NANA SAYS IS IT CHRISTMAS YET

Any festive holiday is difficult for children.Christmas and its preparation can be over the top with events, parties and just getting the home ready. Children are part of the excitement. They often have trouble containing themselves. Like the car ride- are we there yet? Christmas can be how many more sleeps. Are we there Yet? Having children enjoy the many events of the season can help. Needless to say it can be exhausting for parents. Are you feeling the exhaustion yet? Probably. So find the quiet moments with children. Listen to Christmas music. Watch a movie. Read the Nativity story. Find and contain the energy. Making quiet crafts can help. Any activity that can bring silence and concentration can help. If one parent can sneak away to wrap presents that helps too!

BLESSINGS OF THE CHRISTMAS SEASON

Counting our blessings does not take much. A home. A job. Family. Friends. Warmth. Food on the table. Knowing what blessings you have can give you the incentive to reach out and give to others in need in the season. The toy drive. The food bank. The gifts to international causes to give a hand up not a handout! Education and health promoted for all! Teach today so the person can do tomorrow. Each blessing had comes from generations of hard work and dedication so be the present to give to the future. Oh our blessings!

LIFE IS LIKE A FRUIT PLATTER

Presented together we all look pretty. Each a different colour. Each having a different taste. Sometimes including every fruit but sometimes only a few. Variety, acceptance- what kind of fruit are you?

Maybe adding a few sweets helps with the variety?

WORKING THE CHRISTMAS SEASON

As our personal lives take on the pressures of the Christmas season, work still has to happen! Being attentive to clients or patients or whoever you provide a service takes energy and time. Being kind, considerate and understanding is easy for an office job but remember those in the stores, making gift baskets or preparing catered food for the functions are working even harder. So take time to acknowledge, thank or just be aware that like you, everyone is busy too! So your busy is not more important than others' busy!! Just watch so many people are trying to outdo others with " anything you have to do, I have more." Try to do what is on your plate at home and work. It is not a competition. Everyone does what they want for the holiday season, making their own memories and celebrating their own traditions. More at a Christmas dinner table does not make the event better if your dinner table has fewer people, it is still your celebration. There is always that number game. " I am having 10. But I am having 20!" Less can be more anyway. Fitting in work around the season does take challenges. The office party. The pot luck. The Christmas dinner/dance. To exchange gifts or not?? When to pull out the Christmas ear rings and sweatshirts to be festive can be the ultimate question?

2015 COUNTDOWN TO A CANADIAN CHRISTMAS WEEK FIVE

Into December, the pace  picks up for shoppers everywhere- if one still has lots of shopping to do. Last Monday sent the " out of province parcels" to Alberta and British Columbia. Mailed the Christmas cards to Italy and the United States too. By Friday all the other cards written and put in the mail. Of course the 2015 newsletter was written a few weeks ago to add to the cards. Sobeys had nice outdoor planters so bought one of those for the front outdoor area last weekend. The greenery adds to the trees with lights already there. As many families and friends are doing, the Christmas  friend's dinner party for adults was held on the 5th. Time to share drink and a good meal- lots of veggies and fruit along with the chicken breast. It was good to give the house a needed clean so now in better shape for the Christmas season. I did the modern thing by buying the veggie, fruit and cookie platters ready made. Sure saved lots of preparation time!  The Christmas tree was bought and put up earlier than normal. However it is very skinny and fell out of its stand on Friday so stood up anchored in the stand again only to be leaning. What to do? So anchored it to  the large hook on the curtain rod that is well secured to the frame as well as the door handle of the sliding door. Keeping scissors handy in case we need to make a quick exit from there. So you have seen the pictures of the Leaning Tower of Pisa, well we have the Leaning Tree of Richmond Hill!!! Finally put my Christmas CDs in my BOSE player- takes 4 at a time and flips repetitively so no need to attend to the unit. The music was nice during our dinner quietly playing in the background. So back to wrapping the local gifts and determining if the gifts  for the grandchildren are even. Do I need one more thing??? Or just some gift cards to round out the presents! There are more houses with lights on my street so it is looking prettier. One house has a good front yard display with lights on the trees and two of those prelit deer covered in white lights! During the busyness of the season, good to have a quieter day to watch lame Christmas movies on TV or catch a quick nap. The pace is picking up at work too. This time of year lots of winter illnesses starting to happen. So need some energy to do my job. Of course no one wants to get sick at Christmas time so want to keep my immune system healthy. No snow yet but we want a white Christmas not a blizzard. Some parts of Canada like the Maritimes have been experiencing lots of snow!

