Motherhood brings with it so many surprises.   Many of them are great.  Who knew what joy such a tiny person could bring to your life?  Other surprises are just eye opening.  For example, I didn’t realize just how much stuff came with having a child until I became a mother.  Babies may come into the world without possessions but they sure do accumulate them quickly!  Their clothes may be tiny but I think laundry triples in a home the minute an infant is carried in the door.  As your baby grows, so do the number of toys that find a way into your home.  And then there is the paper avalanche that comes with having a preschooler.  The budding artists scribble, paint, color, and paste more crafts and color sheets than any new mom could predict.  What’s a mom to do with it all?  I can tell you that it is a daily battle to keep your house from being overrun with your kid’s stuff.  However, I have a few tips to share with you for managing all that stuff.  I am by no means an expert, just a mom with a little experience reigning in the chaos.  I hope one or two of these tips will be of help to you.

Laundry

I am a lazy laundress.  I admit it freely.  Luckily, I don’t own very many clothes that have to specially washed.   I want to put the least amount of effort into getting the clothes clean as possible.  So here are a lazy laundress’ tips for avoiding a constant mountain of laundry.

•  Invest in a basket or hamper for every person or bedroom in the house.   A basic laundry basket will fit neatly under a twin bed.  Each of my children has a basket under his/her bed to put his/her clothes into after removing them.  This helps to eliminate soiled clothing from littering the bedroom floors.
• Consider having a hamper in other convenient locations in your home.  I have one in my kitchen for linens.  I don’t use many paper towels.  I needed a place to put soiled kitchen linens (hand towels, etc.) and I got tired of carrying them to another room.  A small basket in the corner of the kitchen does the trick.  I empty that basket every couple of days and wash the contents.
• Wash a load of laundry every day, if you can.  Put the load in as soon as possible in the morning.  Swing by later to move it to the dryer.  Fold it as you take it out of the dryer.   Surprisingly, folding a single load should take you less than 10 minutes.   Don’t have 10 minutes now? Okay.  Leave it for later but try and get that basket of clothes folded before the day is done.  Don’t let the clean clothes pile up in a heap.  Fold and put away as soon as possible.
• My most lazy tip is to skip sorting clothes by color if possible.  I take the full clothes basket from under my child’s bed once a week.  Without sorting, I throw all the clothes into the washing machine and wash in cold water.  Then I dry it and let the child fold and put away his own clothes in the afternoon.  I don’t have to sort by color or person.   This saves me much time.  This will only work if you don’t own very much white clothing or clothing where the colors bleed.

Toys and Books

• Have a central toy hub.  I am privileged to have a store room in my home where all the toys and children’s books live when they are not being used.   We do not allow our children to keep toys in their rooms.   This has cut down on bedroom clutter.  All the toys go in the toy room on shelves or in boxes/bins.  There is place for all of it.  When I lived in a smaller home, I had a storage space for toys tucked away.  I then had a toy tote and book tote in the main living room.  I rotated the toys and books every couple of months.  The smaller totes fit better in our smaller space.  As a bonus, there were fewer toys to pick up.
• Bless others with the toys your child has outgrown.  Do a toy purge a couple of times a year.  When the boxes/bins/shelves are overflowing in our toy room, I know that it is time to get rid of some of the toys.  For example, we have purged the stuffed animal box many times over the years.  I was able to donate some nice baby toys to my church’s nursery last year.  I also gave some to a woman I know who runs a daycare.  There is no purpose in a toy cluttering your home when it can be loved and enjoyed by someone else.
• If a toy  is broken or drives you crazy, get rid of it.  Broken toys go immediately into the trash.  Any toy that I find annoying gets spirited away to a new home (usually when my children aren’t looking).  My children have plenty of toys.  There is no reason that I need to suffer through toys that bring no joy to my home.  I have learned stop caring who gave it to my child.  It is better to have a happy mama.
• Set limits on what toys come into your home.  Don’t buy toys you don’t have room to store.  Encourage relatives to give few toys.  Give good suggestions on what classic toys will last or on what family passes they can purchase instead.  Ask grandma to give you a season pass to the zoo or to invest in a quality set of building blocks.  A few quality toys are better than a room full of toys that your kids never want to use.  Personally, I have found that the fewer noises and lights a toy makes, the better.  A basic baby doll is better than one that cries and wets itself and costs 3 times as much.  My child can be more imaginative with the basic doll.  She is fully capable of creating sound effects for it.  No batteries required.

