New Traditions

One of the few books I've read this year is Noel Piper's "Treasuring God in our Traditions". In it she talks about ordinary, everyday habits and also creavite ways to reflect Christ in those "especially" occasions. She devotes a whole chapter to Christmas where I've taken some of her ideas and added them to our own family traditions.

One of the biggest reasons I was looking for some more holiday traditions was because earlier this year I told Cole about Santa Clause and although it's been hard (on me! not him) I really think it's been the right decision. Santa Clause adds a lot of the "magic" to Christmas but I think if we try just a little, Christmas can hold the same anticipation and be even more special just by celebrating Jesus' birthday.

Some of you may be thinking right now that it sounds a little cruel to take Santa out of Christmas for a child. But Cole (like many other children) is such a literal thinker (ex. While explaining to Cole that some parents still tell their kids that Santa brings them presents because it's a fun thing to do, his first response was "But they're lying to them") and he is also very sensitive. I want my kids to always be able to believe everything that I tell them and never have to question if what I'm saying is make believe or not. I haven't pushed Santa out of the picture completely; they still get to watch all the fun shows on TV like the classic "Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer" - they just know that it's a fairy tale. A few more reasons is that it saves any later heartbreak, it focuses their attention on the real reason for Christmas and they also know that those presents are from the people who love them most whether they're good or bad.

Like I said, I'm trying to make Christmas just as much fun/special (if not more) without Santa. A new tradition we started was an advent calendar. I made ours with 25 pockets and put a little note in each one that has something different for the boys to make and give to someone each day. They are all very inexpensive, simple things like "Draw a picture for Oma and Papa and mail it to them" or "Make cookies for Grandma and deliver them to her work" or "Write a note/draw a picture for daddy and hide it under his pillow for him to find tonight". The boys have loved it and look forward to seeing what they're going to do next as soon as Cole gets home from school everyday. Not every single note is something for them to give - like yesterday was a present from Oma and Papa that they got to open early. It was a Little People nativity scene which is another new tradition that they'll get to get out every year. I think having a nativity scene will help them have a clearer picture of the Christmas story and it's something fun for them to play with.

Another new tradition we'll start is instead of setting out cookies for Santa we'll make cupcakes or cookies to celebrate Jesus' birthday. They'll get to sing , blow out candles and have dessert - what kid wouldn't like that better than setting out a cookie for someone else to eat? :)