Christmas Is Giving!

Image by Leto A. via Flickr

It is a fact of human life that, from time to time, we grow distant from those who we love. There are several reasons for this. Things happen in our life that take us to different places, and we cannot cover so much ground. Many of us have a number of friends and acquaintances and cannot be in contact with all of them at the same time. Christmas can be useful in repairing some of the damage that this does, and this is a major reason why it is seen as being a time of togetherness.

Whatever we may think at a given time, no friendship or relationship needs to be considered completely broken if one or both parts of it feel that there is a chance of reconnection. There may be a lot of hurt there, but Christmas allows a focus on things that we thought were lost. It is a time when many people feel that there is a chance for forgiveness, for apologies and acceptance. Whatever we feel may have been lost, we can focus on bringing back the good times.

Image via Wikipedia

The moment when children realize that Santa isn’t real is often a difficult one. Most of us remember with no small amount of embarrassment – but also a sense that that moment was when we lost our innocence. Part of the magic of Christmas as a child is to look wonderingly at a Christmas Eve night, hoping and praying that Santa is going to visit and that you’re on the Good list. It’s an innocence and magic we wish to preserve in our children for as long as possible, and to that end, here’s a quick list of things to do to make Santa’s visit appear all the more convincing:

1. Take a bite out of the mince pie / cookie!

It’s so simple, but so often forgotten. If your children leave food out for Santa, make sure you take a convincing bite. The same goes for any drinks left out – take a swig. Your kids will be delighted that Santa enjoyed their offering, and you’ll get something tasty too.

Image by aJ GAZMEN ツ GucciBeaR via Flickr

The older we get, the more Christmas can seem like a holiday which is simply designed to get the maximum amount of money out of our wallets, even as we enjoy the festivities. There will always be some people willing to make a cynical quick buck or two, and this does not help matters. However, the holiday period does certainly have its compensations, and many would say that these multiply when we have children. Children can add a lot to the Christmas experience, rejuvenating the holiday in the eyes of those of us who had felt like giving up the whole jamboree.

TheGeniusKids wish all readers "Merry Christmas"

Santa Claus hasn't always looked like the jolly old fellow we know today. Like so many other American traditions, he's a product of the great American melting pot - a blend of many different cultures and customs. But the most influential figure in the shaping of who we know now as Santa was a real man, known as St. Nicholas of Myra. He was a fourth century bishop, and is legendary for being generous and kind.

Image by bsabarnowl via Flickr

According to one legend, St. Nicholas heard of a farmer who had three daughters of marrying age who could not afford to pay their dowries. Knowing the farmer was too proud to accept an offer of money, he climbed atop their home and tossed three bags of coins down their chimney, each of which landed in a stocking that each girl had washed and hung their by the fire to dry. The next morning when they woke, they found the gift and each went on to marry and live happily ever after. When word of St. Nicholas’ generosity spread, families far and wide hung stockings by their fireplaces and hoped to also receive gifts.

Father Noel is the gift-bringer in Brazil. According to Brazilian folklore, he lives in Greenland, and it’s been said that because of how warm it is in Brazil during the Christmas holida

Image via Wikipedia

y, Father Noel wears silk clothing to stay cool.

There is a very common tradition among friends and families, called amigo secreto, or secret friend. In early December game participants write their own name on a piece of paper, and then place it in a bowl or hat to be drawn by another participant.

They then draw a name from the bowl, but do not reveal to anyone what name it says. Then throughout December people receive cards and notes from their secret friend, which have apelidos, or fake names, on them. Only on Christmas Day do people reveal who their secret friend was and offer a gift. During the month there are exchanges of correspondence among the participants who use apelidos (fake names). On Christmas, family and friends gather to reveal their secret friends and offer them a special gift.

Christmas is a very different experience in Australia. It takes place during the hottest months of the summer in the Southern Hemisphere, so dreaming of a white Christmas while in Australia is about the only way you’ll have one!

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

Many Australian Christmas traditions are ingrained in their British roots. A traditional Christmas meal usually includes a turkey dinner, sometimes with ham. Plum pudding is also sometimes part of the menu, as is a Pavlova, an Australian meringue made with whipped cream, strawberries and passion fruit. . But some opt for more traditional summertime fare for their holiday meal such as cold ham, salads, or seafood.

Since the weather is so warm, many choose to spend their holiday outdoors. A great number of people flock to Bondi Beach in Sydney. Shorts, tank tops and swimsuits are the preferred Christmas attire. Because of the warm temperatures holiday decorating is done with beautiful flowers and fauna. One of the most popular choices is a native Australian plant called the Christmas Bush.

