Parenting Toddlers

I’ve been talking a lot about Christmas because that’s what my family and I celebrate. We used to all go to church on Christmas Eve, my mother always set up a nativity scene. I went to Catholic school for eight years of my life (eight LONG years of wearing a plaid uniform). Anyway, it occurs to me that not everyone celebrates Christmas, and I haven’t even mentioned Hanukkah. Hanukkah begins at sundown on December 21 and lasts for eight days. It’s a beautiful celebration, also called the Festival of Lights, which commemorates the rededication of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem after the Jews’ 165 BCE victory over the Hellenist Syrians. The word “Hanukkah” means “dedication.”

Anyway, this made me think about what we are teaching Peanut. This is really the first year she’s known what Christmas is. Last year, she just sort of went with the flow and got presents. This year, she knows that Santa is going to come and give her presents. Her father tells her that the Grinch is going to come right after and take them. She says she’ll kick him in the butt. Anyway, she has no idea, though, about Jesus or the birth story. She has no idea why people started celebrating Christmas in the first place. I’ve been going through a period of un-faith, I guess you could say. I don’t want to give up my belief in God, but I’m trying to figure out what I believe. Meanwhile, my child doesn’t believe anything at this point. So, I’m not sure what to do. She thinks “Jesus” is a swear word because I always tell her not to say it. Really. She said it once, and I said “Peanut, don’t say that.” “Why? It’s a bad word?” So my child thinks Jesus is a bad word. Oh boy.

How do you teach your children about the real meaning of Christmas or Hanukkah? Rather than focusing on presents, how can you get them to understand why people celebrate these holidays? The concept of God is such a vast, abstract one - how do you possibly explain it to toddlers? Espeically when you’re still grappling with it yourself? Has anyone seen Dogma? In that movie, the main character is going through a crisis of faith and wonders why she doesn’t believe like she used to. Her friend tells her that faith is like a glass of water. When you’re little, you have a little glass and it doesn’t take much to fill it. When you’re older, your glass is bigger and the faith you have may not be enough to fill it anymore. I think that’s true. But what do you do to even fill up your child’s glass a little? And should you? My fiance doesn’t believe in God, he thinks we’re just here, we just die, and that’s it. I find that so desolate that I refuse to believe it. My rambling did have a point, right? Who knows!

Anyway, Happy Hanukkah and Merry Christmas. How do you incorporate your religious beliefs (if you have them) into your holidays?

Also, here’s a link for some fun Hanukkah crafts that are categorized by age.

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