Kids and Christmas—What Santa Doesn’t Tell You Even though my oldest son was born on December 12th, let’s face it—that first Christmas was sort of a bust from his end, and the second wasn’t much better.  I mean, long hours, lots of people, too much noise, too much excitement, and too many people not-the-mama or want-the-daddy are trying to hold you—how awesome can Christmas really be for the very very tiny?  The adults are losing their minds.  “Ohmigosh! It’s a toddler in a Santa hat, couldn’t you just die!” And seriously—you add a kitten to the picture or a puppy or hell, even a gold fish in a bowl with red and green rocks, and, yes, sugar shock will set …

Andy, thank you for having me today, and thank you even more for organizing this holiday event. Christmas can get so hectic and it’s nice to take a minute or five to reflect on what a special time of year it is. Christmas has always been the most important holiday for my family. We have all sorts of traditions that make it wonderful, but this year I will be missing out on most of them. This year is the first year I won’t be going home for Christmas. I am sad to be away from family over the holidays (although they are coming down to see me on Boxing Day, so I can’t complain too much). And this year marks …

Christmas Rituals My own memories of Christmas are very fond ones. I grew up in a large family (my parents have four siblings each) with lots of cousins, and on Christmas Eve everyone met either in my grandparents’ flat or ours. It was always crowded, as well as a lot of coming and going, but I loved the bustle as a kid. Everyone talked, and laughed, and of course ate too much. My husband’s family celebrated Christmas very differently. It was only him and his parents and everything was quiet and done in a completely different fashion. So, when we celebrated our first Christmas as a family, we had completely contrary feelings on how to deal with everything. Add to …

Growing up in blended families meant I didn’t have the traditional family holiday. It’s only gotten worse as we grew and married. Through all the travel to attend the 4-5 Christmas ‘present events’ we go to each year, finding the time to do fun things together with two kids can be a challenge. We have a few rituals that we always do together but the hustle and bustle can get the better of us. There are 2 we never, ever fail to do. Bundled up in boots and warm, waterproof coats, armed with cocoa… we brave the elements to find the perfect family tree. No rain, mud, sleet, snow, or this year’s holy crap my face is frozen wind chill …

Hello all you wonderful people who have stopped by Andrew Gordon’s wonderful blog to read all about how Christmas has effected each of us in a special and unique way. I am going to talk briefly about my son. On this day, December 13, four years ago I met the sweetest, most adorable thirteen year old boy in the world and fell in love. People I meet now often ask me to tell them how I came to the decision of adoption because it seems like such a wonderful thing to do for him and how giving I am etc… And I respond by saying it was a completely selfish thing I did, because I was only thinking about how …

Memories of a Christmas Past by Lena Grey The Christmas season is a magical time of year, when we allow ourselves to suspend our disbelief and let the spirit of our childhoods reign. It presents us with an excellent opportunity to put aside our differences and come together in peace and harmony.

A PAGAN CHRISTMAS Well, actually it’s called Yule and should really be celebrated on the 21st December, the Winter Solstice. However, I didn’t think it was fair on children to ask them to celebrate their festivities four days early. Children, being the ‘live in the now’ creatures they are, could easily have all their presents on the 21st and still get upset because they don’t have Christmas Presents on the 25th. So, we moved Yule on by a few days. We still celebrate with a ritual on 21st, but so many of the rituals and symbolism have been ‘stolen’ by Christmas it’s really all blurred into one.

Deck the halls with boots of lollies! On this wonderful 6th of December, children (and adults) awake to find the shoe they left out their door overnight full of goodies from Nikolaus. Similar to perhaps how a stocking overhanging a fireplace might be filled, in Germany—where my family and I celebrate Christmas—this happens earlier in the month.

I’d like to thank Andrew not simply for inviting me to be part of his holiday blogging extravaganza, but mostly for reminding me of one of my most significant holidays ever. It was Thanksgiving, 2002. I spent it with my husband, three-year-old daughter and mother-in-law in Hong Kong, where we went for a week before traveling on to mainland China to adopt our younger daughter. 2002 was actually my second holiday season in Hong Kong, and my husband and his mother had been there before, when his brother was living and working there. He and his girlfriend actually lived on an island about an hour outside of Hong Kong by ferry, called Cheung Chau (you can see it from Lantau …