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Articles by J Gardener
Every year, the dazzle, the colors, the music, and the magic of the holiday season seem to fill our senses earlier than the previous year. Santa Claus appears in stores and advertisements as early as October, and the parties that fill the season begin in November, often prior to Thanksgiving.
Thoughtful Grandparenting At Christmas
As much as we all look forward to the Christmas season, with its parties and lights and songs and fellowship, we all know that the holidays are best celebrated with children, without whose innocent wonder Santa Claus wouldn't even exist. Everything about the season is richer, when we can see it all through our childrens' eyes.
Holiday Air Travel With Children
As Santa Claus prepares his sleigh for his Christmas Eve flight, children everywhere wait in anticipation for the goodies he'll leave for them. Parents of younger children, especially, have learned to enjoy Christmas just a bit more, by watching it arrive through their childrens' eyes. One thing that can dampen a parent's holiday spirit, though, is the prospect of holiday air travel.
Family Christmas Parties And Kids
Once again, the holiday season calendar is filling fast. There are all kinds of Christmas-related activities that families are involved with, each year. There are private parties for friends, civic gatherings for whole towns, office parties for businesses, and of course, large family gatherings. Most families try to schedule at least one large party for the extended family members, every Christmastime.
Keeping Christmas Morning Forever
Parents of young children know that Christmas is one of the most important days of the year, in their kids' lives. Moms and dads everywhere do their best to make sure that Santa Claus knows exactly what to leave under the tree on Christmas morning. There are few sights as heartwarming to a parent as the look of delight on a child's face, as the bounty of Christmas is revealed. It's an event that every parent wants to make more wonderful, every year.
Staying At Home This Christmas
Young families, today, face many challenges, even more than their parents faced a generation ago. Modern life has grown so complex that even the holiday season has become something to be survived, rather than celebrated, in many households. The pressures of, in most cases, two careers, daycare concerns, finances, and just time together as a family, make it difficult for many couples to face Christmas with the same enthusiasm they remember their own families having, just a few years ago.
Big Sisters And Brothers And Santa Claus
It's one thing to have little children at Christmastime, and to prepare for Santa and his visit. But many families have younger kids, who still wait anxiously for the reindeer-led sleigh to hit the roof on Christmas Eve, and older teenagers, who would rather die than admit that they ever believed in Santa Claus.
By the time children are a few years old, the holiday season, for most families, isn't nearly as hectic as it used to be. After going through a few Christmases, every family develops its own traditions and its own way of celebrating. Children and adults find comfort in the routine that evolves in the family's holiday observance, especially when approaching a time as busy as the Christmas season.
Your first child is just reaching the age where Christmas really matters, and where Santa Claus is real. This is both wonderful and frightening. It's wonderful, because you'll help Santa make this the best Christmas ever, and you can't wait to see your child discover the goodies Santa left on Christmas morning. It's frightening, though, because you know, as Christmas morning approaches, that it's just possible that you bought the wrong stuff.
From Infant To Toddler At Christmas
Parents of newborns always look forward to their first Christmas as a new family. They know that the holiday season is just the beginning of a series of seasons during which they will make lasting memories, for the rest of their lives. Parents tend to spoil an infant, that first Christmas, buying too many presents, only to discover that the gift boxes may be much more entertaining to the child than the actual gifts.
As much as we love the onset of the holiday season every year, most of us know that one of the pitfalls of Christmas is the extra weight we put on, from eating all that wonderful food. There are so many parties and gatherings, with so many gorgeous and sugar-filled treats, most of us tend to sigh and accept the fact that we'll gain a few extra pounds.
There's almost nothing more amazing in nature, than the savagery with which a small human child attacks the pile of gifts, on Christmas morning, that Santa Claus left under the tree. However long it took to wrap a present, any self-respecting six-year-old can rip its outer shell to shreds in mere seconds.
As the calendar turns to December and Christmas races toward us, once again, parents everywhere try to juggle holiday plans-the parties, the pageants, the shopping, the travel-while maintaining their already busy schedules. And through it all, everyone wants to make Christmas most special for the youngest family members, the children.
Charity Can Begin At Christmas
If you're like most parents, you view the upcoming Christmas season with a mixture of excitement and trepidation. You're excited about the joy you know the season will bring you and your family, especially your child. The trepidation comes from wondering, as you do each year, if you'll be able to find and purchase exactly the right toys and goodies that will make your daughter's Christmas perfect.
Merged Families At Christmas Present Challenges
Not so long ago, the prevailing notion of a merged family was the "Brady Bunch", a pair of widowed spouses who found love and brought their two families together. It was rare. Today, though, with divorce a common factor in American life, the merged family is also growing more and more common.
Save Some Christmas Time And Money
You may be getting your Christmas shopping done early, this year. Bargains are everywhere, so you might even be able to squeeze another gift or two into the budget you made for the season. But before you do, remember that item you always seem to leave off your list until the last minute, no matter how early you shop. That ever-costlier wrapping paper.
What Happened To The Joy Of Winter?
Winter's coming, again. When you were young, as young as your own child is today, winter was a time of year you looked forward to. Besides the wonder of a world turned white by the snow, winter meant Christmas, and that meant that Santa Claus was on his way, with a sleigh full of goodies, just for you.
Share The Gift Of A Christmas Story
Each holiday season, one of the challenges every family faces is finding a way to manage Christmas spending. As extended families grow, the pressure to spend more and more grows with each December. But many families today have chosen creative ways to give to each other, without spending money, especially at large family gatherings.
Keeping Your Christmas Safe And Joyful
Each holiday season seems busier than the last. Before Santa Claus can visit, there are parties to plan, feasts to prepare, shopping to do, gifts to wrap, and a neverending list of activites that challenge everyone's stamina.
Shopping With Kids At Christmas
Once parenthood strikes, gone are the days of the last-minute, quick-and-easy, in-and-out Christmas shopping trip. Any shopping trip, but especially a Christmas shopping trip, is anything but quick-and-easy, when a little child is involved.