Ivy loves Nativities. Its one of those things that makes this mama's heart happy. She loves to play Little Lord Jesus and Away in a Manger is her favorite song. Hearing her cute little voice singing it gets me a little teary every time. Because really, if we can succeed in REALLY teaching her the true meaning of Christmas I will consider myself the best mom ever.
One lesson I want her to learn is something I learned a long, long time ago {ok not that long ago, I'm not that old!} in Primary. My teacher wrote it on the chalkboard and I hope that I can teach Ivy the importance of this one little lesson.
We talked about how writing Xmas instead of Christmas takes away the most important part of the holiday and what we are truly celebrating. Its such a tiny thing, but it has always stuck with me. But its more than just when we write or type out Christmas. We need to try and keep Christ in all of our celebrating at Christmas time.
I would LOVE to hear how you do just that. So please share all of the little ways you keep Christ in your Christmas. Cuz this mama is going to need some good ideas if I'm going to be the best Mom ever!
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Such a good point--I love that little lesson and hope I can teach my kids the true meaning of Christmas as well.
ReplyDeleteOne tradition we've adopted is "The Last Straw" where we put Baby Jesus in the manger on Christmas Day. Between now and Christmas we make Jesus the softest bed in the world by putting straw in the manger. Each straw we put in will be for one good deed we have secretly done for a person in the family. Once a week we draw names and whoever's name we draw is the family member we do kind things for all week long. The kids love to do their secret good deeds and it's fun to see Baby Jesus' bed filled with a nice pile of straw.
Another tradition is the white stocking. On Christmas Eve, each person in the family puts in the stocking a piece of paper that has gifts to the Savior that he/she will personally work on for the next year. You then try to work on those things the upcoming year, until it's Christmas Eve again.
It will be so much fun to get ideas from others! Great idea, Jenn!
I think it is tough sometimes with little ones to keep the focus on the Savior because there are so many other fun things going on that are really just the "fluff" of the holiday. I've been trying to ask Morgan every day why we celebrate Christmas, and then we talk about the Savior's birth, hoping that by Christmas he will really get it. With little ones it just takes constant reminders. This year I made a little framed print with all the different names of the Savior and it helps remind us amidst all the other Christmas decorations what is really important. And I think sometimes as parents we need to just slow down and not worry about so much of the stressful busy "fluff" and just enjoy the quiet evenings to really be able to contemplate and feel the joy and peace that comes this time of year and then I think our children will start to experience those feelings as well.
ReplyDeleteDebbie Downer here,
ReplyDeleteI thought Christ was abbreviated, not replaced, by the X because in Hebrew, or whatever, His named would have started with an X.
I love this Jenn!
ReplyDeleteI thought that about xmas too once but Debbie Downer is right. The X is actually Greek for Ch which is often the symbol or letter used for Christ. Just thought I'd let you know. On the other hand my idea for keeping Christ in Christmas is to do some service and always give a gift that represents Christ. Hope you have a great Christmas.
ReplyDelete@cajsa and anon,
ReplyDeleteThats interesting! It is still abreviating His name though, which was more the point of the lesson, to not forget about Christ at Christmas.