Paper – Tips for Children

• Have a place to file your child’s best artwork or school papers.  There will be a some that you will want to keep.  An expanding file folder or small filing cabinet can easily hold these treasures in an organized way.  Have a folder for each child divided by year.   Be very selective about what you keep.  Try to limit it to less than 5 or 10 items per year.  If the artwork is particularly good or meaningful to you, consider framing it and using it to decorate your home.
• Have a place to temporarily display your child’s work.   A small bulletin board in the family room or clothes line strung along a wall can easily display a few of your child’s papers.  Make a rule that you have to remove an item before putting another up.  Allow your child to help decide what to display.
• Take digital photos of your child’s artwork.  Once you have taken the photo, throw away the original.  There are many ways you can then have those photos available to show your children or other relatives.   You can upload the photos to a digital photo frame and hang it on a wall or put it on a desk.   You can make a photo book of your child’s artwork.    You can use the artwork as a desktop background on your computer or phone.
• Allow your child to keep some of his papers in a special box.   A cardboard storage box that you can purchase at an office supply store will fit under a bed.  I gave one to each of my children and allowed them to decorate the boxes.  Then I  sort through their papers, keeping what I want and I allow them to decide if they want to throw away or keep the rest.  Any paper they want to keep goes in their boxes under their beds.  All other paper is thrown away.  Papers in the trash are not allowed to be rescued.  This system has cut down to the amount of paper that was piling up around the house.  When the box is full, take 1/2 an hour and help your child sort through their papers again to make room for new ones.  This will teach your child how to make decisions about how to determine if something is worth keeping.

Paper – Other

Children are not the only ones who bring paper into a home.  Adults have plenty themselves.  Here are some tips for the other piling papers in your home.

• Mail -  Sort your mail when you bring it into the house.  Immediately throw out anything that you don’t want (junk mail).  Invest in a mail hub. This may be an inbox system or a wall unit.  There should be a place for bills and a place for all other mail. Don’t let the hub overflow.  Take time once a day or every other day to open your mail and deal with it.
• Newspapers and magazines – If you subscribe to a magazine or newspaper, you should evaluate whether the subscription is a blessing or a clutter collection.   After you have read  your periodical, feel free to throw it out or recycle it.   Don’t keep back issues of any magazine for more than a year.  If you haven’t needed to refer to it in 12 months, you never will.  If you find that you are not reading your daily paper or you haven’t read your monthly magazine before the new one arrives, then it is time to cancel the subscription.
• Other paper – You probably have a variety of other paper that you are given regularly.  For example, we give you a MOPS newsletter each meeting.  My pediatrician usually gives me an information sheet at well-baby check ups.  All this information is helpful in general but useless if it ends up at the bottom of a paper stack never to be seen again.  A basic file cabinet can be very useful for storing some of the other paper you may have.  Be judicious about what you keep.  If you are likely to never look at it again, don’t bother filing it.  On the other hand, some papers you may have little cause to use regularly, but when you need them, they are important to have.  An example of this is the student handbook for my child’s school.  I have a school file for all important school information.  My husband also files anything that we may need for taxes, such as pay stubs, medical bills and EOBs, and receipts for charitable donations.  I have a file box just for owner’s manuals that come with our home appliances.  When something goes wrong with the refrigerator or lawn mower, I know exactly where to look to find the owner’s manual to help me trouble shoot the problem.  Taking a little time to file now will help you find what you need to find when you need to find it.
• Eliminating “Hot Spots” — Any flat surface can turn into a “hot spot” for paper clutter.  The top of our piano is notorious for collecting all kinds of  paper.  Sunday school work sheets, mail that didn’t make it to the mail hub, old newspapers, children’s school papers….you get the idea.  I try to take a few minutes at least every other day to clear this paper clutter.  If I let paper collect in one place, it invites its paper buddies and the stack is eventually unmanageable.

