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Christmas was a very important holiday for my family as it relates to tradition. There are so many traditions we established, it’s difficult to pick just one. One thing I have realized as an adult is how very important traditions are in a family system. They provide us with comfort and security, normalcy, a sense of connection, and the opportunity to learn more about our family.
Joleen’s Holiday Tradition- The Ornaments
Each Christmas as a child, my family made an event out of pulling out the old Christmas ornaments and placing them on the tree. Many of the beautiful and intricate ornaments were hand-made from my great grandmother and other family members on my Dad’s side of the family. Since she had passed away when we were babies, we didn’t know her. Each year we would get the ornaments out, we would hear different stories about the family members who made the ornaments. Since my father has since passed, I realize how very important this tradition was in our family. Not only to create the quality family time that children need and crave, but for us to learn about our ancestors through the gift of story. He was the one who held the memories to pass along to my Mom, sister and I– without those stories, we wouldn’t have the memories to pass along to our own children someday.
As adults, we have created new traditions, along with keeping some of the old ones. What traditions do you have in your family?
Tags: Christmas traditions, Family traditions, importance of traditions in family, traditions
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Traditions in a family are so important to establish, especially around the holidays. You never know the impact they may have on your children when they are older.
Christy’s Tradition-The Christmas Story
One of the most important holiday traditions to me occurred on Christmas Eve in our family. Before my sister and I would go to bed to eagerly await the arrival of Santa Clause, my parents would have us go into the living room. We would sit with just the tree lit, and open the Bible to the book of Luke. We would take turns reading the story of the birth of baby Jesus. I still to this day have vivid memories of being in our Christmas PJ’s and spending this time together as a family.
Now my sister and I are grown and obviously this tradition ended when we moved out of the house. But, the significance of those Christmas Eve’s still remains. In all the hustle and bustle of the holidays, my parents wanted to make sure that we understood what the true meaning of Christmas is. It was essential to them to teach us that the presents, pretty decorations, and even Santa were not the most important things. It’s to remember that a little baby came to change the world forever.
I hope that this holiday season is filled with love, laughter, and lots of fun memories and traditions for you and your family. Merry Christmas!
Written by Christy Fogg, MSW, LCSW
Christy Fogg, MSW, LCSW is a licensed therapist at Imagine Hope Counseling Group. Christy enjoys doing marriage counseling, individual counseling, couples and relationship counseling. Christy also provides family counseling, child counseling, and adolescent counseling.
Imagine Hope serves the Indianapolis area, including the surrounding areas of Carmel, Fishers, Noblesville, Zionsville, and Westfield.
Tags: Christmas traditions
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Traditions are so important in establishing rituals for children. Traditions are points we can count on. Rituals and activities that we make priority at particular times of year. It is actually traditions from my childhood that are still so important to me that I carry them into my current family rituals.
Alexa’s Family Tradition- Spending time with Grandparents
When I was 6 years old my parents divorced so I spent Christmas Eve with my father and his family and then Christmas Day with my mother and her family. For 95% the rest of my formative years were spent this way. I looked forward to both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day every year. I loved the anticipation of going to my grandparent’s house and having dinner and opening gifts. We had the same thing for Christmas dinner every year. The smells were always the same, the tastes were always scrumptious and since I was the only grandchild on that side, all of my favorite foods were present. I cannot imagine my Christmas Eve without my grandparents. I loved having that time with them.
Christmas Day I spent traveling to my mother’s family where I was able to spend time with aunts and uncles and cousins, but most importantly grandparents. My grandmother would have spent all day cooking for all of us, but would probably not get to eat a single bite! My grandfather would be laughing and watching the football games with my uncles and brother. I could always count on the best food and company.
Sadly, I no longer get to spend time with my grandparents. All but one have passed on. But both my husband and I make sure that our children are able to spend time with their grandparents at the holidays. I still spend Christmas Day with my mother (all day in my Christmas PJs!), and I drive my family down to Texas so we can spend time with my father over winter break. I want my children to have what was so important to me growing up.
Reflect on your childhood traditions and how you can carry them into your present. Have a very happy holiday season with your family!
