Earlier this week I shared with you traditions that we follow in our own home to help us keep Christ in Christmas. Here are some other ideas that were passed along to me from various Catholic families.

The Advent Tree

In previous years I’ve waited until the last minute to decorate, cook, etc, but that puts a huge strain on the season in those final days of Advent. This year I wanted to keep Advent as a waiting period and a time of penance, but also try to avoid the last minute rush. This is what we’re doing this year.

Once “Pink week” comes this Sunday (the third Sunday of Advent is Gaudete Sunday) we will slowly begin to decorate (dragging it out for the next 2 weeks) since “pink week” invites us to recognize the hope and joy to come. But our biggest change is we have our tree up and decorated with wonderful PURPLE balls, silver garland, and PURPLE and PINK lights. I saw all these things at Target and now we have an “Advent tree!” This way our tree is up and ready to go and is getting the water it needs. Closer to Christmas we’ll take down the purple and put up the Christmas decorations. (From KF of CA)

Christmas Letters

An old Catholic custom is the writing of “Christmas Letters” by the children. These letters, addressed to the Child Jesus (NOT Santa Claus) are written or dictated by the little ones some time before Christmas. They contain their wishes concerning Christmas presents, petitions for various intentions, and a promise of sincere effort to please Our Lord in preparation for Christmas. When they go to bed, the children put their letters on the windowsill, from where “angels” take them during the night to bring them to the Child Jesus in heaven.

This charming custom helps the parents to impress on the minds of their little ones the importance of a sincere spiritual preparation and at the same time great confidence in God who is concerned with our temporal and spiritual needs. Parents who favor this custom will often be deeply touched when they discover that some of their children put more stress on spiritual graces than on material gifts even on an occasion like this. I t can also alert parents to the need for more guidance and direction toward this goal. (From LD of CA)  (Bobbi’s note – Love this idea! I’m doing it this year!)

The Baby Jesus Crib

Our family bought a small ceramic baby Jesus in a wooden crib. Baby Jesus is put away until Christmas Day but in order to prepare a comfy bed for Jesus we have “sacrificial hay”. I cut thin strips of brown construction paper and placed them in a box underneath the table that holds Jesus’ crib. Whenever any family member does a good deed, they get to put a piece of “hay” in the manger. At first the kids would announce proudly their placement of hay but after awhile I noticed them slipping away quietly to place a piece of hay for Jesus without recognition. I’m sure that made Baby Jesus very happy! (From JD of CA)

Taking the Stress Out of Advent and Christmas

As for Advent, we are doing things quite different this year. Every year we have always gotten out all the Christmas decorations and the tree the weekend after Thanksgiving. This year we got out some decorations for the fireplace and the stockings for St Nick Day. (Dec. 6) Everything else, will be put out the 3rd week of Advent (pink week) as we show signs of Joy! Our tree will go up the third week also or we might wait for Christmas Eve.

We have several Advent calendars and our Advent wreath, which we gather around every evening as a family to light the candles and say our Advent prayers. We emptied our basket of reading books in the living room and filled it with religious, advent and Christmas books.

We have been celebrating the special feast and Holy days as a family. We celebrated St Nick with stockings in the morning filled with several religious gifts and a few small treats, then read books about him. We celebrated The Feast of the Immaculate Conception with Mass, prayers, and the SPECIAL book called Angel in the Waters. We will also try to celebrate other special days this month.

We have been talking everyday about the presents we are going to give Jesus, and have been trying to teach the kids that these are gifts we can give him all year long( being nice to brothers & sisters, helping Mom or Dad without being asked, saying extra prayers, playing a game with sibling, doing a chore for someone else, etc.) We are trying to steer them away from talking about what they want to get, and lead them toward talking about what they want to give (this is very challenging at times!)

In years past, I have been so overwhelmed during December that I never got to enjoy Advent, or teach the kids about it, just spend it as a time of prayerful waiting. I have always been so busy with activities, Christmas shopping, and general business, that I missed the whole season, and always said, “I’ll do it different next year.” This year, I’m actually trying to do it different. We streamlined our Christmas shopping and did it all in one day before December arrived. We got out our advent materials early, and had them ready, when the first Sunday rolled around. We are just simplifying, and really enjoying it so much more. I feel peaceful, and happy, and have time for spontaneous book reading and prayers with the kids. (From AM in CA)

Hold the Gifts

(Bobbi’s note  – This idea is from me. I have not used it with my own family since I am too much of a sucker for presents under the tree on Christmas morning but it may be a wonderful and grace-filled option for your family.)

Many years back, our holy parish priest, during one of his homilies, challenged us to not give gifts on Christmas. What?? He suggested we wait until the Epiphany, twelve days later. I thought he was a bit crazy at the time but I didn’t give it too much thought until we got home and mom and dad announced that we would give it a try that year. My heart broke at not having the traditional presents on Christmas morning – I was a gift-giving fanatic who put a lot of time into the “perfect” gift.

However, I must admit that the transition was not all that hard. Christmas became a celebration of Christ’s birthday and our gifts to Him. Emphasis was given to family togetherness and enjoying one another’s company. It also eliminated the anti-climatic day after Christmas. We finally realized that the Christmas season, in reality, is just beginning! The Christmas Octave took new meaning as we waited for the coming of Epiphany with new interest. We still have the fun of exchanging gifts with our loved ones but waiting until Epiphany (or “Kings”) helps keep things in proper perspective.

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There are numerous other ways to keep Christ in Advent and Christmas but these are just a few suggestions. With a little imagination (and the prompting of the Holy Spirit) you can start your own family traditions of truly living Christmas!

Feel free to comment and share your own traditions with us. I have a link up in Part 1 of this post to add your own blog post about your family’s Catholic traditions. Join in!

