Clay and I have been talking for the last few weeks about Christmas traditions - ones we already have that we would like to pass down, and ones we would like to start for our little family, and we finally concreted some decisions.
This discussion was actually kicked off last year when I was listening to a morning radio show and heard them talking about Elf on a Shelf. The first thing I thought was "how have I never heard fo this thing before?" The radio host was saying that they had to ban the elf to downstairs because the kids were so creeped out that they didn't want it near their bedrooms. I don't think all kids are scared by it, and that is not the reason we will not be doing Elf on the Shelf. The reason is that I want to teach my daughter to be "good" because she loves Jesus, and she loves her parents, and the Bible says that if you love Jesus then you show Him by being obedient. I do not want my daughter only behaving for the weeks leading up to December. I don't want her learning to only be good because the elf will tell Santa she is bad and so she only behaves so she will get presents. Worldly goods are not a proper motivation in my opinion. But, I also can't use Elf on a Shelf because we don't do Santa. Elf on a Shelf makes Santa front and center every morning. We get our picture taken with Santa and we watch him on tv - but we don't pretend he is real. So what's the point in having an elf? That's not what Christmas is about. Clay and I had an argument about this before we ever had kids. He wanted to do Santa with our kids because it was so magical as a child. I am so happy that after actually having a child that he has changed his opinion. This is mine: the REAL Christmas is so much MORE magical than Santa!!! What is more magical that Jesus being born so that He could die to save us? We have so much fun and do so many activities leading up to Christmas, why would we need to make-believe? Reality is plenty for us.
I am not about bashing other people's decisions, and I have yet to hear about it this year, so maybe it's not as popular as I was led to believe, so what is the point in all this Elf on a Shelf talk then? Well, I very much liked the idea of waking up Lily and having her excited to look for something every morning. I get what initially draws parents to the idea of this. It DOES sound like a lot of fun. So last year I came up with a plan on how to do this in a Christ-honoring way - and we get to start this year!
I got two wooden stars from Joanne's and glued them together, painted them, and glued beads on them. This might be the most bedazzled star ever, but what can I say - I am not incredibly creative - but I love sparkles :)
Clay and I will hide the star every night. And since Lily knows the shape of the star already, that will make this extra fun. We will look for the star every morning, and that can prompt us to tell her why we are looking for the star - that the wise men followed the star to find Jesus (we are always looking for a way to work Jesus into our conversation - it's not hard - He made everything! - Deut. 6:6-9). Then on Christmas morning, can you guess where she will find the star? Over the nativity, of course! And every Christmas morning as she gets older she will come to realize that the star will always be over the nativity, because it leads to Jesus!
Can you tell how excited I am? I love finding ways to make secular Christmas more about Jesus, and I have been waiting a whole year to implement this idea!
So, technically, yesterday was December 1st, but it snuck on me, so I wasn't finished creating the star. The different coats of glue and paint took several overnight dryings, but I scrambled to get it finished last night, so we started this morning.
Lily didn't have any problems finding the star this morning -it's pretty obvious she was really excited about it. It wasn't exactly in a place that was hard to find - right in front of the tv in the middle of the living room, but we wanted her to really get the concept of finding it the 1st morning we did it.
She had a great time playing with it, gave it kisses, showed it to her bunny, and really didn't want to give it back. Then we I put it on a high shelf out of her reach, she kept walking over and pointing at it.
We could not be more thrilled with how well this went - she thought it was so much fun!!!
Another tradition we are starting this year is a calendar counting down to Christmas. This will be a first for us. I made the calendar because I wanted to decide which pictures would be in it. There were 2 reasons for this - 1. I knew which pictures she would get excited about, and 2. I wanted to make sure there were no Santa related pictures. I really don't have anything against Santa, just like I have nothing against Elmo, or any other cartoon character. I promise. But, I figured she is going to get plenty of Santa at the mall and on tv, and people always ask "What did Santa bring you?" We will probably watch Santa and Rudolph related movies. She has even already had her picture taken with Santa. It permeates our culture and will be everywhere. So, if I am making something, why not try to make it more about Jesus? There are pictures of candy canes, wreaths, and other symbols that represent Christmas, but no Santa. I just want to make sure that Santa isn't so prevalent that at some point she misses the true meaning of Christmas. I want to parent with intention. I want her to know that in our house, Jesus is the most important thing, and in a time when we celebrate Jesus's birthday, He will be the thing we see the most.