²⁷ Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due,
when it is in your power to act.

As you heard at last week’s meeting, one of our dear members, Kathy is having some huge health struggles.  We wanted to pass along updates that her husband has posted on Facebook.

1) Sort stuff first.  If you read any organizational manual, you will see that you need to start with 3 bags – a trash one, a give away one and a keep one.  No sense trying to find storage for something you need to give away.  I have to be honest – I have done a really good job in passing along baby or toddler toys.  I am not the best at giving away current toys.  My kids play with almost all of their toys, so it is hard to pass those on, even though I am sure that we have too many!

2) Clear containers:  When we were in the early stages of accumulating toys, we started investing in clear containers.  This has helped tremendously in at least attempting to keep kid stuff corralled!  And we have kept with the same brand – the stackable ones.  Walmart has the best prices on the containers.  I needed to buy a bunch more, so I waited until the beginning of January to buy them, thinking that there would be some great deals since January seems to be an organization month.  Walmart’s prices were still better than the sale ones.

3) Fit the container to the stuff, rather than the making the stuff fit in an unsuitable container.  As I was sorting out art supplies, I realized that some of them were too long to fit into the 3 sizes of containers that I normally buy.  So, I filled a bag with the odd items that I needed to “containerize,” then I brought that bag to the store with me.  Now my stuff is happily contained.

4) Find a friend to help you in the process.  My sister is a professional organizer (or at least she could be!)  She came over when we were starting our basement project to give me some much needed perspective.

5) Know your storage style.  When we started this process, my school/storage room was a disaster.  My kids loved the stuff in that room, so anytime that I would try to organize, they would take the items to play with.  Needless to say, the room continued to get messier and messier.  We had to put a lock on the door, and I was unable to go in there for but a moment when the kids were awake.  Now we have eliminated that catch-all room and have shelves instead.  This is going to be a nicer arrangement.

6) Know your storage weaknesses.  Mine is paper.  I like to keep recipes and great teaching ideas (and of course the MOPS newsletters).  And my kids love to draw pictures – lots of paper!  One of my goals for this week is to again clear off my desk.  And I have two whole boxes of papers waiting for me to sort.  Due to this fact, we realized that the 2 desk areas that I formerly had in my school room needed to eliminated.  They were not useful work areas for me – instead they turned into ineffective storage areas.  And were then overwhelming!

7) Make sure everything has a home.  If you don’t have a designated place to store the items, you will never be able to find them, as they will keep being put into different locations.  Also, if your kids are allowed to play anywhere in the house, you WILL have toys ALL over your house.  Since I have paper issues, I may start banning paper from being anywhere but the basement.  Right now I have a counter in our laundry room where paper can go besides the top of the messy desk in the basement.  If I just have one spot, I am hoping that will be easier to maintain.  We’ll see.  We also currently do a lot of school at the kitchen table – that makes it hard come meal times.  So, we are hoping to move that to the basement too – containing the chaos to one area.

Well, hopefully  you were able to glean one idea from my organization ramblings.  Elisabeth is planning on writing a few blog entries on organization soon – I am excited to read her ideas.  If you have any great ideas to share, please e-mail firstfreemops@gmail.com  I will compile the ideas and write another blog entry.  Blessings as you sort it all out!

I had decided that I did not want to save this topic until the newsletter which is why I tried to send it to you on the 2nd.  Even though it is now a week later, I still feel that it is not too late.  3 years ago I revitalized a college habit that I now feel like I will continue to do every year: reading through the Bible.   I cannot say enough about how this practice has changed my life.  The commitment can seem large, but the result is SO worth the effort!  To be honest, since I am a quick reader who happens to comprehend well, I spend about 10 minutes a day to read the selected passage.  Hardly any time at all to reap such a benefit.  Even as busy moms of preschoolers, we usually can manage to hold on to 10 minutes of time alone.  Since this can seem like a daunting task, I wanted to share a couple of methods that may make reading through the Bible in a year easier.

