As I was driving into work this morning I was thinking about how we should celebrate Christmas in my family. Since my oldest child is 3.5 years old, we’ve managed to get away with virtually no tradition up until now. But now my daughter is old enough to enjoy and remember traditions, so I guess it’s time to do something.
I remember telling my husband that I didn’t want to do the whole “Santa thing” when my daughter was a just a baby. I felt it would be a distraction from the true meaning of Christmas, which is of course, the birth of our Lord and Savior. My husband was not happy with the idea at the time as he has a hard time letting go of childhood memories and traditions. Whatever. She was only a baby so no point in debating at that time.
Ah, but as I have noticed through my years of marriage, my husband cannot resist the draw of my overwhelmingly clever logic and ideas. He may put up a fight at first, but resistance is futile. No seriously, maybe he’s just been busy with other things, but so far I have not heard my daughter say anything about Santa. I’m almost afraid to ask, but I think maybe we’ve come to an agreement about not doing Santa. Not that I think there is anything inherently wrong with Santa, so no offense meant here if you “believe” in Santa in your household.
Anyway, where was I going with this? Okay, back to my daughter. As I said, she hasn’t mentioned Santa yet but in talking with her the other day she did mention that it would be Christmas soon and that it was also Jesus’ birthday. Yeah! I’m always so happy when she remembers what I want her to remember. So I said, yes, maybe we should make Jesus some cupcakes or something, as she loves cupcakes.
It was just something I said to try and hold up my end of the conversation, but as I thought about it more, I think it would be a great new tradition for us. What if every Christmas morning /Christmas Eve we made some cupcakes for Jesus. We could even put a candle on one and sing “Happy Birthday”. A bit corny, but kids like that stuff. Now, if I could really get my act together we could take them to our larger family get-together and make it a witnessing opportunity.
So, it’s just something small but I think it’s a start. My daughter and I can make cupcakes together and talk about Jesus’ birth. Later we’ll sing “Happy Birthday” and thank him for coming down to Earth to be our Savior. A tradition is born, the meaning of Christmas is confirmed, and Jesus gets some cupcakes.
I just hope he likes chocolate.
4 comments:
I am new to the whole "blog thing" and am happy to see another Christian Woman who has the same heart about giving unto others! God bless and keep writing!!
Enjoyed a lot!
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My four children are now nearly all grown (the youngest is 17), but I thought I would share with you that what you described is very like what we did as a family at Christmas. We did not have Santa, and I really don't think my children feel that they missed out on Christmas fun at all as a result. Like your daughter, my first daughter made suggestions when she was first old enough to understand what Christmas was about, about how she felt we should celebrate Jesus' birthday, and these suggestions became part of our family traditions. Every year we had a birthday cake for Jesus and the kids would blow out the candle and sing happy birthday. Yes, we also knew it was corny, but it meant something to them. I would encourage you to continue with your Christ-centered Christmas celebrations. Our children all have very happy Christmas memories and all still love the Lord.
Hi there, I found your blog while searching for cupcake ideas...
What a lovely little tradition to start up.. our household too has become a 'no santa zone' so we too are trying to make some new traditions so the kids still have all the fun and excitement but focus on Jesus instead. I love the cupcake idea!
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