NANA SAYS BLEND SOME CHRISTMAS TRADITIONS WITH MODERN IDEAS

Family traditions are okay but they should not get in the way of how a modern family needs to function during the holidays. Some parents can take time off work to be home during the school break but many need to work. Not everyone can afford a trip south to get away from it all. Then the demands of " this is the way we always did It!" Yes when you were a child but now the two parents both bring traditions to the table. My husband and I blended the Italian-Canadian aspect of our family. Christmas Eve with the seafood dinner and 7 dishes that came from his home country of Italy was always welcome. Christmas Day with the Canadian turkey dinner and all the trimmings with the Christmas crackers- English idea gave the Canadian tradition I experienced as a child. The stockings for the children were hung with the goodies to come from Santa. Adolph did not have a stocking as a child so never rose to the occasion of wanting a stocking. So we do not do it now that we have been empty Nester! Although I miss the idea of filling a stocking at Christmas. Of course my house was always decorated for Christmas with the tree and lots of lights. My mother always made our childhood home very festive with lots of baked goods. Making new family traditions work. My children were always allowed to open one present Christmas Eve, where as a child I was not. My children love the idea that Christmas dinner is still at home with the parents. They do have some events during the season we attend. Perhaps the children in the family will bring an idea for everyone to do thus creating a new family tradition. Some couple still spend Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day driving to family events all over the province. Not a great tradition. Some families should rethink how to get members together without the stress of all the driving. There will come a day when these parents will go to the children's home for the dinner. As children grow, they want to stay in their own home Christmas day to play with their stuff. There are plays and concerts and ballets at Christmas that can become a tradition too. Some people like to see the National Ballet Nutcracker every year in Toronto. I have seen it with the girls when they were younger. Perhaps it is time to take the grandchildren to see it- a new tradition. Parents are trying to create memories and traditions for their little ones to capture. Less is more! The simple things are the best things. Rather than trying to bake for an army, maybe just make some simple sugar cookies to be decorated as an activity. Bringing those cookies to the Christmas dinner are always welcome. Those boxed gingerbread houses that many children love to make are fun too. But less is more, so attending all the functions that come with the season is cumbersome, try to slow down all the rush. A good hot chocolate with marshmellows while watching a favourite Christmas movie while cuddling on the couch is a good simple, fun event. Maybe while the kids are watching, the weary parents can take a short nap. One of the best Christmas traditions is you the parent! How you handle the season makes the memories. If you are tired and nagging and just complaining about all the work that is the memory you are creating. So check yourself periodically. If you are not enjoying yourself, try to cut back on some aspects. Life is not perfect, so Christmas will not be perfect either. Just aim for a good one. December events are just gearing up, so remember your support team- the grandparents and the siblings without children. How can they help!

DECEMBER-A TIME TO ENJOY THE CHRISTMAS SEASON

Leaving November behind, December is the month of fun, parties and work. Those last minute shoppers have a few weeks to buy their presents. For me, the season is about the spirit of it. What to do, where to go, who to help! The toy drives, the food bank, the charity donations, are part of the Christian way of doing things. Is there someone who needs to come for dinner? A phone call? An email? A longer letter in a Christmas card? The season makes us think about others we have not thought about for the year. A good thing as it gives us a chance to reach out and well touch someone or just connect! However, it is tiring. Are you tired yet? I know I am even though I am on track with all my Christmas stuff. Thank heaven for online shopping as it has helped me to round out those little purchases for grandchildren. So December 1 means we are in the home stretch. More lights on streets. The buzz picking up. Thinking about how to help those in need. Then melancholy moments of thinking about those no longer with us. Those who live far away and it would be nice to have them here for the holidays. Memories creep in! Usually good, but sometimes the ones that hurt. Remembering the last Christmas with someone. Knowing it would be the last one. It may be our last Christmas in our house so I do want to make it special. No definitive plans of moving but it feels right to think about it. The last year has brought some deep soul searching of what is next!! So Christmas brings up all the need of what has been, what is now and what is the future. Sounds a little like The Christmas Carol by Dickens doesn't it. Perhaps he had it right so many years ago. So are you going with the flow or has the season conjured up some deeper thoughts? Are you keeping it simple? Are you going full out with plans? Family dues! Concerts! Movies! Music! Oh December- the last month of 2015 but will it be a good one. I do hope so!!