Lily looking to see what is under December 1st.
Checking out the star.
Pulling off the cover off of December 1st - the countdown has officially started!
Our third daily tradition is reading the Christmas story to Lily every night. Some nights we will do this straight from the Bible, and other times we will read it from a different book.
These are the traditions that we will celebrate every day of December leading up to Christmas. The point in all of this is that being a parent has convicted me in a lot of ways, since passing down my faith to my child is the most important thing I can do as a parent. One of those convictions involves how I celebrate Christmas. I can't do Christmas the way I used and be nonchalant about everything - like I said, I want to parent with intention. We say every year at church that Jesus is "the reason for the season" and then we read the Christmas story on Christmas morning, and that's pretty much it. I can't say that everything that is a part of secular Christmas is harmless and fun and move forward with the status quo. My mom pounded into my head when I was a child that she would have to stand before God one day and answer for how she parented me, and that sticks with me now that I'm a mother myself. Hopefully this process will make Jesus front in center in how we celebrate - it's His birthday after all. Not to mention, it's tons of fun!!!
We have more traditions, but they are one time events, so more posts to come later in the month.
We could not be more thrilled with how well this went - she thought it was so much fun!!!
Another tradition we are starting this year is a calendar counting down to Christmas. This will be a first for us. I made the calendar because I wanted to decide which pictures would be in it. There were 2 reasons for this - 1. I knew which pictures she would get excited about, and 2. I wanted to make sure there were no Santa related pictures. I really don't have anything against Santa, just like I have nothing against Elmo, or any other cartoon character. I promise. But, I figured she is going to get plenty of Santa at the mall and on tv, and people always ask "What did Santa bring you?" We will probably watch Santa and Rudolph related movies. She has even already had her picture taken with Santa. It permeates our culture and will be everywhere. So, if I am making something, why not try to make it more about Jesus? There are pictures of candy canes, wreaths, and other symbols that represent Christmas, but no Santa. I just want to make sure that Santa isn't so prevalent that at some point she misses the true meaning of Christmas. I want to parent with intention. I want her to know that in our house, Jesus is the most important thing, and in a time when we celebrate Jesus's birthday, He will be the thing we see the most.
(Please ignore the maps - took this pic in my office)
Our third daily tradition is reading the Christmas story to Lily every night. Some nights we will do this straight from the Bible, and other times we will read it from a different book.
These are our 2 books - the one on the left has the Christmas story broken up into 31 pieces written in kid language and includes Bible verses and songs with each. The one on the right is the Christmas story in kid language, and has the Bible verses in the back. I love that - marrying something they can understand with the actual Bible.
These are the traditions that we will celebrate every day of December leading up to Christmas. The point in all of this is that being a parent has convicted me in a lot of ways, since passing down my faith to my child is the most important thing I can do as a parent. One of those convictions involves how I celebrate Christmas. I can't do Christmas the way I used and be nonchalant about everything - like I said, I want to parent with intention. We say every year at church that Jesus is "the reason for the season" and then we read the Christmas story on Christmas morning, and that's pretty much it. I can't say that everything that is a part of secular Christmas is harmless and fun and move forward with the status quo. My mom pounded into my head when I was a child that she would have to stand before God one day and answer for how she parented me, and that sticks with me now that I'm a mother myself. Hopefully this process will make Jesus front in center in how we celebrate - it's His birthday after all. Not to mention, it's tons of fun!!!
We have more traditions, but they are one time events, so more posts to come later in the month.
Jaime,
ReplyDeleteI am encouraged by reading your blog. Jesus IS the reason we celebrate Christmas and we should strive to keep Him in the center of all we do; especially this time of year.