When I was in college, I subscribe to the Navigator’s Discipleship Journal.  This is an outstanding magazine that I am not currently getting due to time constraints, but their Bible reading program was what I followed initially.  Their plan is unique in that it assigns passages for 25 days in the month – giving you a bit of wiggle room if you are unable to get to your Bible reading a day or two.  This program has you “  read four places in God’s Word every day to better grasp the unity of the Scriptures.”  They have another plan that I have not personally done that is their “book-at-a-time” reading plan which “intersperses Old and New Testament books in each month’s readings, with the four gospels spread throughout the year.”

Not up for the challenge of the whole Bible?  They also have a program for reading through the New Testament.  This is what it says on their website about their 5x5x5 program: “5 minutes per day, 5 days per week, 5 ways to dig deeper. Takes you through one chapter each day. Read the New Testament in one year.” My nine year old is following this program – I am so excited about that.  Reading the whole Bible would be a bit daunting for him (plus there are too many adult situations in the Old Testament I do NOT want to explain to him yet .  So far, he has read the first five chapters in Mark – would be easy to catch up even though we are nine days into the new year.

To download any of these plans, please visit: http://www.navpress.com/dj/content.aspx?id=138

Since I do my reading while I walk on the treadmill, flipping through the Bible would be a bit challenging (and maybe dangerous).  So I now use Bibles that are dated, so that I can just read my section for the day and be done.

The Daily Bible: New International Version: With Devotional Insights to Guide You Through God’s Word

I have gone through this Bible now four different times.  Amazing!  The Bible is actually compiled in chronological order (as best as they can date the events), so this Bible definitely helps in understanding what happened when.  So you read the psalm that David wrote about God’s protection right after the section that you read about David fleeing from Absalom his son.  Definitely helps to understand the order of the Bible.

This year I felt like that God was asking me to switch up a bit.  So armed with a $5 gift card and granted a 30% off coupon, I spent just under $10 to get this Bible.

The One Year Bible NLT (One Year Bible: New Living Translation-2)

This Bible goes in traditional book order, but you read a passage from the Old Testament, the New Testament, a Psalm (or part of one) and part of  a Proverb.  So far I am enjoying the new perspective – sometimes the stories end at a different place than I would expect, forcing me to ponder a bit more.  I also felt like God was challenging me to go a step further, so I am reading this book again.

The One Year Book of Praying through the Bible by Cheri Fuller.

She picks one of the four passages from the daily Bible reading and writes a devotional on the importance of prayer.  For instance, today’s devotional focused on the psalm from today – Psalm 9.  So, this also causes me to stop and ponder the Scripture that I have just read even more.

I thought that this was all that I was going to do this year, but my Mom gave me another book of daily readings.  (Since my mom is also one of the godliest women that I know, I decided that I should listen and not just because she is is my mom )  Anyway to be honest, I have done a lousy job of keeping up – I was distracted too often this week and never knew for sure where my Bible was when I had time to read it.  Due to this fact (and the fact that my original blog entry on the importance of God’s Word was” magically” deleted), I am more sure than ever that I am supposed to be doing this every day!

Oh, yeah … the title.  Jesus Calling:Enjoying Peace in His Presence by Sarah Young

I plan on trying to spend a few minutes each day after I put my youngest two down for naps reading through this book.  The devotionals are only a few paragraphs and then she includes a few Scriptures.  In fact short enough that you can read them out loud (which is what I did this morning as I read a few to try to catch up).

Maybe you made a New Year’s resolution this year (maybe you already broke it Well, reading through the Bible annually is the New Year’s resolution that I made several years ago that I am SO glad (that by God’s grace) that I have been able to keep.  I cannot imagine my year without it.  The resolution that will revolutionize your life!

P.S. I am not the only spiritual authority by any means – I know that MANY of you are using some other great reading plans or devotionals that help you to progress spiritually.  Please share them by commenting below or send an e-mail to firstfreemops@gmail.com  I will be glad to pass on your suggestions in another blog entry or put a blurb in the newsletter.  We need each other so that we can continue to grow closer to God!

