Christmas With Offspring
Christmas pre-kids is totally different than Christmas after children, or “A.C.”
Twittermoms asked me to share five things I enjoy doing with my kids during the holiday season.
1) I’m not going to hide it. We put up the Christmas tree. Today. Yes. Seriously.
It is so fun to put up the tree with little ones! Jojo is so excited. He was really sad to have to go take a bath and get ready for bed. I had to promise that I would NOT DO A SINGLE THING MORE to the tree without him present.
2) Christmas DVD’s are more exciting through a child’s eyes. We have also already watched our Grinch DVD (cartoon version, not Jim Carey version), It’s Christmas Time Charlie Brown, and Frosty the Snowman.
3) On December 6, we celebrate St.Nicholas Day. St. Nicholas is the actual person in history who our Santa Claus is loosely based on.
A lot of families wonder if they should “do Santa” or not “do Santa”. All of our Santa stuff happens on St. Nicholas Day.
St. Nicholas brings fills our Christmas stockings on December 6th. I try to include a wooden toy like St. Nicholas might have made for the children in his village (this year Jojo will get a small wooden pop gun I found for $2.95 at the book store). I also try to include some “gold”, usually chocolate covered gold coins.
I also bought a simple children’s book about St. Nicholas that we read on this day, and talk about who St. Nicholas was (very basic, like 6 pages long). It is a fun thing to do and I get excited just about the small gifts in the stockings!
This is another St. Nicholas book I want to get in the next year or so:The Legend of St. Nicholas: A Story of Christmas Giving
I love spreading out the gifts over the entire advent season so that each one is appreciated individually.
4)
I have a child-friendly nativity set made by Playmobile that the boys can actually touch and manipulate. (Warning! Choking Hazard Alert!) I have a “don’t touch” nativity set as well. Actually I have 3 toy versions and one “display” version.
I use the nativity set to tell the Christmas story. First, I display the empty stable. About a week before Christmas, Joseph and Mary appear in the room somewhere. You have to find them! Every day they are moved closer to the stable, until Christmas Eve, when they make it to their destination. Of course I add the baby Jesus and angels on Christmas morning. I mean, he wasn’t born yet before Christmas morning, right?
After Christmas, the wise men appear in the room and make their journey to the stable, until they finally arrive on Epiphany. And don’t you know, the wise men brought gifts? It’s a good reason to save some of the Christmas loot for a few extra days! Or, you could hit the after Christmas sales and score some “wise men gifts” at “wise mama” prices.
I am debating doing all of our gifts on Epiphany.
5) Christmas themed children’s books. I only get these out around Christmas time, so it is like having my own secret Christmas library. Today the book du jour was Do You See What I See?, one of those I Spy books with a Christmas slant.
Watch Dora’s Christmas Carol Adventure Dec. 6 on NickelodeonFavorite Holiday Activities with Kids
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24 November 2009, 7:29 am
Great post. Although my Christmases have always been secular, they are most fun when viewed through the eyes of Children. My Christmas has come 3/4 turn as my daughter is now grown and in her own home. No Children yet so no Grandchildren so our Christmases through the past 10 years have been childless. But I’m ready for a kid’s Christmas again and look forward to holiday traditions with the grandkids, who should come along relatively soon, I hope.
24 November 2009, 7:34 am
haha, my tree has been up since last week, but no decorations yet. Oh and just to torture the kids (not really) I have already wrapped gifts and placed them under the tree, I’m surprised my 2 year old hasn’t opened them yet.
I think watching christmas shows with my kids is what makes me the happiest. If it weren’t for their expressions I don’t know if I’d watch them.
I also spread the gift giving out because they get to enjoy them more. The only ones I don’t are from the family, they open those on Christmas Eve though.
24 November 2009, 11:42 pm
I love that you have a Playmobil nativity set. That’s pretty cool because the kids can play with it.
25 November 2009, 6:31 am
That is a great lot of traditions you are passing along and creating for your children. The feeling of joy they have now, during the holiday season…because you put in the effort, will most likely stay with them for life. My grandmother put the same quality effort into holiday cheer (if you will), and I still love the season.
25 November 2009, 6:32 am
Oh yeah…we’ve watched the Grinch already too.