Train up a child…
A Memorable Christmas Eve
In many homes Christmas Eve finds family members frantically scampering around wrapping last minute gifts, cooking something scrumptious for Christmas dinner the next day, or even arguing about things that are not going according to the “picture-perfect” home. Some have the custom of opening one gift or all gifts on Christmas Eve. Where are the thoughts about the one whose birthday we are celebrating??
What good things will children remember about Christmas Eve? They will remember traditions, smells, lights, gentle words spoken, or things that happen out of the ordinary.
Wise parents will plan some time on Christmas Eve for traditions. Many older folks will remember going to the local church or school for a Christmas program on Christmas Eve and watching children sing songs or read poems about Jesus and then receiving gifts and a big bag of candy with an orange and apple in it. Now, many churches have a candlelight communion or midnight mass on Christmas Eve. It is a wonderful tradition to spend this time to remember the reason for the season.
Quite often parents are so exhausted with last minute details that they can’t wait to get to bed. The children usually do not feel this way and are wide awake in anticipation of Santa. As long as the children know that Santa is a game we play at Christmas, this is not a bad thing. We should never lie to our children, but simply pretend with them. When our children and grandchildren were still in the Santa stage, someone would sneak outside and ring some sleigh bells beneath their bedroom windows. At our house, Santa always liked raisin pie. On one occasion our grandson grabbed a whole raisin pie and went running outside to give it to Santa. We still laugh about that time. That was an “out of the ordinary” time to remember.
Lights are so nice at Christmas, the time when days are the shortest. Children will remember lots of lights. Some children like to bring sleeping bags and sleep around the Christmas tree, so they can enjoy going to sleep with the pretty lights. They will try to see who can stay awake the longest to see their dad or mom sneak in and fill the stockings. Milk and cookies (at our house it was milk and raisin pie) will be out for Santa. One “out of the ordinary” thing we remember was the year our children pretended to be asleep and waited for their stockings to be filled; then, they put up stockings for mom and dad and filled them! We were certainly surprised the next morning to find that we had stockings as well as the children. What a nice memory!
Each family creates its own traditions and memories on Christmas Eve. In keeping with the spirit of the season, the evening should always be pleasant and include a time for remembering the birth of Christ that made it all possible. Reading the Christmas story from the second chapter of the book of Luke in the Bible should be read on Christmas Eve or Christmas day. The overall goal is to leave pleasant memories with the children with the teaching of the true meaning of Christmas.