Christmas Day

Christmas Day: Celebrating With the Kids

Most people will spend Christmas Eve enjoying a delicious Christmas dinner. Family members may then gather around the tree and sing Christmas carols. Story telling is sometimes part of the activities during Christmas Eve. It is an enjoyable time for adults, but maybe not so much for the children. The kids are restless. They’ve already sent letters to Santa and now it’s time to find out if those Christmas wishes will come true.

On Christmas Eve parents everywhere encourage their kids to get to sleep early so Santa can come and leave their presents. While the children sleep, parents scurry back and forth, leaving presents under the Christmas tree. Christmas day is definitely an exciting and happy event for all.

Christmas Day: A Magical Time for Kids

Most kids enjoy Christmas Day more than Christmas Eve. On Christmas day, the children get to open all their gifts and presents. Some presents are from family members, relatives and friends. The gifts are nice but children always prefer the wonderful and exciting presents brought by Santa Claus. As soon as the children wake up, they rush to look over the presents under the Christmas tree.

Before the Opening Begins…

Children want to open their presents right away. It is hard to keep everything organized and orderly. You can set a tradition before the opening of the presents. Gather the family and say a short thanksgiving prayer to bless all who gave those gifts and presents. It will be hard to keep the children quiet and silent but with a little bit of patience and perseverance, you might be able to instill this as a family tradition.

By now everybody is excited and waiting to start opening the presents. You should ask people to check the presents first and find out if there are greeting cards attached to the present. The gift might be from a family member, relative or friend. You need to know who gave the gift so you can send thank you cards to them.

This may take some additional control because everyone wants to start opening the gifts. You will have to organize and oversee the opening of the gifts to ensure the greeting cards are catalogued properly and not strewn around. You should keep track of the ongoing activities even if you are just as excited and impatient in opening your gifts.

Time to Eat!

After all the presents are opened, it is time for breakfast or brunch. Aside from the Christmas Eve dinner, you can have another feast on Christmas day itself or you can simply enjoy a casserole that will make cooking an easy task. 

The ambiance of Christmas Day is unique. All will be talking about their presents. Children are busy playing with their toys which is a good thing because parents are exhausted from their late night of being Santa.

Christmas is a great time for family bonding. Don't forget to take pictures of a happy and enjoyable time. 

A Christmas Without Magical Reindeer Food Just Isn't As Magical As It Could Be!

My daughter Sally has always been fascinated with Santa’s reindeer. She writes a letter to Rudolph every year. I think she is more excited about her letters from Rudolph than she is about the ones from Santa. When the kids pick out their ornaments each year she has always picked a reindeer. Without a doubt Rudolph is her most favorite Christmas show - she watches it over and over.
One year she wanted us to buy her a reindeer. I told her that they only liked to live in places that stay real cold – places like the North Pole. She looked at me as if I had lost my mind. She decided that if I wouldn’t listen than she would just have to ask Santa. She checked the mailbox everyday for her letter from Santa. She was disappointed when Santa wrote that it would make his reindeer sad for one of them to move away. He asked her if she would mind leaving out some of his magical reindeer food. She takes the job very seriously she even convinced me to buy special bowls for their food and water.
We spend Christmas Eve at my mom’s house. Sally is always in a rush to get home to put out the food for the reindeer. On the way home we drive and look at all the houses lit up with bright colors. Sally stares up into the sky hoping to see the silhouette of nine reindeer pulling Santa’s sleigh. At home the kids all get to open their new pajamas and house shoes. After the cookies and milk have been left out for Santa everyone but me and Sally go to bed. She fills one bowl with water and the other with reindeer food.
We take the food out into the middle of the yard. She explained that the food needed to be there so that there would be room for all the reindeer. Before we go in she gazes up to the sky one last time trying to see the red glow of Rudolph’s nose. When I tuck her into bed she tells me she is going to be listening for the sound of hoofs on the roof.
Christmas morning after we open presents and have breakfast Sally and I sneak out back to see if the reindeer ate their food. Sally proudly collects the empty bowls. On the ground Sally always finds a gift from Santa. On the gift there is a short note thanking her for putting out the food and water for his reindeer and it says that he hopes she will be his helper again next year. Feeding the reindeer is without a doubt Sally’s favorite part of Christmas.

