This year we are attempting to go even further in trying to remove so much of the commercialism from the Christmas season, but still give our kids deeper avenues in which to celebrate the real glory of this season. We love traditions, especially ones we can share as family. We would love to hear some of the beautiful traditions others in our community have established in their own families or even new ones they are starting.
If you’d like to share some of your worthwhile Christmas traditions, please take a moment to add a comment to this post.
Our family started a tradition about 5 years ago where ahead of time,I would plan 25 family activities for December 1st through Christmas Day. I write these activities on tiny strips of paper and attach them to a little tree that sits on our table. Our two boys would take turns finding the number of that day to pull off the tree and read it for the family. Some of the activities were things we could do as a family to serve someone else. Other activities were just fun memory-making ideas. Here are some that we have done in the past:
* Make 3 kinds of cookies and decorate them
* Package up cookies and deliver them to neighbors while wishing them a Merry Christmas together
* Read stories and /or sing songs to kids at the hospital or seniors in a care facility
* Have a snowball fight in the house (ahead of time, crumble up lots of newspaper into balls and then go for it!)
* Get a Starbucks drink and drive around looking at Christmas lights
* Make enough dinner for two families and bring over one of the dinners to a family in need (or a very busy, stressed out family!)
* Invite your kids’ friends to come over for games and snacks and let their parents have a date night or some time to prepare for Christmas.
* Make up Christmas Carol madlibs (write out songs and take out some of the nouns, verbs and adjectives and fill in with their words) Sing together.
We started this when our sons were 5 and 3 and they look forward to it every year. We’ve made a lot of memories and hopefully in the process, we are showing that we value spending time with them and serving others.
We love traditions in our family and this year we have decided to add a new one. The kids are already excited about it, so we even decided to update out blog as we incorporate the “Jesse Tree” into our advent season. The Jesse Tree comes from Isaiah 1:1: “A shoot will spring forth from the stump of Jesse, and a branch out of its toots.” Everyday from December 1-24, we will be connecting the major events of the Old Testament to show the faithfulness of God across history. Each day has a portion of scripture and the kids are coloring an ornament to add to our tree. (You can use any tree or branch, but we chose a fragrant Rosemary tree.) The bumpy road of the Israelites will, of course, lead to the triumph of the Messiah coming as a baby. We hope this tree will help make it more alive and exciting for our family as we experience this journey of hope. Here is a good website that had some of the best information on it:
http://www.cresourcei.org/jesse.html
The Henning Family
Every year when we set out our Nativity set we hide baby Jesus. We make sure the wise men are traveling from the East and we carefully set out all the characters of the birth scene, except for the baby. The kids giggle and go in another room while I carefully tuck the baby into its hiding spot for the Advent season. Each year the kids walk by the empty manger and talk about how they cannot wait to find him. On Christmas Eve, or close to it if we are traveling, the kids search the house for the baby and when they find him they lay him in his manger and we all celebrate the wonder of Jesus’ birthday.
This tradition has helped us engage in the hopeful expectation of Advent. This year my daughter made a blanket for the baby so as soon as she finds him she can wrap him in “swaddling clothes.” I am taken in each year by the earnest excitement that brims over in my kids as they
search for baby Jesus and put him in his rightful place at the center of the nativity scene. Their innocence and wonder help me to remember that this is how my heart should feel as I wait with all his saints for him to come again… and again.