Since my children were babies, I have been in charge of our family Christmas celebration. This year, my daughter and niece took over. I was eager to see if they would keep or discard what had become my traditions, which included a spiritual element and a scavenger hunt. To my delight, they kept some of my influence while making the festivities completely their own. Their efforts were a huge success, and I couldn't be any prouder of them. They chose a theme: A Dr. Seuss Christmas, and everything from food to fun had a Dr. Seuss twist. Here are some of our Seussical Christmas moments.
 | Getting started on Dr. Seuss Christmas preparations... |  |
The Goodies!!!The snacks included Grinch kabobs, green eggs and ham (x2), pinwheel cookies, Lorax peanut butter cookies, Thing cheese, One fish crackers, and two red fish gummies... |   |   |   |
The moment of transition...To make the transition from old to new official, I gave each girl a Dr. Seuss Christmas ornament to mark the event. |  |  |
| I got to have my finger in the activities since the girls wanted to participate in a scavenger hunt. Soooo.... - Everyone divided into two teams: Thing 1 and Thing 2. -Each group had one cell phone to use for capturing photos. -Each group had an envelope containing the same Dr. Seuss quotes. -Each group had to take pictures of something representing the quote. Nothing could represent more than one quote. -The timer was set. -The team returning with the most pictures won. **Since both teams returned with the same number of quotes, the tie was broken by voting on each picture. The team with the picture best representing the quote got the point. The points were totaled. The winning team had bragging rights for the rest of the night. The Games... Everyone took a Dr. Seuss quiz my niece found online. It was the seussical version of a personality test. Warning: one of the family members got some slang words in his character reveal. The others were child friendly. The good thing about this game was discovering how many family members were the same Dr. Seuss character. I was Horton.  |   |
When the games and serious moments were over, it was time to open gifts. Because this was the year of transferring traditions from one generation to another, I gave each of the young people a 3-ring binder containing a family tree and family stories of our ancestry. This represented preserving the past. In addition, I gave each of them an antique jar that belonged to my parents, who have passed away. The jars contained a dollar and the instructions to add a dollar to it each week. This jar, which will increase in value, along with the money it contains, is to be passed to the oldest child (belonging to my niece, nephews, and children) on his/her 18th birthday. Since none of the youngest generation has children at this time, there may be a tidy sum of money to pass along in 18+ years. The jar represented the future.
It was incredibly heartwarming to see the younger generation move into new leadership roles within the family, and it was equally thrilling to witness their enthusiasm about what they'd accomplished and what they anticipated ahead. In fact, they were already planning next year's theme as they were saying goodbyes--even making suggestions for additional holiday get-togethers that included the boys' contributions. I certainly don't know what the future holds, but it is sure to sparkle with faith, family togetherness, food, and fun-- traditions that link the glow of our yesterdays with the sunshine of bright tomorrows.
Tip/Tidbit: Try transferring a tradition to someone younger than you.
Mentor someone.
"Adopt" a "grandchild" or "sibling" and teach him/her something of value to you.
Throw a themed party. If you want to do a Dr. Seuss one, most of the snacks are on Pinterest (search Dr. Seuss Snacks), the quote images are at http://brightdrops.com/dr-seuss-quotes, and the ornaments are from Wal-Mart.
Mentor someone.
"Adopt" a "grandchild" or "sibling" and teach him/her something of value to you.
Throw a themed party. If you want to do a Dr. Seuss one, most of the snacks are on Pinterest (search Dr. Seuss Snacks), the quote images are at http://brightdrops.com/dr-seuss-quotes, and the ornaments are from Wal-Mart.
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