Today is also causing me to reflect back on the births of my 4 children.  No – I promise I will not go into any detailed birthing stories.  Due to some extenuating circumstances, I ended up with4 c-sections and basically helped pick my children’s birth days (already chosen by God).  So, talk about getting to pack.  Especially after my first one, I knew exactly what I wanted at the hospital with me.  My blue blanket.  My neck wrap.  My own shampoo and conditioner and shower gel.  Dr. Pepper.  You know – the essentials.   Due to this scheduling, our families were able to meet our babies – together.  Not there during the birth, but they definitely shared the experience with us.

I started to wonder this year – when Mary was told by the angel that she was going to have a baby, did she recall that a trip to Bethlehem was in her future?  Did she remember that was to be the birthplace of her child?  I personally feel that they must have gotten the notice fairly late in the pregnancy that they were to trek to Bethlehem or the timing must have been determined, otherwise I think they would have gone right away.  Wait to travel when you are very pregnant?  No way.  She would have wanted to get back to Nazareth.  Back to home.  Back to mom.  Back to her own room.  To her favorite blanket.

The Bible only really tells us about Mary’s feelings about this whole ordeal twice.  In Luke 1, when she was confused at first with the angel’s announcement.  And then in Luke 2 when we are told that she treasured and pondered all of these things in her heart.  Always interesting to read the story when you know the end.  We know that there is no room in the inn.  Did Mary know that end result?  At least we can stay in an inn.  At least we can stay in an inn.   This would have been my traveling mantra.  At least we can stay in a … stable?  Discombobulated.  (Just had to use that word one more time

As you celebrate Christmas this year, pray that God will give you new eyes to see this story of Christmas in a new way.  I know that I am more thankful than usual that the people in Luke 1 and 2 and in Matthew 1 allowed God to interrupt their lives, so that a Savior could be born in an unlikely way, in an unlikely place, to unlikely girl.  I am most thankful that Jesus was willing to carry a tree many years ago – the act which resulted in the ultimate sacrifice.  The real reason for Christmas.

In addition to reading the above passages, here are twelve additional verses that have to do with the incarnation.  I thought about copying and pasting them from an on-line Bible source, but then you wouldn’t have the joy of discovering the verses for yourself.  Enjoy celebrating His birthday today and tomorrow!

John 1:1-2, 14

Galatians 4:4-7

Hebrews 2:14-17

I John 4:14

Have a wonderful Christmas!  Love your friends at First Free MOPS!

P.S. I think the blog may be closed for the next few weeks, so that I can catch up from all of the remodeling and other things.  I will also not be checking our MOPS e-mail very often either.  So, if you need something, please give your FGL or a steering member a call.  We look forward to seeing you on January 12th!

Since our immediate families all live within an hour of our house, our traveling for the holidays is very minimal.  I feel for those of you who have to always have to go a long distance to celebrate Christmas.  So, I decided that I should have a column in honor of those of you “traveling with preschoolers” (especially you, my dear friend Suzy!)  Hope you can learn something new from these 11 tips!

These tips are from http://www.sixtysecondparent.com/_webapp_115275/Road_trips_with_preschoolers

1)  If you are staying somewhere overnight and continuing with your trip the next morning, be prepared and have an overnight bag packed and make it easily assessable. That way you’re not hauling everything out of the car and repacking it unnecessarily.

2) Pack a travel kit with rescue items like baby wipes or put damp wash clothes in a zippered plastic bag, include dishtowels, plastic bags, medications, tissues and a well stocked first aid kit. Have an old container handy if you have a child who suffers from car sickness.

The following tips are from a mom blogger: http://glenniacampbell.typepad.com/silenti/2007/05/traveling_with__3.html

3)Make sure your child is dressed comfortably, in loose-fitting, breathable clothes.  Sweatpants or shorts with elastic waistbands are easier to get off in a potty emergency, and more confortable than jeans.  Bring along extra pants and underwear for possible potty accidents, and plastic bags to carry the messy clothes in.  Keep an extra shirt in your carry-on for potential spills.

