We've Never Been Much for Traditions...

Growing up, holiday celebrations for my family were sporadic to say the least. I'm fine with how we were raised so this isn't about woe is I {woe is me?} for not having those sorts of things 'figured out' for when we had kids. We didn't really have traditions of any kind in place. My husband's family however, had quite a few traditions. But they lived on four acres, were always homeschoolers, and life was different for them. 

There have been attempts at making some traditions in our family, such as making some sort of Christmas ornament every year. And decorating after December 1 for Christmas. I mean, come on, people! Christmas decorations up the day after Halloween?? Where's Thanksgiving even??

But I digress. {I'm long-winded though, so there may be more digressions to come.}

Perhaps I should start with the disclaimer that for us Christmas is probably not the same as it is for other families. We acknowledge that it is the day set by many people for the day of Jesus' birth but we also are quite realistic and know that it is indeed not the day of the Savior's birth. We also know that there are probably more families that set it as the day that Santa comes around dropping presents through the chimney for good girls and boys. We have never done the Santa bit. {And we don't even have a chimney. *wink*} 

Where does that leave us with Christmas? It is a time {"Christmas" never lasts for one day} when we get together as a family and appreciate each other. It is about enjoying the blessings we have in our family. Maybe you could say it's an extension of Thanksgiving. We exchange gifts, of course, and we eat good food. We spend a lot of time being happy with where we are and who we are with.

Jesus is the reason for every season, not just Christmas. 

We have not been good at making traditions that will pass on for generations. Is it ever too late to start a tradition? Since we have lived in Ohio we have done more in the way of holiday traditions than ever before. I think it has some to do with the fact that we used to travel to visit family in another state for Christmas. We didn't need our own tradition- we had theirs. Before living here we only had a tree in our house a small number of times. It was always at someone else's house. I have only a handful of Christmas posts here that talk about what we do/have done. And they have all been written since we have lived here. There are even less Thanksgiving posts. We have attempted to do Advent activities a few times. 

And lights! We love lights here. Not the inflatable snowmen, reindeer in the yard, or light up the sky so the International Space Station can see it. But lights are definitely a tradition here; inside and out.

My kids are -bah! one is no longer a 'kid'!- 19 and 16 years old now. Anyway, this year I'm starting a new tradition for us. I'm sure this is nothing new for many others but hey, it's new to us! When I told my kids what I was going to do they looked at me funny. I'm used to that by now. 

*Drum roll....*

Unwrapping a book to countdown to Christmas day. 

There are undoubtedly a lot of others who have done this, and do this still. I love books so I'm quite disappointed in myself for having not done this before now. But in my defense, my hubby really really thinks I have a book addiction that he is possibly devising ways to cure me of. {No chance of that! My home library is steadily growing.}

Since I decided to attempt this tradition just this month, I'm not going to make it to 25 books for the whole countdown. But that is alright. I have 6 at the moment, and perhaps a couple more can be included from my bookshelves. Here are the specific books* I have so far:

*all images courtesy of Amazon, which are linked to my affiliate code. See Disclosure/Policies.

I would love to have a few more books but we'll just have to wait to see how it goes! Just right off, The Long Winter is a book I'll probably add to the stack for the chapter titled "Merry Christmas". The books I chose were influenced greatest by lists given on the AO forum, as well as some of the pins on Pinterest. Two other books I would like to get are How the Grinch Stole Christmas and The Crippled Lamb.

Now, since this post gives the allusion that I'm going to give tips on how to create traditions in a family with older kids, I'll end by pointing you to places that give better ideas than I have. 

• Parents has a list of 14 Ways to Create Fun Family Traditions.
• Cozi gives 50 Holiday Traditions ideas.
• The Art of Manliness has over 60 Family Tradition Ideas. The holiday tradition ideas are near the end.
• The Imagination Tree gives 50 Magical Family Christmas Traditions.

There is probably overlap in those lists and many will be ideas you won't want to even consider for your family. But all those great ideas! 

The best way to start a tradition is to start.

On Holiday- the Charlotte Mason Way {maybe}

“On holiday” – does that conjure thoughts of Thanksgiving and Christmas? It does for me but ‘holiday’ doesn’t just mean the days of the year that are marked on the calendar as a day when the post office is closed Holiday* can also mean {chiefly British} a period of cessation from work or one of recreation; vacation (dictionary.com).

