights.

Now, having just emerged from thankful November, we move eagerly into giving December where we give to those we thanked in the prior month and expand upon the giving by donating and contributing to those less fortunate than ourselves. Isn’t it odd that it takes us 11 months before we work up the enthusiasm to share and spread joy? That’s the ebb and flow of it. We just breathe and go with it… year after year.

Retailers know the ebb and flow, matter of fact that’s how they stay in business. They know when we are in mania mode. They target us with sales we can’t resist. So, if they know and we know, what would happen if we upset that ebb and flow? What would happen if we gave to the poor and fed the homeless all year long? What if we bought Christmas in June and were thankful every day? Crazy, right? Or is it?

Monday Meanderings - Affordable Gifts

Well, January is almost over and if you are like me, you have already been to a few kid's birthday parties. With your kids being invited to so many parties, it can get expensive to supply gifts to everyone. I have scoured the Internet to come up with affordable gift ideas that you can use.

First up is Teaching Good Eaters. She put together several activities but I especially love the monster kits. How fun to "build" your own monsters.

Next we have Poopscape Projects with a great homemade Shrinky Dink project. You could put together a kit that includes the pre-cut and roughed plastic and some colored pencils, along with directions on putting together pieces.

The Artful Parent has a tutorial for dying play silks using kool aid. I just love the colors and the process seems simple to follow. You can also go to Tried and True to print out a graph of mixing kool aid packages to get certain colors. Very handy and affordable.

Creative with Kids is making me flash back to my own childhood. How cute to make the Paint with Water Pages. You could make several of the pages and also give the child a couple of paintbrushes and a small lidded container to carry water in.

Well, there are a few ideas to get you started. Each birthday party that your child gets an invitation to, does not have to cause you to panic. Put together a gift that you can afford and your child will be happy to give and make for their friend.

Santa Claus is coming

If your house celebrates Christmas, have you discovered the Portable North Pole yet? This is a great free service that offers videos that you customize.

You type in your child's name, country, state, age and a few other things. When you have completed the form, Santa sends a video to your child. It is completely magical for kids, as it also includes pictures of the children.

We have done this each year with our son and he always gets very excited to see the movie from Santa.

Roll a Tree Math Game

I put together this game in about 5 minutes to work on our math skills. I cut 4 different sized triangles from green craft foam, one rectangle from brown craft foam and one crooked star from yellow craft foam.

The object is to roll the die and use the pieces that match the key card I drew up. We enjoyed playing this game. It reinforced the counting skills and worked on matching sizes since the triangles that form the tree get consistently smaller.

Have a great day!

Decorating the Tree Math Skills

Working on our math skills some more for the holidays. I cut out a large triangle to represent a tree and then I traced a penny all over the tree. Once that was complete, I pulled out lots of pom poms and we got playing.

Each time we rolled the die, that is the number of pom poms we would put on the tree. If your pom poms are smaller or larger than mine, just use another item to trace for your circles. We enjoyed this game lots as it was math but we could be creative with how we put the colors on. I did not restrict my son's color choices but you could turn this into a patterning game also by making all even numbers a certain color and all odd numbers another color. There are a variety of ways to do this. AB patterns, ABC patterns, AABB patterns, AAB patterns, etc.

Learning can be fun.

Do you believe in Santa?

Picture courtesy of Science Blogs

When I was growing up, everyone that I knew believed in Santa Claus. That is not always the case these days. I am not here to tell you which is the "right" way to raise a child. I am just going to show you some different perspectives for both sides. Before I begin this I will preface it by saying that in my house we believe in Santa.

There is an article on Science Daily about a study done in 1896 and repeated in 1979. The study looked at 1,500 kids between the ages of 7 and 13 and whether they believed in Santa Claus or not. The study found that 46% of the kids in 1896 and 44% of the children in 1979 gradually found out on their own that Santa did not exist. The study went on to say that about half of each percent were disappointed that Santa was not real but very few (2% and 6% respectively) felt betrayed about the believe. Most of the children even continued to pretend for the sake of younger children that Santa did exist even though they knew it not to be true.

Last year, Parade Magazine ran an interesting article about a man and when he no longer believed in Santa. It makes for an interesting read about how when something significant happens in your life you can usually recall tiny details of that event forever. He recalls the moment that he stated aloud that he know longer believed, a shooting star shot across the sky. I was also 7 when I stopped believing. Nothing as dramatic as a shooting star for me. I was snooping under the tree one day after school (my parents told me not to but that just piqued my interest). My Mom had already wrapped my gifts from Santa and had stuck them in the very back under all of the family gifts. I found them and then I went to my older and wiser brother (he was 11) to inquire about how come Santa had already come to our house and if I still had to be good. My brother told me that there was no Santa and that Mom & Dad just did that for me. I was upset but not devastated and my parents still give me presents that say From: Santa on them and I am way past 7 years old now.

There is a blog I read called Teacher Tom's Blog. I like him as he lets the children in his care make the rules for their school. He had a great post recently about Santa. I hope you will click on the link to read it but basically in large circle they were talking and the subject of Santa was brought up. He played uninformed and pretended to have not heard of Santa. The children proceeded to tell him their take on Santa and how the whole magic process happens.

