BMW Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 Can you help me with some ideas? I would really like to get away from the commercialism... I would like the emphasis to be totally on the theme/reason for the holiday and have each one be meaningful... I am thinking that for birthdays, I could make a music/slide show of pictures of the child and write them a letter about how much they mean to me... and then have a date with just them... if they "need" something, it wont be gifted to them, it will be purchased simply because they need it... I want to be involved in church activities around the holidays... volunteering at our local food/meal service... I'd like to cross denominational lines and volunteer or learn more about what other organizations are doing for those less fortunate... I'd like to study about other holidays and share information with the family so that they understand why we have the holiday to begin with... and it wouldn't be just another day off to do yard work, catch up, go fish... Any ideas? As far as gifts go, I would like to make some of the gifts I would give... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CalicoKat Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 Can you help me with some ideas? I would really like to get away from the commercialism... I would like the emphasis to be totally on the theme/reason for the holiday and have each one be meaningful... I am thinking that for birthdays, I could make a music/slide show of pictures of the child and write them a letter about how much they mean to me... and then have a date with just them... if they "need" something, it wont be gifted to them, it will be purchased simply because they need it... I want to be involved in church activities around the holidays... volunteering at our local food/meal service... I'd like to cross denominational lines and volunteer or learn more about what other organizations are doing for those less fortunate... I'd like to study about other holidays and share information with the family so that they understand why we have the holiday to begin with... and it wouldn't be just another day off to do yard work, catch up, go fish... Any ideas? As far as gifts go, I would like to make some of the gifts I would give... :svengo: This sounds exhausting to me today. :001_smile: But what a great idea. :lurk5: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MamaT Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 You can steal one of our birthday traditions. We sit around the table after dinner (birthday person gets to choose what we have), and we go around the table saying what we appreciate about that person. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mycalling Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 You can steal one of our birthday traditions. We sit around the table after dinner (birthday person gets to choose what we have), and we go around the table saying what we appreciate about that person.Aww. I like that that idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrincessMommy Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 I see your kids are older. I really like the idea of just giving them a special day on their b-day. Your kids are obviously beyond the "gifts are everything" stage of childhood. I know a mom who does write a letter to each of her kids on their b-day. She talks about how the year was with them and what they mean to her. It's really sweet. My only suggestion for making the holiday (by this I think you mean Christmas??) would be to incorporate something simple to prepare for the holiday - either an Advent wreath, or calendar, or some other way to countdown to the day. Start small and work from there. I find the holiday season gets stressful all by itself and trying to do "everything" is next to impossible. Another idea off the top of my head is that since we began going to church on Christmas about 10yrs ago we wait to open presents until after church (now it's even later since old dd is married and can't get here early). Anyway, making kids wait to open presents really does de-emphasizes their importance. It wasn't something I was expecting, but that is a side benefit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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