Search Results for: blog making christmas traditions

It’s Christmas!

The countdown to Christmas is on and parents the world over are feeling the heat. With Santa coming to town in just a few days, St. Nick’s mom and dad helpers are scurrying to prepare for his arrival.  Around here that means stocking up on stocking stuffers. One seasonal surprise my 8-year-old will be waking up to on December 25th is a delightful book filled with festive poems. It’s Christmas is a collection of whimsical prose that are silly, sweet and perfect for the season. Author Jack Prelutsky does a phenomenal job of making merry with his hilarious takes on … Continue reading →

Creating Holiday Traditions

I once heard a child psychologist state that the best gift parents can give their kids is consistency. I think the shrink was on Oprah, and I’m pretty sure she wasn’t advocating consistent beatings, neglect or emotional distress. I get what the expert was trying to say; kids thrive when they don’t have to deal with chaos. They love routines, schedules, rituals and traditions. So, why not start a few as we countdown to Christmas? It’s never too late to begin a seasonal family tradition. Gather the kids and choose a holiday-themed activity everyone can have fun with. Then, make … Continue reading →

Are You Making Things Harder on Yourself?

Still in a turkey coma? I wish I was, too much cleaning and decorating going on at my house. Remember the good old days when Mom just made everything magically appear and all you had to do was enjoy? When I was growing up the tradition was that Santa put the tree up on Christmas Eve. Looking back I’m not sure if that made things harder or easier. Especially when my mother was a single mother. It’s so hard to get everything ready all by yourself. I can’t imagine how hard that was to do alone. Get the kids to … Continue reading →

Family Traditions

I think traditions become even more important when you are a single parent. Hailey was ten when I got divorced, our holiday traditions represented continuity and security for her, she knew what to expect this strange first Christmas in an apartment. I tried really hard to make sure we still did all of the things we had done in our home as a family. We strung Christmas lights on our little balcony. The tree went up the day after Thanksgiving and Hailey still got to put the angel on the top, although it was a little harder for me to … Continue reading →

Making Fall Memories

As a single mom I’m always trying to find fun things to do with my daughter on a very limited budget. Fall is the perfect time to get outside. Nature walks are fun and educational. Let your little ones collect leaves and pine cones and other things they find. When you get home you can research the leaves on the internet and find out what kind of leaves they are and find some fun facts about that type of tree. Once you are finished learning all you can about your find let the kids make a collage with the treasures … Continue reading →

Traditions Part 2

When families try to make traditions for their kids it can be extremely difficult to mix traditions that both parents grew up with, with ones that they would like to have for their new family. At our house there are two holidays that we always have at our house and they are Easter and Thanksgiving. On both days we all take part in making the holiday dinner. For Thanksgiving we do something a little different. I started this one when my sister and I were grown up and she had her own children. I started taking the kids to the … Continue reading →

Family Traditions

One area that we were asked about during our Home Study was what family traditions we had or that we would like to do with our children, and also what the extended family thought about them. We had never really given any thought to it so this made us actually sit down and have a great discussion about traditions and the holidays. We started by making a list of the different major holidays and then started talking about what each of us did growing up and what parts of that did we want to make as our own traditions. You … Continue reading →

New Year’s Eve Traditions

Well Christmas is over with and now we look forward to the next celebration, New Year’s Eve. That is one of my favorite times of the year because we have made it a rule that our family is together that night. This means we don’t go to other people’s houses to celebrate New Year’s and our children don’t get to go to the youth group celebration. In fact my sister asked if my boys could spend New Year’s Eve with their cousins but I had to say no. That is our time together as a family and I will protect … Continue reading →

Tasty Traditions – Holiday Baking

Since I love to bake, it is not surprising that I often find myself thinking about baked goods. At this time of year, I am sure that I am not the only one with cookies on my mind. There is no better time of year for a cookie lover. From office parties to family dinners and everywhere in between, it seems like there is a plate of cookies almost everywhere you go during the holidays. The variety of holiday cookie recipes out there seems to be endless. However, in many families, the same types of cookies are made year after … Continue reading →

A Christmas Tableaux

With just over a month to Christmas it’s time to start thinking about Christmas decorations. I rarely buy new decorations but jets tend to recycle the same ones in different places or freshened up each year. Usually like Mary Ann I have bowls willed with pinecones as part of my table decorations. This year though I have a brand new Christmas decoration and it will on prominent display. It is a Christmas tableau. Released by Walker Books The First Noel – A Christmas Carousel by Jan Pienkowski is a delightful work of art. While closed it looks like a book, … Continue reading →