Monday, November 02, 2009

In The Spirit

It seems that the moment I finished making ghost costumes for the kids to use on Halloween, my mind made the leap to the next holidays coming just around the corner. Never mind that Halloween was still two weeks away, and never mind that I usually don't want to think about Christmas until Thanksgiving is over. This year, I've caught the spirit early and I'm sharing it with my children.

We had a lovely planning meeting this morning over breakfast (a delicious blueberry coffee cake that I was testing out for Christmas morning) during which we made some excellent decisions about what the children would like to give for Christmas. They came up with several amazing ideas that I would never have thought of. And it was very gratifying to hear them list the people they love with whom they'd like to share the holiday joy. Their gifts and recipients are completely their idea with no embellishment from Mommy (except for telling them the name of the gift they described). Even better, their ideas are largely items they can make, with only a little help from Mommy.

I credit my strict no-advertisements rule for the beautiful and sweet ideas the children can come up with. We watch very little television and what we do watch is mostly on DVD or pre-recorded so I can skip the ads. Their ideas aren't tainted by commercialism, and I'm proud of them for it.

Now, my question for you: What are your traditions leading up to Thanksgiving and/or Christmas? We have a few things we do every year, but my lack of planning keeps things hectic and traditions to a minimum. This year, I'd love to add some special things to the weeks leading up to these two special days. I'd love to hear what you do!

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