Written by Alexa Griffith, LMHC, LCAC, NCC, RPT
Alexa Griffith, LMHC, LCAC, NCC, RPT is a licensed therapist and Registered Play Therapist at Imagine Hope Counseling Group. Alexa enjoys doing marriage counseling, individual counseling, couples and relationship counseling. Alexa also does play therapy, family counseling, child counseling, and adolescent counseling. Imagine Hope serves the Indianapolis area, including the surrounding areas of Carmel, Fishers, Noblesville, Zionsville, and Westfield
Tags: Importance of holiday traditions
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It is Christmas time, which means people are participating in family traditions. Traditions can be an important part of people’s lives as they create connectedness, stability, and a sense of family as we have something to look forward to. This week Imagine Hope staff will be sharing some of our favorite personal traditions. We hope you enjoy our stories and see the value in having traditions in your own families!
Teri’s Tradition- Operation Christmas Child
Christmas is a season of giving! Not just buying the latest and greatest gifts for loved ones, but also for giving to those who aren’t able to have the luxuries we have.
Operation Christmas Child (http://www.samaritanspurse.org/index.php/OCC/index/) is a tradition we do as a family every year that I also participated in as a teen in my church youth group. This ministry has you pack a shoe box filled with school supplies, toys, and toiletries for it to be delivered to a child in need across the world.
As I walk up and down the aisles of the store with my kids each year, we talk about how the boy or girl they are buying for isn’t able to have crayons, a teddy bear, or even a toothbrush! They look at me shocked and I remind them how blessed we are to have what we have. This tradition is important to us as it serves a reminder to have gratitude and a spirit of giving rather than “getting”.
It feels good to give back all times during the year. We live in a world of over indulgence where we take the basics for granted too often. Take a step back and look at all you have been blessed with. Maybe it is time for you to have a tradition of giving this holiday season too!
Check back tomorrow for more!
Written by Teri Claassen MSW, LCSW, LCAC
Teri Claassen MSW, LCSW, LCAC is a licensed therapist at Imagine Hope Counseling Group. Teri enjoys doing marriage counseling, individual counseling, couples and relationship counseling. Teri also does family counseling, child counseling, and adolescent counseling. Imagine Hope serves the Indianapolis area, including the surrounding areas of Carmel, Fishers, Noblesville, Zionsville, and Westfield.
Tags: Giving back, traditions
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Around the age of 8 usually comes the beginning of some skepticism for the concept of Santa Claus for some children. At this age, they may begin to deny some of the aspects of the Santa Claus myth, such as, “he comes down a chimney”.
If your child is struggling with the concept of Santa Claus, it is important at this age to help the child substitute a concept of a spirit of Christmas or a spirit of giving for a purely physical Santa. This helps the transition for the child in understanding the true meaning of Christmas from a child’s perspective into a more mature vision as they grow older.
We would love to hear from you– what are your children’s concepts of Santa Claus and at what ages? How do they view Christmas and the meaning of Christmas?
Joleen Watson, MS, NCC, is a therapist at Imagine Hope Counseling Group. She enjoys doing marriage counseling, relationship counseling, couples counseling, and individual counseling. Imagine Hope also specializes in family, child and adolescent counseling and serves Indianapolis area including the surrounding areas of Carmel, Noblesville, Zionsville, Westfield, and Fishers.
Tags: Christmas through the eyes of a child
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Do you remember being three years old? Most of us are fairly verbal at three so we may have some memories of Christmas at that age. You may even remember Santa’s lap at this age! Its a magical time. My youngest is three this year and we are having lots of fun talking and reading about Christmas miracles.
At three years old, children know what Santa looks like, knows what presents are, and is very interested in both! They will listen to and ask about Christmas stories such as “Elf on the Shelf” or Rudolph, and even the story of the birth of Jesus. They will recognize baby Jesus in a manger! Children this age are a bit hazy on the details about the North Pole and where is Santa, but they will ask questions.
At age four, the kids are all about Christmas stories now. They know the details about the story of Jesus’s birth and can tell you about it. They believe in Santa and reindeer and your magical house elf. They are deeply interested in the specifics, so creativity on your part is a must. If you carry on the Santa tradition, its important to stay consistent. Four year olds will catch your mistakes. They will be interested in the gifts and actively telling you what they want for Christmas. This is an awesome time to teach them about giving to others.