I Hope Your Christmas Was Wonderful!

Okay, now that things are getting back to normal and Christmas is over, how was it? Mine was wonderful.

This was my first Christmas without my mother, so it's not surprising that there were lots of bittersweet moments. As much as I missed her during the holiday I seemed to somehow feel closer to her than I had in prior months. Christmas Eve had always been celebrated at her home and this year we would be starting a new tradition - my children, grandchildren, and my husband and I would celebrate at my home on Christmas Eve.

I was looking forward to Christmas Eve - I knew being with my kids and grandkids was the therapy I needed to make my holiday special. My husband and I had done everything we could to make the evening wonderful. In fact, were shopping up until the last minute - we wanted to be sure that everyone had a good time.

In hindsight, there are a few things I wish I had done differently - like plan for my Christmas dinner earlier.

Here's a true story: my husband and I had some last minute shopping planned for Christmas Eve - just before our celebration. Because I knew we would be out at the last minute I thought it would be ideal to pick up our Christmas Day dinner ham while we were out. To me, that made sense.

The problem - all the grocery stores closed early on Christmas Eve! Although we were able to shop at department stores until late in the day, by the time we thought about the ham all the foods stores were closed. I happen to be a vegetarian - but everyone else in my family expects meat with their meals.

To make a long story short - of course we had other meat; the dinner just wasn't our traditional one. But to make up for that disaster we had a large dinner today (Sunday) - and yes, it did include ham and all the trimmings. This was a wonderful way to end the weekend. So guess what; yep, you guessed it, we will probably be doing this again next year. A new tradition born from a total accident.

Happy Holidays To All!

Starting Family Traditions

If you are a parent of young kids now is a good time to start family traditions with them. Starting traditions when your kids are young is great because they will soon associate those activities with the holidays and they’ll look forward to them every year. You could try to think of stuff that you enjoyed as a child or you can come up with new ideas, things just for you and your family.

A great tradition is making the holiday decorating a family a family affair. From young to old, get everyone involved – the kids will love it! A cheap idea that I do is have the kids make their own ornaments, I just buy the plain glass ornaments and have them decorate and put the year on them. This makes the kids happy because they are helping to decorate the house and you can use them over and over every year as a keepsake.

Writing letters to Santa is always a great project to include, it’s simple to do and it gives you a chance to see what the kids really want for Christmas. The kids always feel proud that they wrote to Santa himself. I love seeing the look on their face when they get their letter from Santa – they get so excited.

Another idea is to bake cookies or brownies - something the kids can get involved with. You could even give baked goods as gifts; the kids would feel real special. Santa always likes cookies and milk on Christmas Eve so be sure to make some and leave them out for him as another tradition.

Another good tradition to do with the kids is have them make homemade holiday cards to give to the family. You can give them to your closest friends and family for the holidays. The kids will have fun decorating the cards and passing them out to family members and friends.

Whatever traditions you start or continue this year with your family, remember that Christmas is about giving and not receiving. It is not about the present you might get, it is about being with your family and friends that you love the most. Christmas traditions help to instill a sense of family strength as the family members come together to enjoy a loved event or activity. This provides an insight into our past, as we can see what our parents or grandparents may have done or what was important to them during the holidays.

As the years and generations go by, each family adds their own twist and touch and the tradition continues. Be sure to enjoy some of those great family traditions with your children this year so they can pass them on to their children when they get older. And do what you can to keep your kids believing in Santa for as long as possible because after all, Santa Claus keeps the magic alive!

Christmas Around The World

Christmas is celebrated on different days and in different ways all around the world. Although many countries celebrate Christmas we may not quite recognize it as such because it is done in a very different way.

In China, Christian children decorate ornaments made from paper. For example flowers, chains and lanterns to hang from the trees. The Chinese Christmas tree is called ‘tree of light’.

The non-Christian Chinese call this season the spring festival; which they celebrate and pay their respect to their ancestors. The children are the main focus of these celebrations and they receive candy and clothes. The Chinese call Santa Claus Dun Che Lau Ren, which means Christmas old man.

