Eclectic spirits--How do you approach Christmas with your kids? - Page 2

[mammal_mama]

I am enjoying all of these replies!

More and more, I am growing to see Christmas as an entire season -- the winter season -- which is all about going deep in order to truly feel the life that we all are. So we celebrate the birth of Jesus, because He brought new life to a people who felt trapped by the belief that every time somebody did something wrong, it could only be made right by blood and suffering.

I no longer believe that punishment is a necessary, or even a desirable, component of restoration and renewal of right relationships -- but I used to feel a need to know that my sin was "paid for," so I do see the value of Christianity as a stepping-stone that enabled/enables certain groups of people to move into really being able to feel their connection to the life and goodness that they/we all really are at the core.

When I've been out walking our dog lately, I've been struck by the sense that this is the season where life goes underground and is not so obvious -- yet it is still very much there. The sensation of remaining warm throughout the walk reminds me that I am life...I am warmth. This is a season where we share our warmth with one another. We find ways to draw close to those who are slipping into coldness due to depression, loneliness, discouragement, or any reason.

I do love Christmas carols! What's most enjoyable to me is listening to one of our local stations that plays a wide range of every kind of Christmas music.

For us, the season starts on Thanksgiving when we put up our tree. This year, we started a new family tradition of going to our city's Plaza on the evening of Thanksgiving to see the turning on of the Christmas lights and the fireworks display. This year, I'd also like to start a new tradition of making a Yule log cake to celebrate the longest night of the year and the turning of the wheel of the year back toward springtime, and a new tradition of making the Italian cake, Tiramisu, to celebrate New Years'. 

[SweetSilver]

Originally Posted by mammal_mama 

When I've been out walking our dog lately, I've been struck by the sense that this is the season where life goes underground and is not so obvious -- yet it is still very much there. The sensation of remaining warm throughout the walk reminds me that I am life...I am warmth. This is a season where we share our warmth with one another. We find ways to draw close to those who are slipping into coldness due to depression, loneliness, discouragement, or any reason.

I like this paragraph.  Yes, the darkness is the time that the energy flows inward, tight into the dormant seeds and roots to wait for the return of the sun when life springs out exuberantly.  It is a time of self-reflection, but also a time for people to bind together, to strengthen the roots of the entire community.  Just like a forest, roots are intricately bound together, dependent on each other.  When one set of roots fail, it weakens the entire area.  OK, I'm off rambling.  But the best ideas inspire me to do that.  Thanks for inspiring me, reminding me of this.  Thanks for sharing!

[mammal_mama]

Originally Posted by SweetSilver 

I like this paragraph.  Yes, the darkness is the time that the energy flows inward, tight into the dormant seeds and roots to wait for the return of the sun when life springs out exuberantly.  It is a time of self-reflection, but also a time for people to bind together, to strengthen the roots of the entire community.  Just like a forest, roots are intricately bound together, dependent on each other.  When one set of roots fail, it weakens the entire area.  OK, I'm off rambling.  But the best ideas inspire me to do that.  Thanks for inspiring me, reminding me of this.  Thanks for sharing!

Thank you for sharing, too! You've just inspired me, too! I love your root analogy...it reminds me of the fact that we are not separate entities...we are all connected and we need each other!

[umsami]

Growing up, my brother and I had no clue that Christmas had anything to do with Jesus's birth (nothing conscious--we saw various Christmas pagents but it never sunk in) nor Easter was about his resurrection.  For us, Christmas was Santa (Mom/Dad), presents, and food.  Easter was the Easter bunny and baskets.  Our Aunt was much more religious and I remember talking about making Jesus a bday cake and we thought that was so strange.  I attended Sunday school when I was little, but as we got older, we became holiday-only Christians.

So, now I'm Muslim--my kids know that Santa isn't real (although that he's based on a guy who gave gifts a long long time ago.)  Yet, they also know that many little kids do believe in him--so we don't ruin their fun.  They get a few Christmas presents when they visit my parents, but we don't have presents at home.  I've told them that this is the day that many people celebrate Prophet Isa's (Jesus in Arabic) birthday--although he was probably born in the Spring.  We do, however, read the book "Sun Bread" on Winter Solstice and talk about that.  We also like to decorate our house with snowflakes and such to celebrate winter.  Sometimes we bake Christmas cookies...and we love to go look at all of the lights.  As they get older, we'll probably talk about the origins of Christmas (and other holidays). 

We try and be inclusive, rather than exclusive regarding holidays.  So, we'll also have latkes and donuts around Hanukkah time and play with dreidels.  We talk about what Hanukkah is about (celebrating one of God's miracles)...and they have fun.  We've talked about diwali and holi as well.   And next week, we'll make a special pudding called Noah's pudding (because the story goes it was made with all that was left on the ark to celebrate spotting the rainbow)... and we'll talk about ashurah.