According to that definition, the next week for us is a ‘holiday’. We will be ‘ceasing’ with our studies, or taking a vacation, and hopefully having some recreation. That the week is also the week of Thanksgiving was completely coincidental- and quite fortuitous.

The next Charlotte Mason blog carnival is pertaining to ‘holiday’ activities. Thankfully the Parents’ Review has some insightful articles that discuss how Charlotte Mason envisioned children (and families) spending their holidays. She did not think that the parents should cater to the children and make sure they had constant fun and entertainment. {Thank goodness! I don’t do that so well!} She also did not suggest that the children simply exhaust themselves with ‘play’ and then pass out afterward. Rather {what I gather} is that Miss Mason believed that giving of oneself and our time to others should be at the top of the list on holiday. 

I would love to be able to take my children to the mission, food pantry, or homeless shelter to devote our time to giving some happiness to another person. I have not taken that step yet because of various financial and personal reasons but it is definitely something that I hope to make a part of our lives. This is something that is not simply forgotten. It is a time that one takes from themselves and give to others.

“Would it not then be an excellent thing to assume, as a matter or course, that a certain proportion of each holiday should be set aside for the benefit of other people, in working for missions, for the poor, or for the children's hospitals; the object is not of much moment, provided the aim be a little self-denial for the sake of others. Perhaps a series of entertainments could be organised for the amusement of the village children; or a little girl who enjoys her handicrafts classes at school, might like to show a friend less fortunately situated than herself, how she makes her baskets (Suggestions for Holiday Amusements, E. A. Parish. Volume 14, 1903, pgs. 366-373).”

If we cannot do that what would be another way to give of ourselves to others? It is suggested, in the article by E. A. Parish, that the family be treated to read alouds. I won’t argue with the reasoning behind it but unfortunately our family is slowly getting back into the read alouds {we used to do them often when the kids were younger} and I think it might be awkward.

We take it for granted that reading aloud shall form one of the delights of all holidays, summer and winter, and a pastime in which every member of the family circle takes part, from the oldest to the youngest who is able to read at all.

The importance of good reading cannot be too highly estimated, and nothing helps so much to produce it as this delightful custom of family reading, where it is felt that the pleasure of the circle depends on the power of the reader to give, pleasantly and naturally, what he is himself gaining from the book (Suggestions for Holiday Amusements, E. A. Parish. Volume 14, 1903, pgs. 366-373).

What does a family that is not used to spending holiday in a way that is unselfish do? Generally, it seems that our family holidays {and here I mean the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays as well as the time we do not have work or school} are spent doing what each person wants to do. How about start small- make something for  someone else. Make it with the knowledge that what you are making will be given away to someone else, in the hopes of bringing them happiness. How about starting there.

That’s where we are starting. It is small and it may not have a huge impact but it is my hope that we all will gain from it.

I was reading at Simply Charlotte Mason about handicrafts {because that is an area that I would really like to have the kids –and myself- do more} and came across a link for Susan Gaylord’s site. While there I found the youtube tutorial for making a “stick and elastic book”. With Christmas coming up fairly quickly, gift giving is of course on all of our minds {at least one of the individuals in my family is more concerned with the getting than the giving at this point- there’s still time for a change!}. Making things for others, homemade, will be a great way to spend our ‘holiday’, will teach us some more handicraft and will, I hope, bring happiness to those who will receive the gifts.

Since we are still “newbies” to the Charlotte Mason lifestyle, I look forward to reading what others have to say and share on how they spend their holidays.

 

*hol·i·day [hol-i-dey] noun

1. a day fixed by law or custom on which ordinary business is suspended in commemoration of some event or in honor of some person.

2. any day of exemption from work ( distinguished from working day).

3. a time or period of exemption from any requirement, duty, assessment, etc.: New businesses may be granted a one-year tax holiday.

4. a religious feast day; holy day, especially any of several usually commemorative holy days observed in Judaism.

5. Sometimes, holidays. Chiefly British . a period of cessation from work or one of recreation; vacation.