Image via Tim Falle's incredibly superb flickr stream. Incredibly superb. This is our big "kick-off Christmas" weekend. If we can get past the crud that the girls seem to be inflicted with, we’ll get the tree tonight and spend the weekend decorating, pulling out the big advent calendar and filling it with treats and activities and just generally making the house festive. But I'm most excited about Sunday, as Audrey and I are getting dressed up and heading to Ft. Worth to see the Nutcracker at Bass Performance Hall…I’d love to turn this into a yearly tradition, so hopefully it goes well!
On the topic of traditions, I really enjoyed reading the holiday gift guide interviews over at the Glass Doorknob, especially Keri Smith's comments about her favorite holiday rituals:
“…i think kids make the holidays more fun, they are really into the experience of things, making cookies, decorating the tree, making things. each thing becomes monumental. if we think back to our own memories it is not the presents we remember but rather the time spent creating or playing.”
Her words were particularly poignant and timely, as I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how to make our Christmases more meaningful for the girls and less consumer driven. I'll use them to shake me back to reality every time I make another purchase or plan for the holiday…especially in those times when I say yes to something we really don’t want to do or feel the need to buy “just one more gift” for the girls.
So...Throw me some comments -- What are your favorite holiday tradtions/rituals?
4 comments:
Joslyn-- I agree with your post today. We've tried to get the shopping out of the way early so our weekends are spent decorating, making things for neighbors, walking in the cold woods here, etc. We've tried to stress experience rather than the physical props that just make it look like Christmas. For instance, Kari took our 6-year-old daughter to the Radio City Music Hall Rockettes show this year-- she fell in love-- it's so over the top. Perfect for a little girl who'd rather be a mermaid / princess / showstopper. (I'm glad to see the shadow puppets on your site-- I think they're terrific!)
Great post. I love the image too.
I love hosting a cookie swap - the best is when people bring treats that they have a special connection to [family recipes, a twist on a favourite cookie].
peep we went to a cookie swap last night and i have to say it was quite fruitful!
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