‘Tis the Season for Christmas Traditions By Joana Nesbit

Many of us have holiday traditions carried down from past generations, either because they were dear to us as children or because they’re what we know. But it is never too late to start new traditions for your family. If you’re looking for ways to create new meaning for kids, take the focus off the big day, or just celebrate the season, here are a few ideas for right now or next year.

Advent Links
Sometime before December 1, Lizanne Schader, mother of two, creates an advent paper chain of twenty-five links with green and red paper (you could use more colors if you have more than two kids). On each link, she writes down an activity for the day, ranging from “Drink hot cocoa and read books by the fire after school” to “Go see The Nutcracker.” Most activities are simple, including pulling out Christmas books, eating breakfast for dinner, and watching a version of A Christmas Carol. Schader’s goal, above all, is not to do more, but to accentuate what her family already does. She says the tradition helps her family slow down amid the holiday craziness and appreciate spending time together.

In a twist on the paper chain, Lara Welker’s family is adding links to a “December Chain” each day, named as such to avoid adding to the count-down-to-Christmas momentum with her five-year-old daughter. Each day, they add three links to the chain, one each for the themes of family, simplicity, and generosity (chosen the evening before by Welker). The advantage to adding links is you don’t have to plan so far in advance, and you can go with the day-to-day flow. In past years, they’ve read a book about winter celebrations around the world (family), retrieved holiday books from the attic (simplicity), and chosen a child from the Salvation Army giving tree (generosity).

Treasure Hunt
I don’t normally associate treasure hunts with Christmas, but Carolyn McCarthy, of Bellingham, Washington, and her husband have created one as a Christmas tradition. In a bid to help their son get away from the frenzy of opening gifts and slow him down a little, they have created a treasure hunt for that final, special “Santa” toy. When he was younger, he set out with little picture clues, but now, as a grade schooler, he has advanced to reading short rhyming verses that help him on his way.

“It is fun for all of us, and it puts a little more focus on play and joy, rather than just ripping through stuff. It makes the gift at the end of that search even more special,” says McCarthy.

Relaxing with Old Favorites
Another favorite tradition of McCarthy’s, one she resurrected from her Mid-Western childhood, is listening to Dylan Thomas’s “ A Child’s Christmas in Wales.” “After a long energetic day,” she says of her childhood, “we would all lie on the floor and turn off all the lights except those on the Christmas tree and listen. It’s a beautiful, funny, vivid piece and Thomas’s voice is just amazing. He sounds like Santa Claus might.”

Other families pull out favorite Christmas stories they’ve collected over the years for evening read-alouds, even if the kids have grown beyond picture books. At my local elementary school’s book fair this year, several parents made a point of picking up new Christmas stories to add to the special box of seasonal stories. In our house, we have a compilation of Christmas stories that my mother-in-law gave my two children years ago, and they love
leafing through the book to read the stories again.

Ringing in the Light
Although they celebrate Christmas, a neighbor of mine, Lauren Fritzen, and her family also love to celebrate Solstice on December 21, the shortest day of the year. Centuries ago, winter solstice was considered a “starving time” and in pre-Christian times, people wanted to ensure the return of the sun. Fritzen’s family honors the sun by creating a Yule log, wrapping it with red ribbon and a holly sprig, and tossing it in the backyard fire pit. Then they write down a personal wish for the coming year, share it if they want, and toss the paper into fire.

Adding traditions to your family doesn’t have to add craziness. Often, less is more. For some fun Christmas traditions from around the world, check out www.portharbor.com/santa/xsatrad.htm. To learn more about Solstice and how to celebrate it, check out www.moonchildren.com/holidays/wintersolstice/index.html.

Joana Nesbit is a freelance writer who specializes in parenting and family travel.