Dr. Tiffany Ofili Porter

Christmas is such a wonderful time of the year, and it has been a joy to celebrate it alongside our children. Feeling the excitement from them and seeing the holiday season though through their eyes brings parents happiness and fulfillment.

In our house, we are being intentional about ensuring our 4 year old understands that Jesus is the real reason for the season. And even if my 7 month old is too young to fully understand what that means, he’s coming along for the ride. Both my husband and I have amazing memories of our childhood Christmases, and now, as parents, we better understand that it’s a function of our parents being intentional about our Christmas celebrations.

So we are striving to do the same for our kids.

Here are five ways we are preparing to celebrate Christmas as a family of four:

1) Planing family-friendly activities

This includes things like watching holiday movies or attending local events. As a family, we recently watched Home Alone together for the first time, and it was both nostalgic for us, and cool to see how Chidera sympathized with Kevin, the main character.

There has also been an abundance of events that we participated in as a family, all of which have made our first Christmas in a new city, and as a family of four, one to remember.

Between the visit to Enchant:

Visit to Union Station:

A fun kid friendly Friendsmas:

The neighborhood sleigh ride:

And our daughter’s school Christmas concert:

We had the opportunity to fellowship with others, spend quality time as a family, and keep the Christmas spirit alive. We also plan to keep the tradition of attending Midnight Mass as a family together on Christmas Eve alive this year in our matching outfits.

The Christmas events don’t have to be a big one for you to have a fantastic time.

2) Engaging our kids in festive activities

This can look like decorating the house, crafting ornaments, and baking holiday treats. Doing so can enhance their creativity, which promotes positive emotional development. Putting our Christmas tree up as a family together in our new house was special to me, and something I’m sure the kids will appreciate!

Between my husband and I, he’s more of the baker, so he’s taken the lead on baking festive holiday desserts with our daughter. It allows for their bonding and gives me a little quiet time while they’re occupied. It’s a win-win and a major mom hack!

3) Creating a sense of anticipation

We have been doing this by building excitement about Santa’s visit. I know some parents aren’t fans of the idea of Santa, and I get that. But for us, allowing kids to use their imagination and embrace the innocence that comes along with believing in Santa is OK with us – as long as we keep the Christ in Christmas at the end of the day.

Even though my children did get a chance to go visit Santa and write letters to him, I love that my daughter also got a school visit from “Mary and Joseph” and “St Luke” who brought candy along with him. These visits were met with lots of excitement from the kids; shout out to her Catholic School for being very intentional about the true point of Christmas.

4) Sharing stories about Christmas traditions and involving them in gifting

By us telling these stories and allowing the kids to choose or make gifts for others, it encourages them to embrace the festive spirit, experience traditions, and further build anticipation for the holiday season.

It’s always interesting to me how much our children want to know about what our lives were like before they were born. My daughter is naturally an inquisitive child, so us telling her about the Christmas traditions we had as kids, while simultaneously creating some our own, has been very fun.

I also love that Chi has given me ideas on which presents to gift our family as well as going to her very own “Santa Shop” at school where she used actual cash to purchase gifts. Her having the autonomy to actively participate in the gift giving portion of Christmas has been fun for her, it teaches about the value of money, and provides her the satisfaction of giving.

Let this be your nudge to empower your children by involving them in the various aspects of Christmas because even the most mundane tasks can have a lasting impact on them.

5) Participating in charitable activities

Doing so teaches them about giving, empathy, and the joy of sharing with others. Although it will be a new tradition in our house, this season once Chidera is finished opening her new toys, we plan to go through her old ones and identify which ones she will donate to the less fortunate. I discussed this plan with her, and she happily accepted the idea.

Overall, preparing kids for Christmas contributes to a sense of family bonding and the development of cherished childhood memories.

It’s my prayer that being intentional about our Christmas preparations will help create memorable family experiences, foster a sense of joy and togetherness, and instill important values.

I hope the same for you and your family as well. May Christmas 2023 be one to remember for us all!


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