Many people do not want to teach their children about Santa because of the "lying". I do not want to lie to my child and I want to give him the best possible start in life. Santa is on every street corner and it is hard to explain to children that see him everywhere that he is not real. I have a friend who does not celebrate Santa in her house. There are no religious reasons or any "great reasons" (her words, not mine) that she decided to not teach about Santa. She just felt that there was enough misguidance in the average life that it was not her place to purposely mislead her children. They have never had their picture taken on Santa's lap and all of the gifts under their tree say who it is actually from instead of an imaginary person. I love my friend and I respect her right to bring her children up with any believe she wants. I never discuss Santa in front of her children but I am perplexed as to how to handle it when my child gets older. I spoke to her about it and she stated that she told her children that many people believe in Santa as a real person but in her heart it is more of a feeling than a person. When I asked her to explain she said that she felt that the best part of the "Santa" believe was the giving of gifts and the love. This is the part of Christmas she taught her children. She taught them to love one another and to show their love with words and sometimes with gifts. This is a believe that I can get behind but in my house we will still visit Santa every year.

What about in your house? Do you teach your kids about Santa?

Monday Meanderings - Christmas Crafts

Last week was Hanukkah crafts, this week we move on to some Christmas crafts. Next week we will be covering some Kwanzaa crafts so be sure to come back for that.

A cute and simple snack for the kids. Love the marshmallow snowmen at Random Thoughts of a Super Mom.

Love these ornaments from Mumma Made It and if you used plastic ornaments it would be doable for most ages.

Homemade Mommas made a very cute gumdrop tree. For my son (3 years old), it would be hard to use a glue gun and let him participate so I would probably pre-stick toothpicks into the tree and let him stick the gumdrops on in any design he chose.

Have a great Monday!

Holiday Traditions

Each family has their own specific holiday traditions but sometimes it is fun to add some additional ones to your family. These traditions are what the kids will remember when they grow up and move out of your house. They may not remember a gift 10 years from now but they will remember your traditions.

Here are some traditions that I practice or I have heard of practicing every year.

1) Take the kids pictures in the same place every year.
2) Writing letters to Santa.
3) Using the same stockings every year.
4)Always put up the tree at the same time each year.
5) A day of cookie decorating.
6) A girls day - all the girls/women in the family spend the day together going out to a meal.
7) A boys day - all the boys/men in the family spend the day together going to a ballgame.
8) Open one gift on Christmas Eve. We open pajamas.
9) Having the same breakfast every year.
10) Reading of special holiday books.
11) Picking a charity to donate to.
12) Picking a person from an angel tree. We always pick one close in age to my son.
13) Sending out Holiday cards.
14) Sending out Thank You cards. If your child is too young to write, take their picture with the gift, print it out and let them draw a picture for the recipient.
15) Setting out cookies and milk for Santa and carrots for the reindeer.
16) Elf on the Shelf. We set our Elf (named Buddy) out on the shelf and he reports to Santa if my son is being good or bad.
17) Put the kids in pajamas and then go for a car ride to look at lights.
18) Buy one ornament for each child. When they move out, they will have ornaments for their first tree.
19) Make ornaments every year with the children.

Those are some good traditions to think about when you are trying to decide on some for your family. What other traditions do you do?

Homemade Gift - Memory Game

I was in Hobby Lobby recently and bought some stamps with a coupon I had. I decided to use the stamps to make my son a memory game for Christmas.

I stamped each picture on two different rounds discs. My discs are about 2 inches round. I just used black ink to keep them simple looking. It would also be easy to draw pictures in the discs. I drew on the sun and crescent moon.

I am pleased with how these turned out and they will make a very cute gift for my son. I went with a nature theme but it would be easy to make them with trucks or dolls. If you do not want to stamp the discs it would also be easy to put fabric or paper on one side of each disc. This game can be customized to match any interest your child may have.

Advent Calendar

As the holiday season is approaching I thought it would be a great time to show you an Advent Calendar that I made for my son this past weekend.

I sketched out a picture of Santa and on his beard I drew 24 circles and numbered them. Each day, we will glue on either a white pom pom or a white cotton ball. I have not decided which one yet.

This Santa is cute but he did not turn out exactly they way I had envisioned so I will give you some pointers on how I envisioned him working out. I wanted to make him magnetic to hang on the inside of our front door and each day we would use a magnet pom pom to fill in his beard. I had already even made the magnet pom poms by gluing magnets on to small white pom poms. However, I thought he would be sturdier if I drew him on craft foam so I traced my original sketch onto the white craft foam and then cut out red foam for his hat and glued that onto the white foam. I then glued on googly eyes and a large white pom pom for the hat.

Once that was dry, I put magnets on the bag and stuck him to the door. I have to admit, I was pretty proud of myself, until I tried to put a magnet pom pom on his beard and realized the craft foam was too thick for the magnets to be able to stick to the metal door. I was very disappointed but you can rectify this when you make one. Instead of using craft foam like I did, sketch the Santa onto card stock and then you can laminate him for durability and the magnets should still stick to a metal surface.

Feel free to print out a copy of the Santa for your use.


Happy Holidays! If you decide to make a Santa Advent Calendar, please send us a picture or a link to him!