'Tis the Season for Traditions
I'm super excited that Kady is old enough now to understand and participate in some of the Christmas Traditions. It's always been super important to me to establish such memories my children can cherish forever and pass along to their children.
Here are the traditions we will partake in this holiday season and for many seasons to come:
Serving: Every year I volunteer to serve Thanksgiving Dinner to the homeless vets of Las Vegas. It's always a humbling experience and I'm happy to see some of the same faces each year. Last year was my first year volunteering at the children's Muscular Dystrophy Christmas luncheon. This included buying and wrapping thousands of dollars worth of Christmas presents and serving lunch to the the kids and their families. What a HEART warming experience it is to see the twinkle in their eyes as they take photos with Santa, open presents, participate in crafts and the local fire Dept. usually stops by with a fire truck for the kids to see. I'm excited to do this again this year on December 11th. Although, neither of my girls are old enough to participate in such acts of charity at this point, they will be and I plan on making this a yearly tradition with the girls.
Giving to the less fortunate: So many ways to do this. I almost never pass by a food bank without dropping off at least $10 worth of canned goods, which got a bit expensive this year. The Las Vegas food banks are having a hard time staying full so there are donation drops EVERYWHERE! I've also considered signing the family up to volunteer for the Salvation Army. You know? To be one of those jingle bell ringers outside the stores :) We'll see....
One thing I have yet to accomplish but it's on the list is Operation Christmas Child . It's easy and fairly inexpensive. Kady I feel is old enough to help with this one. I figure we can chose a child of her age and she can help pick the supplies to fill in the Christmas box. The hard part will be convincing her it's not for her...this year anyways.
Another thing I've been looking into is Project Rudolph. We have several military friends. Some who are deployed, some who have just returned home from deployment and few who are stationed over seas in Germany (which is how I know of this). Project Rudolph is a Germany based Organization and was created to give deployed and deploying service members a bit of holiday cheer. The goal is to provide gift bags for not only the military members transitioning through the airport on days leading up to Christmas, but also for active duty Air Force members who work round the clock to keep the airport running smoothly, injured troops at the hospital, injured warriors at transition barracks, deployed Army, Navy and Marines working in Germany, and deployed troops downrange. All they require is letters written to our service men and women, candy canes and ornaments. Other than shipping, it doesn't get easier or cheaper than this. I just hope we didn't miss the cut off deadline for this one this year.
Christmas Tree: Growing up, our Christmas tree always went up Thanksgiving weekend and came down New Year's Day. It's a tradition I have continued to carry out. Being we have a fake Christmas tree because I'm allergic to real ones, we are able to do this. This year was the first Kady got to really help me decorate. It's kind of silly that I had to string lights on our pre-lit Christmas tree this year because half of them were out and I couldn't figure out how to fix it. When I look at it I see a Christmas tree on steroids. When the girls look at it they see TONS of blinking, twinkling lights. Maybe we'll have better luck next year.
Elf on the Shelf: If you have younger kids, I highly recommend the Elf on the shelf Christmas tradition. Like most children through the ages, they want to know how Santa really knows who is naughty and who is nice. The answer comes in the form of a small Pixie-elf. The first time the elf arrives, the children officially adopt him by giving him a name. He usually arrives around Thanksgiving time. His sole responsibility is to watch the children's behavior and report it to Santa each night. The next morning after the children awoke, they would discover the elf had returned form the North Pole and was now resting in a new and different place. There are rules. For example, to better preserve his mystique the children are not allowed to touch him but talking to him was okay. He is also under strict orders not to talk to the children but he could talk to grown ups. We we're given this Christmas tradition by my sister in law two Christmases ago. Again, Kady is at the age of which I believe she'll REALLY "get it." I think our elf will appear on December 1st and hopefully this year we'll be able to name him.
Reindeer Food: Just today I discovered Reindeer food. I know Kady's going to really LOVE this one. Being that her room is at the front of the house, she'll probably be peeking out her window all night long looking for the Reindeer.
With the hustle and bustle that comes with the Christmas season, it can sometimes be difficult to remember "The Reason for the Season." It's important to me that my children grow up knowing the TRUE meaning of Christmas, the gift of giving and that not everyone is as fortunate as they are. I want them to BELIEVE in the miracles of Christmas for as long as possible and realize just how magical this time of year can be.
"What an enormous magnifier is tradition! How a thing grows in the human memory and in the human imagination, when love, worship, and all that lies in the human heart, is there to encourage it."~Thomas Carlyle
Wishing you all a happy and joyful holiday season.....
No comments:
Post a Comment