Monday, December 20, 2010

Christmas Traditions

It came without ribbons. It came without tags.
It came without packages, boxes or bags.
And he puzzled and puzzled 'till his puzzler was sore.
 Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before.
What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store?
What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more?
~Dr. Seuss

Photography by Danielle Lamoureaux

                One of my son’s favorite traditions is opening a Christmas present on Christmas Eve.  I always give him a beautifully wrapped box with a new set of pajamas, a new Christmas book, and a new Christmas movie inside.  The pajamas are for mostly selfish reasons.  I love that I know he’ll look good in Christmas photos but he actually loves wearing new warm pajamas to bed on a cold winter night.  After he changes into his pajamas we snuggle up on the couch, drink hot chocolate, and watch his Christmas movie.  Finally, when he goes to bed I lie down with him and read him the Christmas story.  I’ve always loved reading him stories but now that he’s ten years old Christmas Eve is one of the few times out of the year that he actually wants me to read to him.  This has become such a bittersweet, beautiful tradition because, as he gets older, I know it will fade.  There’s only so much longer he’ll want to cuddle with me or have me read him stories and someday he won’t even be waking up in my home on Christmas morning.  Although this makes me sad I hope that he’ll pass this along to his children and hopefully we’ll have new traditions of our own.

What are some of your cherished family traditions? 

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Thursday, December 16, 2010

Introduction

(Less than) Perfect Parents is dedicated to moms and dads who try to be perfect but who can laugh at themselves when they fall a little short of that goal. Yes, we feed our kids healthy most of the time, we limit screen time, we play with them, read to them, redirect instead of screaming BUT we also lose our cool sometimes. There are moments when we hand them some candy and plop them in front of the television just have five minutes of peace and quiet! That’s okay as long as they know we love them!

I’ll be listing great recipes, crafts, parenting ideas, activities, and more. I’d also like this to be a place that parents can talk about their failings (which aren’t really failings as much as being a human being) without judgment. Allowing ourselves to be human, to be less than perfect takes a huge pressure off our kids to be perfect. As much as I want my child to be successful, I want him to be truly happy even more.

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