It may seem too soon to some to start talking about the holidays, but I came to grips last year with the fact that I have not enjoyed celebrating Christmas for several years. And I feel very guilty about that fact. As a kid I drove my mom NUTS-O by begging to put up the tree, searching for hidden presents, and staying hyped up on fudge and cookies for 3 weeks straight. When I began to loose interest in all the “Christmas fluff” I chocked it up to the fact that I didn’t have kids and well, Christmas is for kids, right?
But then I did have kids. And the excitement didn’t automatically return. I have been through several holiday seasons now just going through the motions and doing what is expected of me. Planning a holiday party for our office staff, birthday party for Savannah, gift exchanges, mom’s group parties, family get togethers, church events, cookie bakes, friends dinner parties, school functions, etc. The list goes on and on. It’s too stressfull and exhausting to be any fun at all.
And last year was the last straw for me. I am calling it quits on the season of “go and do and see and be seen and by the way, bring a wrapped gift for the exchange”. I’m completely OVER IT! This is Christmas for CRYING OUT LOUD!!!! It’s about family and togetherness and snuggling around the fireplace singing carols while sipping on mugs of hot cocoa, dammit!
Which brings me to why I’m talking about it today of all days. Over the weekend I ordered a few books for my new Advent tradition and they have arrived. It has gotten me so excited!!! What is my new Advent tradition? I’m so glad you asked!
First of all, do you know what Advent means? It is a “season observed in preparation of Christmas”. It starts on the 4th Sunday before Christmas each year and is commonly represented by an Advent wreath, which holds 4 candles. Each candle is symbolic, and I won’t go into that here, but basically one is lit each week leading up to Christmas day.
So now that you know what Advent means, isn’t it totally appropriate that I would get out of the “Christmas Rat Race” by starting a tradition that uses the calming effect of candles to get our minds re-focused on what this season is all about? This is just so cool, I cannot wait until December 2nd!
Anyways, back to my plan. Before Advent starts, I’m going to individually wrap the kids Christmas books that they already own, plus the 5 new ones that I got super cheap on Amazon. Then, each night at bedtime, we will light a candle and they can choose one book to unwrap. Then we will read it together as a family. Now, I do not have enough books for them to unwrap a new one each night of Advent (which I think is about 23 days this year), but my kids are still young enough that they enjoy repetition, so that will not be an issue.
I think this is a wonderful tradition because as the kids get older they will have more and more books to choose from. This can be something they look forward to each year that will be calming in the midst of such busyness. And I hope they will always have pleasant memories of the weeks leading up to Christmas, rather than this being the time of year when it was best not to disturb Mom.
***And just so you know, I totally stole the idea from Chris! Feel free to do the same if it sounds like somethig your family would enjoy too!***
6 Comments
just so you know, all the red patent leather shoes like the ones i bought for mary catherine last week at walmart are already gone as are the christmas leggings i also bought! i went back to get more/exchange sizes and presto…gone. so i bought halloween ones instead! i love your ideas for advent and we too have scaled way back during the holidays. may i be the first to wish you a holy season and as mary catherine says, happy christmas. nana miz b
Great idea! My kids would love that. Another thing I started a few years ago to “cut down on the crap”
We still do Santa but Santa brings 3 presents since that’s how many Jesus got. They each get a book, an outfit, and a toy. I do fill their stocking with little stuff~toothpaste was a big hit last year! They get so much from grandparents and aunts and uncles this makes Christmas morning special and slow.
The Christmas craziness is a problem for us all, but most of all I hate how it’s become so much about gifts! I only have a newborn, but one of the traditions I plan on doing is having the kids bake a birthday cake for Jesus. It’s so easy to lose sight of the real meaning of Christmas when you are over your head in wrapping paper from an overabundance of gifts. I really like your ideas of celebrating advent. Could you let us know which books you bought, and which one is your favorite? Thanks!
Great Idea! Can’t wait until I have little ones to start traditions with!!
Great Idea!
We cut out a lot of the activity 2 years ago, and the stress level went way down. We acutally enjoyed the season!!!
We have never done an advent calendar–I’ve thought about it though. I need to find a good one and just do it.