Wednesday, December 17, 2008

How do you celebrate the holidays?


Spicy Wifey is committed to empower and inspiring others to add spice to their relationships. The holiday season is an opportunity for us to spice it up in the kitchen and in our homes. The holiday season is a time for family and expression. How does your family express themselves during the holidays? Do you have interesting or creative traditions? Please share your stories and decorating tips!


Also, email us pictures of your holiday decor! We will showcase a few of our favorites on our blog and myspace pages. Email images to qswllc@aol.com. Include your first or profile name and city.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

This year my family is not exchanging gifts. In fact, we only purchase for the immediate family and that has been a tradition as long as I can recall. What we do instead is exchange tree ornaments. Each year we gift wrap an ornament from our tree and bring it to my Grandparents house and we all get to pick a wrapped ornament from under the tree. There is no pressue. you can buy one or pass on one that has used or has sentimental value to you. We actually look forward to it,and its always a surprise to see what you get!

Spicy Wifey said...

The ornament swap might not be a bad idea considering many are facing some financial challenges right now. Or make or design your own ornaments! You can purchase some plain inexpensive ornaments and get some paints, glitter and etc. And go at it, or let your kids get creative. You can purchase craft stuff at any arts & crafts store or a Walmart fairly cheap.
This is also an opportunity for us to re-visit the meaning behind the season. Try to not focus on the commerical components that we have become so focused on in years past.
Thanks for sharing the ornament idea Anonymous!

Spicy Wifey said...

My family celebrates every holiday with a meal! I show love by cooking for my family. I am very proud when I take out my recipe book and whip up something fabulous up from scratch. My husband is proud of his wifey too!

I do think of charity often. And now my oldest is at an age where I think she can really get it now. This year will be a year that we start that new tradition. Especially in light of the troubled economy.

Spicy Wifey said...

Love that idea!

We at Spicy Wifey have also recieved a ton of emails from folks just purchasing small gift cards. $5 or $10 denominations (Gas cards, Starbucks, Target, etc.)

We've also got a lot of email about families opting to purchase only for kids in their families.

There has even been a lot of people spending time with charitable organizations.
This is a perfect time to teach and to learn about helping and giving to others. In fact, I took my kids to Walmart and we shopped for toys and books. They got to each select 3 things. They were so excited. We paid and on our way out I we stopped and noted the fire station having a toy drive. We talked about what a toy drive is and why its important. They asked a few questions as well. I then told them that the toys they picked out were for the toy drive and not for them to keep. I told them, to take the toys out of the cart and give them to the fire men. They did so ENTHUSIASTICALLY! The firemen gave them a candy cane and they were stoked! YOu would be surprised at how big a childs heart can be at even a young age. I wanted them to know how important it is to give something NEW and make a sacrafice and selfless offering. They give OLD toys away all the time. And thats important as well. I was so proud of them and its a tradition that we will observe several times during the year.
If we teach our kids these lessons why they are small we could eliminate some of stress of having a GRAND Christmas when financially we may not be able.

Anonymous said...

My family doesnt officially celebrate Christmas. But its hard not to get involved if you live in the US. Its everywhere! But pleasant and festive. We do however celebrate other holidays and we make New Years a big deal. My entire family gathers for a meal on New Years Day. We put our resolutions in a empty sparkling grape or champagne bottle and the next New Year we break the bottle and read our resolutions from the previous year! Its always funny to see who kept theirs. We also eat traditional New Years food that are suppose to symbolize good luck and prosperity in the New Year. Like cabbage and black eye peas. We always have one of young people lead us in a family prayer, kind of passing the torch to the younger generation.