Running around preparing sweets and attending unceasing parties, holiday celebrations can get complicated and exhausting. You have little time or energy left to spend with the younger family members. Instead of feeling guilty about leaving them out, share the traditional duties for a unique opportunity of family bonding. Here are some ideas to spark your imagination:
Craft Projects
Whether you have a pre-schooler or an awkward teenager, making greeting cards is always an engaging project. The satisfaction of seeing their work of art posted with a message to friends and family with Diwali and New Year greetings will make them feel proud. Creating paper chains for the Christmas tree by gluing colorful strips is an easy, mess-free project that kids and parents alike love and is a great way to nurture the bond. Armed with tutorials from the Internet encourage your child to make lanterns or ornament decorations. With as little as colorful paper and a bottle of glue, you can keep them engaged for hours. You or your husband can then help fit a bulb in the lantern and hang they work of art in the veranda.
Exchange Gifts
Gifts are an easy way to demonstrate that you care for someone. The monetary value of the gift is not important. Giving and receiving of gifts during Christmas and New Year gives children a chance to meet family members and loved ones they have not met for a long time. Even a bar of chocolate, wrapped in festive paper is an exciting activity and will connect them with a special bond with their siblings, cousins and friends.
Sharing Stories
In our melded culture, both parents may not have celebrated Diwali in the same manner in their childhood. Take advantage of this diversity and share the experiences of you and your husband. Retell stories which your grandmother narrated to you about Christmas, Santa Claus or Dussehra. You can weave these into their bedtime stories before the festive day. This will nurture respect for the festival in the child’s heart.
