| |
| |
|
lovelyholidays.org
|
|
|
|
Create Warm Memories with Holiday Traditions
I remember just a handful of the Christmas presents I received as a child: My first Barbie doll with her skinny black sequined gown. My soft, pink Pat-a-Burp doll. The microscope I got in second grade. But I have many, many memories of our holiday traditions. The lovely aromas of holiday ethnic food. Riding the South Shore train into Chicago to visit the "real" Santa. Using a paintbrush to decorate sugar cookies with colored frosting. Setting up our manger scene. Traditions add so much joy to the holidays. Traditions give a child a sense of belonging and identity. They strengthen bonds across generations and live long in memory. A family rich in traditions has a powerful antidote to commercialism. The more focused you are on pleasures that cost little or nothing, the more all the gifts tend to stay in their appropriate place. Best of all, many traditions are perfectly suited to today's busy families. Here are a few favorites: SIMPLE PLEASURES Light candles at dinnertime. If December mornings are dark where you live, light candles at breakfast, too. Take an evening stroll or car ride to look at Christmas lights. Serve warm chocolate with candy canes for stirring. THE JOY OF GIVING Let your kids in on the excitement of finding and wrapping gifts for those they love. Compliment them for being big enough to keep the surprise a secret. As a family, decide on a charity and make a donation. Our favorite is Heifer International (www.heifer.org). Take a plate of cookies or other holiday treats to a homeless shelter or to a police or fire station. GRATITUDE Give family members strips of paper in holiday colors. Let everyone write or draw something they're thankful for on each strip. Link the strips into a chain and hang as a decoration. Write thank-you cards to each other. Decide together when to open them. CONNECTING GENERATIONS Interview grandparents, aunts, and uncles about holiday traditions they remember from their childhood. Adopt any traditions that fit your family. Ask relatives for holiday recipes that have been handed down in your family. Or, search the Internet for holiday recipes related to your ethnic origins. NEW YEAR'S EVE If your kids are little, it works fine to celebrate the new year at 9 PM instead of midnight! Pull out photos and videos from the past year and share your memories. Keep a box of inexpensive noisemakers and party hats that you can re-use each year. The kids will enjoy pulling out their old favorites. NEW YEAR'S DAY Decorate a box in which you'll put photos, ticket stubs and other souveniers of the coming year. Talk about your hopes and wishes. Let each family member put New Year's resolutions into their own envelope. Author Mimi Doe ("Busy But Balanced") has a tradition of sealing the envelopes with wax -- a nice, magical touch. (c) 2004 Norma Schmidt, Coach, LLC Norma Schmidt, Coach, LLC, specializes in helping working mothers create balance. She offers workshops, teleclasses and individual and group coaching. Her free e-mail newsletter, "The Balance Point," is published bi-weekly. Visit http://www.NormaSchmidt.com
MORE RESOURCES:
Flashing mobile billboard in Bay Area poses questions during Jewish holidays - San Jose Mercury News
Apple's Holidays 2010 Lineup: iPod Nano 6th Generation, iTunes 10 Ping, iPod ... - LANewsMonitor.com
Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
St. Patricks Day Quotations "It's not that the Irish are cynical. It's rather that they have a wonderful lack of respect for everything and everybody. Planning a Spectacular Christmas Party The holiday season is typically filled with large fancy parties, small intimate gatherings, and extravagant dinner parties. Planning your own Christmas party can seem like you're competing with hundreds of other festive events during this time, but by adding special touches to every aspect of your party, its sure to be a success. New Ways to Use Old Christmas Cards Forty years ago when I was growing up on our dairy farm in Wisconsin, my mother always saved the Christmas cards she had received in the mail. In those days, people sent many more Christmas cards than they do now. Fourth of July Quotes MADRID - For millions of Americans, this Fourth of July will be a time of celebration and remembrance of those passed or distanced by war. The annual commemoration of Independence Day has always been a bittersweet time for Americans who evoke the thoughts of Cordell Hull, "I am certain that, however great the hardships and the trials which loom ahead, our America will endure and the cause of human freedom will triumph. Inexpensive Christmas Stocking Stuffer Ideas