Some Moms Connectin'

I am teaming up this week with Naptime Review and Two in Diapers for this exciting series about motherhood.

 We are always wondering how other moms handle certain issues or dilemmas,

so each week we are going to tackle the questions of motherhood.

Coming on December 8th, we will discuss:

Fun holiday projects to do with your kids.

If you have some thoughts or advice on next week's topic please email

Cassie at twoindiapers@gmail.com

We would love for you to be part of The Mom Connection!


Now on to this week's topic!

How do you prepare for the holidays with your children?

Here is what a few of us had to say:

Welcome! I'm Julie over at Naptime Review. I am a mom of 2 wild, crazy and beautiful girls. My oldest turns 4 on Christmas Eve and my baby is 15 months old. This is how I prepare my children for the holidays:

This Christmas will be the best yet! My girls are at a fun age. I have a lot of memorable things planned for the month of December. I am really trying to instill the sense of tradition with my children. I want them to look forward to family events and special fun activities each holiday season. I also want to make sure they understand why we celebrate Christmas and to have giving hearts.

This year, I have prepared and organized 2 special advent events for my children. I have purchased the goodies for my Pottery Barn wall calendar and I have also organized the craft supplies for the daily ornaments. Each day my daughter and I are going to make an ornament and discuss the "true meaning" of Christmas. We are then going to hang it on her little tree. I can't wait to get started. Click here if you'd like to learn more about The Truth in Tinsel curriculum.

I have seen a lot of great advent resources out there on Pinterest and other blogs. Find what works best for your family and have fun!  My goal is to be organized and to start traditions that hopefully my girls will carry on.

Hi! I'm Cassie from Two In Diapers, and I'm a mommy to three sweet babies, ages 4, 3, and 18 months. This is how I prepare for the holidays with my children:
 

In my family growing up we had so many traditions and the holidays were such a special time for us! I really hope that carry that on with my little family!

My littles are just now reaching the age where Christmas is really exciting for them, so we're sort of newbies at this. We have definitely already established the tradition of getting our Christmas tree {real, of course!} the morning after Thanksgiving and decorating it that night or the the following night. Last year, we also packed boxes for Operation Christmas Child {our church contributes}, and I think we will try to do this, or something similar, every year.  

We definitely talk to our children about the meaning of Christmas but we also allow some Santa fun, including gifts from Santa, photos with Santa, etc. We make it clear to them that Santa is just a daddy dressed in a costume and that we celebrate Santa for fun, but also that they are not allowed to tell the other kids this, as that is their parents' job. This seems to have worked for us so far!

This will be the first year that we celebrate Advent with our children, and it should be so fun! My family always read The Best Christmas Pageant Ever {a couple chapters per week} after advent, and I definitely hope to start a fun tradition like that!

Amidst all the holiday spirit and the family traditions, our main goal is to teach our precious babies about Jesus' birth, as well as to show them that Christmas is a time of sharing and giving with family and friends.

My name is Pamela from Pamela's Heavenly Treats. I am a mom of 6 kids, 5 boys and 1 baby girl - ages 15, twins 13, 9, 6 and 2. I love having a big family. For a person who didn't want kids, the Lord really socked it to me! I love being a mama, wouldn't change that for anything in the world, to see my boys be gentleman and my little girl learning the first stages of modesty. This is how I prepare for the holidays with my children: 

We always put God first in everything that we do, especially for the holidays! Christmas is a special time in our family. My kids write a letter to teh Lord with their wish list and put it on the Christmas tree. I have had so many people tell me that they wished they would have done that with their children. 

They also know the reason for the season. It's not about gifts and more gifts because we already have the ultimate gift: God. On Christmas morning we all gather around the tree and sing Happy Birthday Jesus and pray, and then it's gift time! By doing this since we had our first child (who is now 15), they love everything that they receive. They're not looking or asking WHY they didn't get something. I hope they will keep that tradition going when they become parents.   

 

My name is Diana from Nanny 2 Mommy. I am a mom of a beautiful toddler girl but also take care of my friend's daughter, who is a month younger than mine almost to the day. This is how I prepare for the holidays with my children:

Preparing for the holidays is an overwhelming chore in our house. Once everything is up, I love it and never want to take them down, but my daughter's birthday is December 9th and she has always been a little sensitive to change of environment. PLUS, we have tons of decorations and such.

The first thing I do is, a few weeks before Thanksgiving I start making lists of events - what we are supposed to bring, map of where I want the decorations to go, etc. Then I start shopping. As a couponing mom, I want to make sure I catch products at the best price. About a week before Thanksgiving, I start bringing in the Christmas Decorations. I don't want my poor little one overwhelmed when her birthday arrives. Since my hubby only gets the weekend of her birthday off work to help me, I bring in all the little stuff and then he does lights and we do the tree together while watching Elf the day before her party. This worked wonderfully last year and I'm hoping for it to work out again this year.  

My name is Christine from A Fly On Our (Chicken Coup) Wall. I am a mother of five boys and one girl, whose ages range from 14 to 3.  This is how I prepare for the holidays with my children:  With the ages of our kids, preparing for the holidays means preparing in three different ways: with the little kids, with the big kids, and all together.  Preparing with the little ones involves bringing out our stack of Christmas picture books and reading them many, many times over the four weeks of Advent.  We also do plenty of crafts while the big kids are at school, the highlight being the “gingerbread” houses we make with our friends.  As the kids get older we focus more on really preparing for Jesus’ birth.  Each morning before school, as they eat their breakfast, we read the Scripture for the day and have a short meditation/prayer time.  We also do some extra volunteer work during Advent.  We especially like volunteering at the local charity’s Christmas Store, where we help organize donated gifts and walk customers through as they shop. Finally, we prepare together. We turn the Christmas music up nice and loud, so we can get our Christmas groove on while we decorate the tree. The carols are also blaring while we wrap gifts, bake cookies, play games, and simply enjoy being together.  Your Turn: How do YOU prepare for the holidays with your children? Do you have any tips or advice? Leave us a comment. Love to hear from you!