Posts tagged holidays
Ending an Eventful Year: Creating Meaningful Traditions
If there is one thing that is an end-of-year tradition for me, it’s the all-nighters that precede Christmas morning. Are they a tradition or a bad habit? I can’t quite decide. All I can say is those late nights made it possible for toys to be tested, bikes assembled, and a ton of packages to be wrapped. My husband, an only child, always wanted children (plural) and dreamed of giving them BIG, exciting, and overwhelming Christmas mornings. The all-nighters were my necessary prelude to creating that Grand Tradition for the rest of the family.
Having a baby inspires parents to think about everything they ever wanted their child to have in life; the list usually being a combination of everything good and everything that each of us thinks should have been in one’s own childhood. (more…)
Halloween: The tricks and treats of a fun filled day
Halloween can be a high point of fun for lots of families. School-aged kids and teens look forward to the treats, the costumes, and especially the opportunity to give, or get, a gigantic scare from pranks and ghoulish attractions created just for the occasion.
But all that terrible scary fun stuff for older children, teens, and adults is just plain terror for babies and toddlers. Most moms like to participate in Halloween festivities because it can start a family tradition and let’s admit it: it’s fun to dress up Baby in a costume. The photo-op for Halloween is irresistible. But there is also a down side to Halloween, and that is the potential impact of the holiday’s fear factor on your baby’s stress level.
Babies respond to stress just like anyone else; one part of the brain sends chemical signals to other parts of the brain that More >
Baby’s First Valentine’s Day
February is the month of love, and what’s better than sharing that love with your little ones? You can dress your baby up, take cute pictures, and create lasting memories you’ll both cherish forever. Every holiday you spend with your baby is special, so try to take each one as they come. Check out these fun ideas to keep this Valentine’s Day in your family’s memory for years to come.
Create one-of-a-kind Valentine’s onesie! You can buy plain onesies and decorate them with baby’s handprints or footprints to make an indelible memento to share with your little one. To help commemorate Valentine’s Day, try placing baby’s footprints in the shape of a “V” to make a heart!
Take a picture of your little one curled up on your chest, close to your heart. The symbolism of your hearts and love will be something you’ll cherish forever. Frame the More >
Holiday Guest Blogger Spotlight: Family Traditions, Past and Present by Julie of ToyXpolosion
Our family of five has moved around quite a bit over the last 10 years. My husband served 9 years in the military, which took us to places such as Alaska, California, Georgia and a few other states in between. Because of this, it meant being away from family during the Holidays. Instilling Holiday traditions within our family became very important in order to make sure we all stayed connected with family, even if we couldn’t physically be together.
My kids are now 14, 12 and 7 and we recently moved back to my hometown. This is our first Christmas with my parents since my first two were toddlers. To say we are excited about this Christmas would be an understatement! We have all kinds of fun things planned to do, some of which we did when I was little. I can’t wait to share those experiences with my kids, husband, parents, brother and More >
Holiday Guest Blogger Spotlight: A Frugal Friend’s Traditions of Presents, Goodies, and Decorations
Leading up to Christmas, my mom was always a big kid. Presents, goodies, and oh, the decorations! The kitchen was full of angels, the library was full of snowmen, and the living room was Santa-themed. To say she loved Christmas is to put it mildly.
In some ways I think it’s only fitting that the very last thing I ever did with my mom was help decorate her tree. While tears sometimes flow, the first week of December in my family is spent decorating our tree, enjoying traditions both old and new, and remembering my mom through it all.
First up is always the Christmas tree.
With its varied style and no real theme, our tree may never grace the cover of a magazine, but it tells a story. With each ornament added to the tree, I share a bit of history with my little girl. Oh, and because of that, it does take quite a while to decorate. Half More >
Guest Blogger Spotlight: Discovering the Holidays
We gave a Discovery Kit and a video camera to three families with little ones and asked them to capture their holiday moments together. Here’s a look at some of our favorite moments . . .
A very big thank you to bloggers So You Think You Can Mom, My Silly Monkeys, and Little BGCG for sharing these special moments with us!
We wish you and your family a safe, happy and joyous time together this Holiday season. May your 2011 be filled with many more wonderful discoveries!