I hope you are enjoying the holiday season. Remember, traditions are extremely important to children and create life long memories. Thanks for stopping by!
Source: Parenting Group Counseling. Frieda A. Lang Ed. D.
Written by Alexa Griffith, LMHC, LCAC, NCC, RPT
Alexa Griffith, LMHC, LCAC, NCC, RPT is a licensed therapist and Registered Play Therapist at Imagine Hope Counseling Group. Alexa enjoys doing marriage counseling, individual counseling, couples and relationship counseling. Alexa also does play therapy, family counseling, child counseling, and adolescent counseling. Imagine Hope serves the Indianapolis area, including the surrounding areas of Carmel, Fishers, Noblesville, Zionsville, and Westfield
Tags: Christmas through children's eyes, Frieda Lang
Posted in Christmas, Family Issues, Parenting | No Comments »
If you’re like me, Christmas is your favorite time of the year—the decorations, the presents, time with family—and the image in your mind of everything going perfectly! This week at Imagine Hope we are continuing to talk about how Christmas looks through your child’s eyes. Today I will be talking about 2 year olds, and how to have appropriate expectations for them this holiday season.
2 Year Olds
As you may have observed already, some 2 year olds are quite frightened or disinterested by Santa Claus. Make sure to take this into account if you plan to sit them on Santa’s lap this year—you may not get the photograph you are hoping for!
You may be surprised to find that your 2 year old is very interested in presents this year—in fact, they may be too interested! They may open a present, and then look around or ask for the next one. Don’t be surprised if they act greedy or selfish—developmentally they are in the “All about me” stage. They will probably be excited about some of the gifts they get, but may not have much interest in who the gift giver is (Santa, grandparents, etc.).
Expect your 2 year old to be very interested in the tree—they may gaze and stare in amazement at the twinkling lights and decorations, as well as try to rearrange them for you 
Keep on reading tomorrow as Alexa talks about Christmas through the eyes of a 3 year old!
Source: Parenting Group Counseling. Frieda A. Lang Ed. D.
Written by Christy Fogg, MSW, LCSW
Christy Fogg, MSW, LCSW is a licensed therapist at Imagine Hope Counseling Group. Christy enjoys doing marriage counseling, individual counseling, couples and relationship counseling. Christy also provides family counseling, child counseling, and adolescent counseling.
Imagine Hope serves the Indianapolis area, including the surrounding areas of Carmel, Fishers, Noblesville, Zionsville, and Westfield.
Tags: Parenting Group Counseling. Frieda A. Lang Ed. D.
Posted in Christmas, Family Issues, Parenting | No Comments »
It is Christmas Time! Trees are going up. Lights are being put out. Gifts lists are being made. Traditions are being upheld.
This time of year can be a magical time for people of all ages, but have you ever wondered about how kids of different stages look at Christmas? This week we will break it down by ages so you can make sure you have appropriate expectations for your kid’s.
Infants
Sorry folks…if you are thinking your infant is going to LOVE everything about Christmas, you might be setting the bar too high.
Most of the time infants will be more anxious about the new toy and might even start crying instead of playing with it. Make sure you don’t push your infant to fit your expectations or it could backfire on you.
I remember getting my son a toy for his first Christmas that popped balls around and played loud music. It took him a long time to be interested. I think my husband and I played with it most at first trying to coax our son to play too!
Expect your infant to be more interested in the twinkling lights and wrapping paper then anything else you get them. Sometimes as a parent you have to take a step back and meet your child where they are.
Don’t worry though- a lot changes for a 2 year old! Read tomorrow as Christy gives us the details!
Source: Parenting Group Counseling. Frieda A. Lang Ed. D.
Written by Teri Claassen MSW, LCSW, LCAC
Teri Claassen MSW, LCSW, LCAC is a licensed therapist at Imagine Hope Counseling Group. Teri enjoys doing marriage counseling, individual counseling, couples and relationship counseling. Teri also does family counseling, child counseling, and adolescent counseling. Imagine Hope serves the Indianapolis area, including the surrounding areas of Carmel, Fishers, Noblesville, Zionsville, and Westfield.
Tags: Parenting Group Counseling. Frieda A. Lang Ed. D.
Posted in Christmas, Family Issues, Parenting | No Comments »
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