In Egypt the Coptic is an Orthodox church where Christmas is celebrated on the 7th day of January. Advent is observed for forty days and during this period people can not eat meat, poultry or dairy products. Everyone goes to church on Christmas Eve night. After church they go home to eat a special dinner know as fata, which is bread, rice, garlic and boiled meat. On Christmas morning people visit family and friends and take with them kaik to give to them, it is to be eaten with a drink called shorbat. Christmas is a public holiday for Christians.

In Ireland Christmas lasts from Christmas Eve to the Feast of Epiphany on January 6, which is also known as Little Christmas. Little red candles are usually placed in the windows as a guide for Joseph and Mary as they might be looking for a shelter. Irish women make a seed cake for each person in the family.

After the Christmas meal bread and milk are left the door and the door is left opened to show hospitality. It is an Irish tradition to leave minced pies and a bottle of Guinness as a snack for Santa.

In Belgium they have two Santas. St Nicholas visits the kids who speak the Walloon language and Pere Noel visits the kids who speak French. St Nicholas actually visits the kids twice. He comes first on December 4th to ask the kids if they have been good throughout the year and then again on December 6 to give the good kids their present. The bad kids will usually get sticks or twigs left in their shoe or in a small basket inside their room. Christmas is on December 6th; it is a religious occasion and celebrated in a church with a nice service.

The world is a huge place with lots of different countries and ways of doing things. It’s interesting to compare and contrast our beliefs and traditions. No matter where you are or how you celebrate I would like to wish you a Merry Christmas.

A Christmas Dinner Fit For Santa Himself

Image via Wikipedia

Last year I went to my mother-in-laws for Christmas Eve dinner. As our tradition continues, everyone read the Childrens Letters to Santa that would be placed beside the snack we would all leave out for him. And the children merrily shared their Custom Santa Claus Letters from the North Pole with everyone.

My mother-in-law is a talented cook and she made a wonderful chicken dish; it was crispy on the outside but tender and juicy on the inside. It was scrumptious! I have included a dessert recipe to top this delicious meal off, and trust me, everyone will love this. I can't imagine a better meal for the Christmas season. This recipe only calls for about fifteen minutes prep time after marinating overnight. Whether you plan to have a large or small group this year, this recipe has you covered as it provides about 16 servings. You will need the following ingredients:

• 16 boneless chicken breast halves (4 ounces each)
• 2 cups sour cream
• ¼ cup lemon juice
• 4 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
• 2 teaspoons celery salt
• 2 teaspoons pepper
• 2 teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon seasoned salt
• 1 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1 to 2 cups crushed butter flavor crackers
• ½ canola oil
• ½ cup melted butter

Directions:
Place the chicken in two large zip-lock plastic bags. In a bowl, combine the sour cream, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce and seasonings. Pour over chicken; seal bags and toss to coat. Refrigerate overnight. When you are ready to cook, drain and discard the marinade. Coat chicken with cracker crumbs; place in two large well-greased baking dishes.

Combine oil and butter; drizzle over chicken. Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 50-60 minutes or until juices run clear. Now time for that dessert I was talking about. Nothing says Christmas season like this delicious and easy Slow Cooker dessert. Santa Himself may decide to show up early so he can have some! You will need:

• can (21 ounces) apple pie filling
• cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 cups packed brown sugar
• cup canned pumpkin
• 3/4 cup egg product
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• teaspoons baking powder
• teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
* Ice cream

1. Spray 3 1/2- to 6-quart slow cooker with cooking spray. Spoon the apple pie filling into cooker.
2. Beat remaining ingredients except ice cream with electric mixer on low speed 3 minutes, scraping bowl constantly. Pour batter over pie filling.
3. Cover and cook on High heat setting 1 hour 30 minutes to 2 hours or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Serve with ice cream.

This year I plan to cook this same meal for my family. And while the dinner cooks I will help my children write their Authentic Letters to Santa. It has always been a family tradition of ours to write the letters around the dinner table. Last year the kid's letters from Santa even came with genuine reindeer food that they set out for the reindeer to eat. Each year I look forward to seeing the look on my child's face when he opens his North Pole letter. I can't imagine Christmas without it. The Personalized Christmas Letters can even make adults believe in Santa again.