Out of the Mouth's of Babes

Happy Friday Morning! Well, I have a lot on my plate come January 1st, so I'm trying to get a jump on things, put the house back in order. So I am talking to my son, who is 4, and I tell him that I am going to take down the Christmas decorations and the tree. He looks at me and says "Mama, why are you cancelling Christmas!?!? You can't cancel Christmas!" Hmm... I guess the next question he is going to have is where do babies come from! So I did my best to explain Christmas and how Jesus' birthday is just once a year, like his. Yesterday I took down all the outside lights while he was at school and last night I did the inside while he was here so he would not freak out and start calling me The Grinch! Children are such a joy!!! Diane

In Norway, there is 13 days after Christmas, so they do not do anything until 'boxing day' when they put everything back in the attic, lets the kids get used to the idea gradually. ;) personally, I am just about ready to de-decorate, we have been decorated since December 7th, so I think January 7th is long enough. ;)

Kat, I had heard of "Boxing Day" (a great shopping day in Canada) but never knew the history of the day. So you can teach an old dog new tricks I had everything up the day before Thanksgiving, so I was ready to reclaim my house!! Diane

Acutally I think that is a local thing for my husband's family, the true boxing day, I have heard in the rest of the world, is the day after christmas when really hoity toity rich people would box of the toys that were from last year and give them away to the poor kids, and make room for the new stuff. but that could also just be a wives tale that only applies to our family heehee I am so bad. snicker.

When I am home for Christmas and have the whole decorating thing going on, I always feel sad when they have to come down. The house seems so bare somehow Don't you just love the things children come out with!!!!

Ruth, I've been painting the inside of my house and doing a bit of redecorating. I stopped for the holidays, but still have a bit more to go in the main rooms of the house. I have been itching to start (actually I can't wait to finish), so taking the decorations down early allows me to get back into sprucing up the house. I sometimes sit back and wonder what thought patterns does Zachary have to come up with some of the things he says. The conversations he has with his classmates are so amusing. Life is never boring with little ones around. Diane

you don't keep everything up until "little christmas" which i think is January 6, when the wise men get to bethlehem? One of the woman i used to work with used to move her "wise guys" each and every day until they made it to her mini creche, boy did we have fun with that...we did mini gag gifts and had great food it was a blast. ANDI

I've never heard of that but it sounds like fun. I guess it's the original twelve days of Christmas. In Britain we are not supposed to take the decorations down til they are over.

I found this and I think Woman's Christmas is a fabulous idea and I'd like to adopt it and put it in to Woman's Hanukkah (so it can last 8 days of course). Little Christmas From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search Little Christmas, or Nollaig Bheag in Irish, is one of the traditional names in Ireland for January 6, more commonly known in the rest of the world as the Epiphany. It is so called because it was, until the adoption of the Gregorian calendar, the day on which Christmas Day was celebrated. It is the traditional end of the Christmas season and the last day of the Christmas holidays for both primary and secondary schools in Ireland.[1] The name Little Christmas is also found in Slovenian (mali bo?ič'). [edit] Women's Christmas It is also known as Nollaig na mBan (Women's Christmas), so called because of the tradition (still very strong in Cork, though only just surviving in the rest of the country) of Irish men taking on all the household duties on that day and giving their spouses a day off. Most women will either hold parties or go out to celebrate the day with their friends, sisters, mothers, aunts etc. Bars and restaurants have a near 100 percent female clientele on this night. Children often buy presents for their mothers and grandmothers, and it closely resembles Mother's Day in this respect. While originally a rural tradition, in recent years, Nollaig na mBan is enjoying something of a revival, both in urban areas in Ireland and Britain, as well as in emigrant communities in North America, Australia, and New Zealand. For the Irish Women's Network of BC [1], Canada, for example, this event is the highlight of their social calendar. The tradition is not well-documented, but one article from The Irish Times[2] in January 1998, On the woman's day of Christmas[3], informally describes both some sources of information and the spirit of this unique occasion.

I am truly screwing up the holiday traditions!! Probably need to look for a good child psychologist now!!! Diane