For Kids After all the gifts have been purchased and placed under the tree, that is the time that many remember in a panic that the stockings over the fireplace still need to be stuffed. Holiday budgets have most likely been spent and there isn't a whole lot of extra money available. How to Overcome the Overwhelm of the Holiday Season (And Reduce Holiday Stress) The Holiday Season can be a wonderful time of year, filled with lovely decorations, gift exchanges, visits with friends and family and delicious meals. But for many of us, the Holiday Season can also be quite overwhelming with all the added activities such as decorating our homes, selecting, buying, wrapping and exchanging gifts and hosting friends and family while we prepare multi-course elaborate meals! The question is, "What can we do to Overcome Overwhelm during the Holidays?"1. Tribute to Dad Father's Day should not be the only day that we celebrate Dads. I think we should make Fathers feel special all year long!As a wife and mother I would like to celebrate husbands with children. The Five Best Cigar-Related Fathers Day Gifts According to a recent study by the internet cigar retailer WhatsKnotToLove.com, Father's Day -- that shameless day of the year when wives, daughters and sons have to publicly humiliate themselves in a quest for a gift they know will go unappreciated -- has become a national epidemic. Make it an Unforgettable Birthday! The first known birthday celebrations began among the Egyptians with parades, circuses, and gladiatorial events - all complete with feasts that sometimes lasted for days. Romans celebrated the birthdays of their gods with parades and chariot races. The Origins of Mothers Day Mother's Day is, in many countries, a day for celebrating motherhood and thanking mothers. Mothers often receive gifts on this day, and it is a huge time of year for mail. Animatronic Halloween Props - Cardboard Carpentry One of the most inexpensive ways to create stonewalls in your home/haunt is by using good-'ol cardboard boxes. Boxes laid flat and painted to the desired effect are relatively easy and cheap methods of creating stonewall effects. Ten Tips for a Real Holiday Season Holidays and the start of a new year inevitably make us think about how we can improve ourselves, and have the life we want in the future. We make resolutions - I must lose weight, I will save more money - and then lose our way. The History And Origin Of Valentines Day The oldest Valentine card still in existence was sent in 1415 by Charles Duke of Orleans, at the time a prisoner in the Tower of London, to his wife. The Duke's Valentine's card is now preserved and displayed in the British Museum. Is Buying a Gift for Mom as Difficult for You as it is for Me? I have walked through a countless number of stores searching for a Mother's Day gift and I always see the same things. A nice blouse, a trinket for the kitchen, or perhaps a bottle of perfume (do they all smell the same to you too, or is it just me?). Easy Gift Ideas For Dad On Fathers Day Father's Day is just around the corner. If you're looking for a gift a little more exciting than the traditional tie, consider making up a men's pamper gift set. Nicely Designed Pillows As Gifts Many of us are probably squeezing out our brains to the limit just for a single purpose, to think of what to give especially when it's Christmas or just a simple birthday present. It's always nice to give the jewelries, toys, clothes and shoes as we all had been used to of what to give. Texas Exotic Hunting Texas Exotic Hunting is a popular sport in this state. Hog hunting in Texas and dove hunting in Texas are both considered exotic. EASTER: The Bunny and The Egg Ever wonder why there's an "Easter Bunny"? Ever wonder why he brings eggs? And dyed ones at that!The Rabbit and the Hare, because of their frequent multiple births, are long time symbols of fertility. According to pre-Christian fertility lore, long before Jesus Christ was born, the Easter Bunny, aka the Easter Hare, represented the new life during the Spring season. The Thanksgiving Blessing "Wouldn't you just know it," muttered my husband, Randy.We had already been driving for a couple of hours in a pickup truck that we had borrowed from a friend, and now it was completely dark. Find New And Exciting Halloween Masks For Your Next Costume Party! For most people that don't enjoy wearing messy makeup, Halloween masks are the next best option to complement your Halloween costumes this Halloween season.There is a Halloween mask existing in all-imaginable characters, and this year some brand new products are available online.
|
|
Powered By: Work At Home With Google - FREE! |
| © 2006 |