4) A few new toys, coloring books, crayons, and paper to dole out along the way.  I carry a small notebook and kept track of “Good Traveler Points.”  When my son uses his good manners, sits in his seat with his seatbelt on, helps others, and does other nice things, he scores points.  At 20 points, he gets to choose a wrapped prize (usually a book, deck of cards, small toy, or pad of paper/crayons).  As he has gotten older, the points have become harder to earn.  He has become quite a skilled negotiator, and often tries to bargain for additional points ahead of time.

5) Snacks & Drinks:  Crackers, string cheese, mini-carrots, dried fruit, trail mix, and small Power Bars are some choices to have on hand.  Candy, cookies, sodas and other  treats might cheer them up momentarily, but when the sugar wears off, the crash will not be fun.

6) A Notebook or Journal:  Ask your child to tell you a story about where you are going, what they want to do there and what it will be like on the way there and record it.  Ask them to tell a story about what they saw there and record it on the way back.  When you get there, ask your child to draw the things they saw and did.  This can become a wonderful scrapbook of their trips.

Tips from my travels with kids over the past 9 years.

7) Toys: Pick bigger ones that cannot be spread out over the whole car.  Also pick ones that tend to stay together.  Put lacing cards on a ring and give several laces, so that if one drops, it is not a catastrophe.  Magnadoodles are great travel toys.  Melissa & Doug also make several magnet books.

8) Make your own I-spy container.  Gather up a bunch (about 20) of smaller items (bouncy ball, paper clip, little car, rubber bands, etc.)  Using a rinsed out peanut bar jar (or another jar with a tight lid), layer these small items among rice.  Fill until almost full but make sure that the rice is not completely packed.  The child now can move the rice around and play “I spy” trying to find the different items.  Note: you may want to reinforce the lid with strong tape unless you enjoy getting rice out of crevices.

9) Books: My favorite travel books are mazes.  Richard Scary books are also wonderful because there are is so much action on each page; kids are not as likely to get bored.  Usborne also has a bunch of search books at several different age levels.  (Note: if this is your first time giving your child a book to read during long distance travel, keep an eye on them to make sure that this does not make them car sick.)

10) Compact Discs: Pick out cd’s that are fun to travel with (preview any new music).  I just gave my kids the “Slug Bugs Christmas” c.d. that is very enjoyable for all 4 of my kids.  Or make your own mix cd’s or i-tunes play list.  The more variety, the more enjoyable the trip will be.  The Lincoln libraries have books on cd – my kids almost enjoy listening to stories more than watching videos.  Beverly Cleary’s “Mouse & the Motorcyle” books, as well as Frog & Toad books are good for preschoolers.  There is usually a special section in the library with books on cd and usually age recommendations are on the back.  If your vehicle still has a tape deck, you have even more entertainment possibilities.

11) DVDs: Our newer minivan does have a DVD player, and we did use it on the trip.  But we tried to use at the crucial moments – when everyone was getting tired of traveling.  We checked out several movies from the library – “Reading Rainbow” is a good choice to go beyond cartoons.  We happen to have several concerts on DVD (Jars of Clay, Allison Krause, etc.)  Those ended up being my favorites because while I couldn’t see the screen, I could still enjoy the music.  One can only handle listening to Veggie Tales for so long.

Godspeed on your travels!

Anyway, I think I get bored with my workouts, so I change my music play lists fairly often.  Since I even have Christmas music that I enjoy listening to while I am exercising, I thought I would share 10 of my favorite upbeat songs.  So, if you are like me and maybe have eaten one Christmas cookie too many, crank up one of these tunes and get moving.

1) “Oh, for Joy” by David Crowder Band

2) “Sing, Angels, Sing!” by Nicole C. Mullen

3) “O Come All Ye Faithful” by Toby Mac

4) “Handel’s Messiah” by Relient K

5) “Gloria” by Michael W. Smith

6) “Angels We Have Heard on High” by Erin O’Donnel

7) “I Pray on Christmas” by Harry Connick Jr.