Happy feast day of the Immaculate Conception! Happy end of the first week of Advent! Happy debut of RoL’s new home! I have a lot to be thankful for. 🙂

How did your first week of Advent go? I love to talk to other Catholic moms (and dads) and find out what kind of Advent and Christmas traditions they have to keep Christ in Christmas.

As for our family, this is what we are doing this year.

The Advent Wreath

This year we finally needed to make a new Advent wreath since ours was falling apart. Last year after Christmas, when Target put everything on clearance, I picked up a door wreath. I also replaced our pathetic candle holder that never kept our candles straight no matter what tricks I tried. I finally managed to find three thick purple candles and one pink. Toppling candle problem solved. (It also lessened the boys’ desire to pick them up and use them like swords.)

This year we also started using Sarah Reinhard’s book Welcome Baby Jesus: Advent and Christmas Reflections for Families. It only cost $1.99 at Amazon (and $0.99 on Kindle) but it has wonderful daily reflections that are simple enough for the kids to understand.

Each night we gather around the Advent wreath, light the candle(s), read the day’s reflection out of the book, and say our night prayers.

We also find out the next day’s Advent activity…

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The Advent Calendar

Every year I say we are going to use an Advent Calendar but I never get around to it. Finally this year, I planned early. (I know! I kinda shocked myself too.) Originally I was going to get one of those cute Nativity wall Advent calendars but I was also thinking of a calendar with boxes that could be filled and opened. Then I saw this country house calendar at Target and I loved it! (Target to the rescue. Again.)

I wanted to fill each box with a slip of paper that had one sacrifice or act of kindness that everyone in the family would do that day. For inspiration I printed out these:

From Loyola Press.com I printed out the Children’s Advent Calendar (they also have one for adults) and Catholic Mom’s 2012 Printable Advent Chain.

I simply cut up the calendar and put the little paper square into the corresponding day. For those days that the activity didn’t suit our family situation, I substituted with one of the advent chain strips or simply wrote my own activity and folded them into the boxes.

Each night after prayers we open the following day’s box and read what we’ll do that day. After we read the activity we then place the slip of paper in Jesus’ stocking. At the end of Advent Jesus has 25 little gifts that we offered for him.

(Note: You don’t have to spend money to buy any fancy box or calendar. Just print the calendar and hang it on the fridge or follow the cute Advent chain idea.)

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The Jesus Stocking/ Gift Box

Years back we bought a pretty gold stocking that would be for Jesus. During Advent we all have been making small sacrifices for the Child Jesus and placing those little sacrifices in his stocking. The day before Christmas the kids make and decorate birthday cards for Jesus and the adults use card stock in which they write down an act of love or sacrifice for Jesus. It can be anything from making an extra Holy hour to sharing a toy with a sibling. Some years we make a special wrapped gift with a slot cut out on top so we can slip our cards inside. Other years we simply placed our card in Jesus’ gold stocking. Anything will do as long as offering acts of love for Christ is the focus.

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Have a Birthday Party for Jesus

Being Jesus’ birthday, it is only natural that it is celebrated as such with Christ being the guest of honor, rather than Santa. On Christmas morning we would all gather around the table that holds the empty manger. We would place a large white candle in the center of the advent wreathe and light it. Then Mom or Dad (or an honored sibling) would place the child Jesus in his manger and we’d all sing Happy Birthday. Then the festivities would begin, which included a birthday cake decorated by the kids, of course.

A Nativity Set for the Littles

Anyone with children knows that they are very hands on. They also know how their blood pressure rises every time their little one grabs the ceramic Mary of St. Joseph from the nativity set and starts running down the hallway with it. A nativity scene that the kids can touch and move around makes life sooo much easier. There are a number of different kinds you can get but we finally decided on the Fisher Price Little People Nativity Set. They can be a bit pricey but a few years back we found a simple one at Target for around $25. It was worth it!

The Spirit of Giving

Nothing invokes greediness quite as quickly as a materialistic holiday season. To help conquer this, it is helpful to keep kids (and adults) focused on the spirit of giving, especially those less fortunate. If you have older kids this can be done through working at a soup kitchen, food pantry, or visiting the elderly. Most parishes have programs where you pick a name or number and by a gift for a specific child. Kids, including little ones, can do extra jobs and chores around the house to earn some extra money (or use their tithing money if they get an allowance) in order to buy small gifts for these needy children. Or they can help you buy canned good for the local food bank. I also try to personalize the children to my kids. Instead of getting a gift for “Girl #96” or “Boy, age 5” I’ll give them a name. So when we go to shop we find the perfect gift for little Juan who just turned 5. Or we pick the kind of soup “Maria” and her Mama would like to have on a cold afternoon. It helps to put a face to the person in need.

In some cases you may even be able to help deliver these gifts. Seeing the living conditions of those less fortunate (physically and spiritually) or seeing the gratitude of a poor child thankful for a simple gift or act of kindness, helps to instill generosity and thankfulness for their own blessing. Christmas is a good time to start this process but it can be carried on throughout the year, making giving of oneself not just a holiday thing, but a way of life.

There are numerous other ways to keep Christ in Advent and Christmas but these are just a few suggestions that we practice. With a little imagination (and the prompting of the Holy Spirit) you can start your own family traditions of truly living Christmas!

Feel free to comment and share your own traditions with us! Or have you already written a post about your family traditions? If so, please add your link! I’ll keep this up until the Epiphany so you’ll have plenty of time.

PS – Thanks to my sister-in-law Maria for letting me use her paining “Madonna and Child” on the blog.

UPDATE: I’ve added a second post with more ideas sent to me from various Catholic families. Check it out here.

You can grab this logo if you’d like. 🙂