3 Tips to Approach Christmas Holidays the Montessori Way
Do I tell my child that Santa brings his presents? Or shall I tell him the truth? How many presents is too many?
A lot of Montessori parents ask these questions.
I, myself, have given this a lot of thought. I come from the Czech Republic. Most children there believe that "Jezisek" (the baby Jesus) brings their presents. Here, in the US, children believe that they get their presents from Santa Claus. I knew that if we decided to lie to our daughter, it would be a big lie.
No matter what you decide to do, remember your reasons for that and enjoy the holidays the way it works for your family.
Here are a few reasons why we decided to celebrate Christmas with Montessori in mind:
Keeping it real
Young children don't have the ability to distinguish between what is real and what is fantasy. Your young child believes everything that you say. In other words, what you tell him is the truth for him. If you say that Santa Claus brings his presents, he’ll believe it.
Now let’s go back to the time when you found out that Santa isn’t real. How did you feel? Were you sad? Disappointed? Perhaps upset that your parents were lying to you?
You might think it's not such a big deal. But do you really know how your child will feel when he learns?
Telling your child that he gets presents from you doesn't mean that the magic of Christmas is over. You can still share the story of Santa Claus with your children, but make sure they know it's a legend. You can start your story by saying: "Some people like to pretend that..." At the end of the story, your child might decide they want to believe the story. And that's completely okay.
2. Focusing on family values
Think for a second about Christmas. What does Christmas mean to you? What are your family values?
Once you focus on that, you will be able to create experiences for your child that really matters.
One of my goals for the upcoming holidays is to slow down. Christmas in my home country is the most stressful time of the year. Preparation for the holidays starts as early as at the beginning of December. On top of usual cleaning, you're supposed to wash all windows, decorate the house, start baking gingerbread cookies, buy presents for your children, and make more Christmas cookies. And did I mention that you still need to take care of your children while doing all this. When Christmas begins, an average Czech woman turns pale just seeing another baking sheet.
I never questioned all this until I celebrated my first Christmas abroad.
So before you start getting ready for the “hustle and bustle” of this holiday season, go back to your family values.
What do you want your children to take out of this time of the year?
Will they remember the washed windows or the special time spent together with you?
Will they remember their mom being exhausted? Or the mom who embodied the holiday spirit because she took care of herself first?
3. Keeping it simple
If you follow Montessori you know that the fewer toys the better. The same goes for Christmas presents. Children get overwhelmed with too many choices. If you give your child a few meaningful gifts, they'll engage with them on a much deeper level. For me, one of the meaningful gifts are books. When I was a child, I found at least one book under the Christmas tree. I decided to continue this tradition with my daughter. Last year, when Emma was 9 months old, she got one book from us. This year she will get another book. And a few more little presents she can unwrap. Because at the end of the day, it's gonna be the wrapping paper or the box that your toddler will most likely play with.
Happy Holidays to you and your family! How are you celebrating?
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