Two New Holiday Traditions (December, 2022)

Even though this post might be a little late, I thought I’d write about a couple holiday traditions that I’m enjoying this year. This is my first holiday season as a mom, and my husband and I are having fun thinking about new traditions we’d like to incorporate into our little family of three. My son will be almost nine months when Christmas rolls around this year, so I know he won’t really remember what we do in terms of Christmas activities, but these traditions aren’t just for him–they’re for all of us! 

I think it can be easy to get overwhelmed with ideas for new traditions you ‘could’ begin after becoming a parent, especially around holidays, so I did my best this year to just choose a couple that resonated with me most. 

Christmas Books. This was an idea that I heard about on two of my favorite podcasts. First, it was mentioned on a recent episode of the Sorta Awesome podcast, and then I heard about it on an older episode of The Girl Next Door Podcast. The idea is that you slowly collect 25 different children’s books with Christmas themes. (I have only collected Christmas books so far, but I also think it would be neat to incorporate books that teach about Kwanza and Hannukah!) Then, you just read one new book each evening leading up to Christmas. If you wanted to take this a step further, you could wrap all the books individually, and then unwrap one each evening, so it’s a little bit of a surprise. If you have kids, you might slowly weed certain titles and add new ones as they grow and their reading level changes. As I said above, right now this tradition is mostly for my own comfort and joy. My son, Peter,  is mostly just interested in grabbing the books and chewing on them. Jonathan–my husband–and I have started a new routine though, which I’m loving and which we’ll definitely carry far beyond December: Once Peter is in pajamas and sleep sack and ready for bed, Jonathan will rock with him and give him a bottle, and I’ll sit beside them and read a few pages from one of our Christmas books! This way, Peter is occupied and not so focused on grabbing the book. We typically only get through a few pages before it’s time for lights out, but that’s okay–we just pick up where we left off the next night (this is also how Jonathan and I currently watch any television–15 minutes at a time). 

There are SO many books with holiday themes out there, and you certainly don’t have to purchase any; just make a trip to the library in early December and stock up. I definitely don’t have 25 books yet–I like the idea of slowly adding a book each year. Here are the books I have collected so far: 

-Mr. Willowby’s Christmas Tree, by Robert Barry (a classic–one I grew up with). 

-Father Christmas, by Raymond Briggs (another classic and one that is mostly just for me–I have loved studying the illustrations in this book for years). 

-If You Take a Mouse to the Movies, by Laura Numeroff and Felicia Bond. 

-A Charlie Brown Christmas, by Charles M. Schulz (which also happens to be my favorite Christmas movie). 

-The Bearetnstain Bears Holiday Collection, by… (three books in one. This collection has a more religious focus, telling parts of the story of Jesus’s birth). 

-Tub People’s Christmas, by…(I don’t think I’d known about The Tub People until Jonathan mentioned them to me and how much he’d loved them, so I got this one for him). 

-Who is Coming to Our House?, by Joseph Slate and Ashley Wolff. (This was a book recommendation I heard on the Sorta Awesome podcast. It’s told from the perspective of barn animals getting ready for the arrival of Mary and Joseph in their manger.) 

Honoring Advent. I grew up attending an Episcopal church, and was certainly aware of the idea of Advent, but I haven’t really done anything to truly honor this season until the past couple of years. Advent encompasses the four weeks leading up to Christmas, and is actually the beginning of the liturgical calendar in Western Christianity. Advent, for me, is really a time of quiet, hopeful waiting. I do think about the birth of Jesus during this time. I do think about Advent in the context of my personal faith, but I think that the feeling behind Advent is something anyone can honor with simple practices–whether you consider yourself religious or not. 

One of the reasons I like celebrating Advent is because it gives me a daily chance to be still and quiet in an otherwise pretty busy season. This year, I am listening to an Advent podcast with writer and speaker Annie F. Downs. Each week, she is focusing on one of the four themes of Advent: Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love. I listen first thing in the morning, usually around 5:30 a.m., when the rest of my house is sleeping. I am alone in the quiet, with only the lit Christmas tree, the loving cat, and a hot cup of coffee for company. I light a candle. Sometimes I am focused on the message in my ear. Other times, my mind wanders and I have to refocus. It’s not perfect or fancy, but it’s a routine that is calming and that for me, is a way to find God before the rest of the day begins. 

I am also trying to introduce Advent to Peter, even at this young age. I found a felt Advent calendar on Amazon that hangs on the wall above his play yard area. Each day of December, we add a little felt figure to the manger scene on the calendar. (As with his Christmas books, Peter is mostly interested in putting the felt figures in his mouth!) 

There are SO many Advent devotionals you could purchase and read, and I don’t think it’s too late to do this, even with Christmas only about a week away. In the past, I have enjoyed Preparing For Christmas: Daily Meditations For Advent, by Richard Rhor (thanks to my mom for giving me this one). I am also interested in Shadow and Light: A Journey Into Advent, by Tsh Oxenreider. However, if you don’t feel drawn to the more traditional Christian practices, I think you could still create an Advent routine. A few possibilities: 

• Light a morning candle. 

• Sit and look at your Christmas tree before bed. 

• Take out your journal and think about where Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love have shown up in your life this past year, and how you want them to show up in the year to come. 

Any practice that invites us to slow down, be silent, and pay attention to all the goodness in our lives can be, in my opinion, an Advent practice. 

What new holiday traditions are you enjoying this year? What would you like to incorporate in years to come? 

Thanks for reading this edition of the Friday Joy Blog! Wishing you hope, peace, joy, and love this season. 

-Beth