We have not been doing a whole lot of preparations for Christmas this year.
Usually we spend all of December making decorations, keeping traditions of different kinds
and baking cookings. This year however there have been different priorities.
We do still have the little dry Christmas tree and a lot of our home made decorations from years past.
Kaleena also took it upon herself to make us an advent wreath. Usually this marks the beginning of our Christmas preparations, the first sunday in advent we make œbleskiver,
hot cocoa and make the advent wreath, but this year Kaleena finally got tired of waiting for me to make one so in this last week before Christmas she made us one beautifully.
I have also added the Christmas cards that we have received to the tree, this is a first but I really like it.
My mom and dad sent us a box with Christmas candy and goodies and in it was also a kit to make little gnomes, the children found these in one of their advent bags and they
loved having a little craft to get into.
Finally we found some of our favorite christmas books which we read every night,
so while this years Christmas will certainly be quite different at least there are things familiar to the children through this special time.
I once again realize why these traditions and celebrations are so important for children.
It supplies them with an anchor, a place of familiarity, something that they can count on to return, time after time no matter how life may other wise be different around them....
~May this Christmas be filled with joy and peace~
~Blessings~
Yes - that is the first and most important significance of the Christmas traditions - continuity, a certain amount of family ritual that cements together family and years - a sense of home and of essential elements of love and belief. All of these things. I have always known this, though my own parents never understood it as deeply as I did, even as a child - perhaps because I was a child, and we moved so often so that there was no depth to our history in place and people - it was the Christmas ornaments that were the same, the way we did things - it made our family a culture all of its own, based in faith, wonder and love.
ReplyDeleteI love what the children have made.