Don’t Cheat the Children at Christmas!

The Christmas season is almost on us. Stores have displayed Santas and Christmas themes since before Halloween. In the bustle of the season as we rush to put the finishing touches on our celebration, Catholic parents should stop and think. Don’t cheat the children!

Why do we celebrate Christmas? Because it is the birthday of Our Lord. Where is He in your holiday preparations? Only a symbolic little figure in the manger scene? Is He a part of the word, but not of the heart, of your Christmas?

Happy Birthday, Baby Jesus

A few years ago, instead of putting out our traditional manger scene, I set out a larger image of the Christ child in his crib. On Christmas eve, my grandchildren, still quite young at the time, helped me bake a birthday cake for Jesus. We bought some helium balloons and tied them to the crib. The children stacked their own packages around Him. There is, of course, a historical reason why we exchange gifts at the Christmas season. However, in answer to Max’s question as to why the children got presents and Baby Jesus didn’t, it seemed easier to explain that Jesus loved us so much He liked to see us happy. So He shares His gifts with us and we share ours with each other. As always, friends and family gathered for our traditional meal at a nearby restaurant before adjourning to continue the festivities by opening gifts. That year, the children were to serve the birthday cake in honor of the Christ child as our dessert. First, though, they lit candles and gathered around the crib to lead us in the Happy Birthday song. As we finished, Tori’s high sweet voice rang out the ending, "and many moooorrre." When she bent and gave the child a kiss, there wasn’t a dry eye in the house. That’s how family traditions begin: something works and you do it again. Now, for our family, it just wouldn’t be Christmas without celebrating Baby Jesus’s birthday in the way the children can most easily relate to.

The Joy is in the Giving

Giving is the spirit of Christmas. Beautiful packages are heaped under the tree. Won’t the children be delighted and surprised when they see what Santa has brought them? Sure. But have you cheated your children out of the happiness they can have by giving gifts themselves? If all they do is "get" at Christmas, how do we teach our children the giving spirit? Older children with allowances or ways to earn some money may choose to buy small gifts. For the younger ones, however, it is up to us as parents and grandparents to help them make presents which, even if they aren’t perfect come with the effort and love in those little hands.

This year, Sam’s children made special pillow cases for their parents and their Grandad. Grandma helped. We bought inexpensive, solid color pillow cases. We slipped a folded grocery sack inside the case and clipped the excess fabric out of the way with binder clips while we worked. One by one, Grandma painted the children’s hands with a thick coat of acrylic paint in each child‘s favorite color. Then we pressed their prints on the pillow case. The twins are still tiny babies and their little starfish hands wouldn’t stretch out to print. So Grandma painted their feet instead. Kathryn’s print is purple; Karolyn’s is blue. When working with more than one child, there is always the possibility of a smudge. Grandma just painted a heart over the smudge, and topped it with the recipient’s name. We did a fabric project last year, too. All the men in the family received a handkerchief decorated by the children with fabric markers. 

Last year the kids made yummy mints for our friends. All you need to make them is a small package of Philadelphia cream cheese, a box of powdered sugar, cake color, granulated sugar, and a few drops of peppermint oil. Let the cheese soften to room temperature. Then mix in the entire box of powdered sugar. Use your hands to mix. Add a few drops of the peppermint oil and a drop of color if you like. This makes a stiff clay. The dough can be molded in a candy mold or rolled out and cut with tiny cookie cutters. We even used some of the small cutters that came with the Play Doh set. To press into a mold, roll the dough into a small ball, dip it on a plate covered with granulated sugar, and press into the mold. The granulated sugar helps it come out more easily but sometimes a toothpick is a handy prodding tool to have. Let the mints dry on waxed paper until they are hard to the touch and then pack in a cheerful container.

This year the kids wanted to make special peanut butter and chocolate cookies for our friends Mary Ellen and Bebe. Bless our dear neighbor Mildred who not only told us how to make them, but also came and helped. Crafting and cooking with six children under eight is a bit tough for one lone Grandma! When the cookies were finally finished and packed in pretty glass containers we got at the dollar store, Mildred laughed and said she had to go. "I’d better get out of here before you have me showing them how to cook supper!" 

To make these delicious cookies, you will need four tart pans, 1 roll of slice and bake peanut butter cookies and 48 miniature Reese’s peanut butter cups. (About one and a third bags.) Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Help the children slice the cookies into 48 pieces. Lay the roll on a cutting board and slice it across into four equal pieces. Make three slices from each fourth of the roll and stack them on a cut end. Cut each stack across the middle one way and then across in the other way. Put each little quarter circle into a separate cup in the tart pan.  Be sure to spray the pan with vegetable oil spray first. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes until the cookies are golden brown. Meanwhile, unwrap 48 of the peanut butter cups. As soon as you take the pans from the oven, gently press a peanut butter cup into the center of each cookie. Let the cookies cool slightly then remove them from the tart pans and put them on a cookie sheet or large plate. Put them in the refrigerator until they are thoroughly cool and hardened. Pack into an airtight container with a piece of waxed paper between each layer.

My book Catholic Traditions in Crafts has more crafts for children to make as Christmas gifts.


Remember to keep Christ in Christmas, and don’t cheat your children out of the joy of Christmas giving. May you and yours have the most blessed Christmas ever. •