8) “Birth of Love” Super HErose

9) “Go Tell It On the Mountain” by Michael English

10) “Little Drummer Boy” by Toby Mac

Taking the time to spend time together as a family during this busy Christmas season can be a challenge.  We can get so distracted with all of the preparations, that we can forget that the celebrations are supposed to bring us closer together, rather than having us go in many opposite directions.  If you are looking for some new ideas on some family nights, here are some suggestions.  Note: if you choose to do all 9, you will be exhausted, and no one will have fun, so please try to only implement your favorite one or two.  Next year, you can try out some more.  The ideas that are highlighted with an @ symbol could also be fun to do with another family or could even make great outreach activities.  Simply invite an unchurched family over and do the activity together.  Then while you serve all of the kids cookies, read a Christmas story picture book or another Christmas related book together.  (By the way, Rhonda is the one who gave me MANY great family night ideas – if a * is front of the suggestion, that idea is from her.  Thanks, Rhonda – maybe I want to come join your family for the night! J)

• * @ First day of Winter tradition at our house (which happens to be today!)   We invite a different family to join us each year, and then we make snowman cookies.  Use sugar cookie dough.  Roll balls in graduating sizes.  Place together and use the bottom of a flat cup to “smash” them.  Cool after baking.  Frost and use candies to decorate.  Mini M&M’s & mini chocolate chips work great!  Orange sprinkles make excellent “carrot” noses.  Colored frosting can be used also
• Jesse Tree: This would take several evenings and could even provide family nights for all of December for next year.  See http://www.shalfleet.net/advent/makeajessetree.htm  for ideas.  (Note: I did not preview the whole site, just the Jesse tree part).  There are also several books available on Amazon, but since I have not pre-read any of them, I do not feel comfortable recommending them.  This is a tradition that Lynette has started this year in her family, so if you have any questions, you could definitely talk to her.  Lorri and Danelle mentioned that some MOPs moms made Jesse trees last year during Bible study, so there may be other patterns available too.
• Pick a Christmas show to watch together as a family every year.  Our family loves the original Peanuts Christmas.  While it is a fun, we also like the fact that it has the true meaning Christmas incorporated into the story.  (My daughter really likes Holly Hobbie Christmas too – I am amazed at how much of the true meaning of Christmas is incorporated in this DVD).
• *A Shepherds Meal at in the living room sitting on the floor – I have to throw down a blanket for my peace …   We have fruit, crackers, bread, sliced meat & cheese … anything a shepherd could have packed in his sack for the lonely days & nights out with the sheep!  I stole this idea from a friend three years ago and have done it ever since.
• @ Have a birthday party for Jesus.  Play “pin the tail on the donkey” (with Mary pictured sitting on the donkey).  Play bingo using the word angel instead.  Have a birthday cake with candles.   This could also be another way to invite another family to join you for an outreach type event.  (Idea from Celebrating a Christ-Centered Christmas by Sharon Jaymes)
• @ Make gingerbread houses together using small milk cartons as the base.  This is a great way to use up leftover Halloween candy.  To make the icing: beat 2 egg whites.  Fold into 2 ½ to 3 cups of powdered sugar.  You can also add some cream of tartar.  This frosting hardens as it sits, so it does not keep very well.  So make the frosting right before you are ready to use it. 
• @ Place enough candy canes in a small box for each member of your family – use one large cane and have the rest be small ones.  Wrap up the box.  Put this in a slightly larger box – wrap it again.  Continue putting the smaller boxes into larger boxes until you have a large box with lots of wrapped smaller boxes inside.  Sit in a circle and pass the gift around while listening to Christmas music.  Stop the music and let the person holding the box unwrap the gift.  Continue until you are down to the last gift.  The person opening the final box gets the large candy cane and then shares the little ones with every one else.  (This idea is from The ADVENTure of Christmas by Lisa Whelchel.  She has so many great ideas that I could copy the entire book.  Due to probable copyright infringement laws, I refrained and just passed on one idea.  I will just again recommend you get the book instead!)  Other ideas from G:  to make it “fair” play a prechosen short song for the last time the big package goes around.  That way when the box stops, you can’t be accused of playing favorites for the large candy cane.  Also the candy cane is traditionally thought of as the letter J for Jesus, as well as representing the shepherd’s crook.  This would be a great time to read The Legend of the Candy Cane by Lori Walburg.  You can also find the legend in a printable form online, but the illustrations of the picture book make it very memorable and enjoyable.
• A new twist on an old tradition.  Get the kids in their jammies and put them to bed early.  About 5 minutes after you have tucked everyone in, surprise your kids by announcing that you are going to go around and look at Christmas lights.  Then load them up, jammies and all and have a later night adventure.   Hot chocolate is optional – warmed chocolate milk in sippy cups works too.  (A good time to remind your children that Jesus is the Light of the world.)
• * We do name tags around the table at Christmas Dinner. On the back we put the passages of scripture with the Christmas Story starting with some of the prophesies in Isaiah.  When we sit down to eat, we read the passages together.

