How do you celebrate the holidays with your family? Do you bring in traditions from your own childhood, or have you started new ones since becoming a parent? Perhaps a combination of the two?
I remember that as a kid, we often left cookies for Santa on the front hall seat. We didn’t have a chimney…and we’re Jewish, so we figured the cookies would be for mom anyway, but it was fun. We lit candles each night of Channukah – sometimes with mom on the phone if she had to work late. She always had 8 small to medium gifts wrapped for us under the buffet table in the living room, and we could choose one each night to open. My mom made TONS of raspberry jam from the huge raspberry patch in our back yard; she also sewed, and kept fabric scraps to wrap the jars of jam as gifts for neighbors, teachers, friends.
With my own kids, we had very close friends we “exchanged” holidays with – they’d come over to light the menorah and we’d go there to help decorate the tree. I always wrapped 8 small to medium gifts for the kids to choose from each night. As they got older, they’ve often preferred to find their own gifts on Amazon or getting cash. We usually take a trip to midtown to see the windows decorated at Macy’s and all the other stores, and to see the tree at Rockefeller Center.
Now that one of our kids is in college, traditions are beginning to change a bit. I’m honestly not sure what they’ll remember over time and what they might bring to their own families, but I always look forward to celebrating together.
I hope you’ll celebrate with us at Baby Fingers – come sing and sign with us, learn some seasonal signs and songs this month!
Join us for our winter time / holiday workshops!
And at one of our new studios:
Looking for the perfect gifts?
Give the gift of communication with Baby Fingers! Register a friend for one of our holiday workshops, or for a winter class session! ALSO – Lora’s ABC board book is a great stocking stuffer or gift for one night of Chanukkah; it’s a colorful and engaging sturdy book for early childhood educators, toddlers and preschoolers and their parents. Lora’s Sign Language for Kids is designed for kids in kindergarten and older, wonderful for any elementary or middle school classroom, the perfect addition to any student or teacher library.
