Making Meaningful Christmas Memories

One Christmas tradition we have is our Advent Calendar. It is actually a set of small books that tell the Christmas story. Our family sits by the Christmas tree and we read the book for that day. Each little book also has a small ribbon on it that allows it to be "hung" on a tree and we have a small special Christmas tree that holds the Advent book "ornaments.” Once the girls were old enough to read, they started taking turns reading each night. Although the goal is to read one a night, in reality, sometimes we have to catch up and read a few days at a time. After we read the book, we turn off all the lights except for the tree and sit there for a short while. It is one of my favorite Christmas traditions because our family is all together and we take a few minutes each day to focus on the real meaning of Christmas. Gail Collins

We have several very special traditions...but from the boys' perspective, they would definitely say that our annual "kidnapping" is the highlight. Close to Christmas, we tuck the boys into bed as usual. After about 30 minutes (with car running and loaded with plenty of fun snacks) we run into their bedroom, grab them and hurry them into the car. Then, while listening to Christmas music and eating snacks, we drive through the neighborhoods looking at all of the festive Christmas lights. Dina.