Not having Santa as a part of our Christmas celebration did not go over very well with some family members.  But for us, it was a deliberate decision. For one thing, my husband believed in him for far too long.  Plus I feel like to ask our kids to believe in Jesus, but also the Easter bunny, the tooth fairy and Santa, puts Jesus on the same level as childhood traditions, rather than having Him be the central decision to life.

For many of you, Santa is a part of your celebration.  I am in NO way condemning you. My friend, Alicia, had “Santa” deliver her children a letter telling about the importance of Jesus and His birth.  What a beautiful way to take what the world intends as a distraction and use it as a focus on the true meaning of Christmas.  In our family, we do talk about St. Nicholas and the importance of giving.  This year we are learning to give anonymously to some friends, without getting a thank you in return, just like St. Nicholas tried to do so long ago.  And Santa will be coming to our big (50+ people) extended family celebration just like he did when I was in child.  We will sing songs about Jesus first, then Santa comes in with “Jingle Bells.”  I am one of the ones that encouraged keeping that tradition. 

So, why I am writing this article?  And why am I stopping Santa at our home, while encouraging him to still be at our BIG family brunch?  Whether we like it or not, Santa is here to stay.  I am pretty sure that we are not going to be able to convince the world to go back to only focusing on the true meaning of Christmas, Jesus’ birth. There is a big contrast between Santa and Jesus after all.  Somehow it is easier for many people today to believe in a big fat guy in a red suit that goes down chimneys than to believe in a little baby placed in a manager that grew up to change the world. To the world, Santa brings change for the day – new gifts and a break from everyday life.  To the world, Jesus requires change for a lifetime – His gift affects everyday life every day.  That is not always easy for people to accept.

As Christ followers, we need to be the ones controlling the influence the world has in our homes.    Traditions can be wonderful, as long as we are the ones that are directing them, rather than letting the world determine our focus.  Santa is the biggest obvious distraction, but even gingerbread houses or Christmas trees can be a problem if they take us away from Jesus.  

Several years ago, I was watching a Natalie Grant Christmas concert on GMC .  She was telling about how she saw a sign in someone’s yard that had a picture of Santa with the words, “I Believe.”  She got really excited (evidently she really likes Santa), but then she realized something.  While that sign was fun, she knew Christmas for her was really about Jesus.  She wondered if she was as quick to tell others about that all important belief.  The result of her ponderings was this beautiful song.  http://www.godtube.com/watch/?v=77K7LWNX

By the way, if you do want to tell your children about the real Saint Nicholas who lived long ago, here are a couple of great books.

The Legend of St. Nicholas: A Story of Christmas Giving by Dandi Daley Mackall

 Santa, are you for real? by Harold Myra (this one is older and  a bit harder to find)

There is also a great Veggie tales video entitled “Saint Nicholas: A Story of Joyful Giving.”

God’s bl essings as you try to navigate through these tricky decisions.

P.S. I have always tried to encourage my kids that, while we do not celebrate Santa at our house other people do, so we need to not take away from their celebrations.  Evidently this is not sinking in with my six year old because the other day he convinced our 3 year old to look up at Santa and say “You aren’t real.”  So, if you are wanting to keep Santa as one of your traditions, maybe don’t come around my six year old until January.