St. Nicholas is important part of Greek tradition as the patron saint of sailors. Greek ships never set out on a voyage without having an icon of St. Nicholas on board. Greek tradition tells of his clothes being soaked from sea water and perspiration from working to save sinking ships

Image via Wikipedia

and rescue sailors from the angry sea.

Boys travel from home to home on Christmas Eve beating drums and tinkling triangles while singing Christmas carols. Each household usually gives each boy a gift of dried figs, nuts and candies.

Following 40 days of fasting, the Christmas feast is a grand celebration. Pigs are slaughtered and on almost every table are loaves of christopsomo, or Christ bread. This bread is made in large sweet loaves of various shapes and the crusts are engraved and decorated in some way that reflects the family's profession. As people gather together to celebrate and feast, they say Hronia Polla, or many happy years. Another favorite holiday treat is a kourambiethes, a cookie made from nuts.

The moment that most people begin to feel that Christmas is really on its way will be the moment when they are walking through a shopping center and they hear one of their favorite Christmas songs. After that point it is hard to resist the fact that the holidays are coming. For many people however, the Christmas music industry is tantamount to the arms trade or drug dealing – a horrible industry that makes money from rotting people’s brains and spreading anger. Of course, that is just the cynicism talking. Everyone has a favorite Christmas song, even if we are loath to admit it.

What we will generally agree on is that there are certain Christmas songs which, if they were sung at any other time of the year, would be the subject of derision and mocking from everyone. They do not need to be named, because we all know them, and by naming them we will inevitably start to hear them in our heads. And that way lies madness. However, some Christmas songs are actually good, independently of the season.

Depending on the traditions you were brought up in, you probably have a variety of things you usually eat around Christmastime. This can vary from the vegetables and meat served at dinner, to a particular brand of chocolate to be eaten on Christmas Eve. Food is a big part of Christmas, and most of us develop habits even when traditions do not exist.

Image via Wikipedia

Yet there is a flaw in this ideal. While it is always good to have some traditions, traditions that are based around food can be a little more tricky. We cannot all like Christmas pudding, mince pies, candy canes and other seasonal niceties - yet many of us insist on eating these items anyway. Eating something just because it's Christmas, and that's what you do at Christmas, is extremely bizarre - but we do it anyway!

When Christmas comes closer, it has become traditional in many workplaces, college residences and other communal settings to have a “Secret Santa” policy to allow members of staff to buy and receive presents, without the pressure of knowing who is buying for you, and in th

Image via Wikipedia

e knowledge that the person for whom you are buying will not know it was you that bought their present. The idea of a Secret Santa has become very popular in recent years, as it introduces a fun element to the workplace at Christmas.

The concept is simple. When you have a number of people interested in taking part in the Secret Santa game, you take names down on slips of paper and drop them into a hat. The hat should then be passed among the team members who then have a chance to pick names out (putting their own back in should they draw it) and then, within a set limit of expense, buying a present for the team member whose name they have drawn. Then they wrap the present and attach a note with the message “To (Name), Merry Christmas from your Secret Santa” – or words to that effect.

It is now socially acceptable - if not expected - to give tips during the Christmas season. These are usually small bonuses handed out to households to the people who make your life run a little smoother for the rest of the year; usual recipients include mailmen, people working at the post office, a building or house supervisor and the paper route boy. Yet while this is som

Image by camknows via Flickr

ething of an established tradition, it can be tricky, particularly if you've moved into a new area.

Your first move should be to establish if tipping at Christmas is something your neighbors do. While you may think it harmless to tip even if your neighbors do not, it could create resentment if they find out - they may feel you are deliberately making them appear to be a Scrooge. A few well timed questions should reveal an answer - and may even reveal what is accepted to be given. If not, try the internet - a local community online where you can post the question anonymously should have the same result.

We usually know what it is before we've even opened it. We can tell by the shape of the gift, or the way it feels when prodded, that we've received a gift we aren't going to love. Another pair of socks, a tie, perfume you probably don't like or an unfortunate knitted jersey from your Gran - the doom of the bad Christmas gift is a common feeling.

It's usually at this point that we all plaster on the fake smiles, nod enthusiastically and then cast the give aside never to be looked at again. We stuff it in a drawer and hope it'll disappear, because for some reason - even though we hate it - we don't want to throw it away. It's difficult, it's embarrassing, and what's more it's more than a little disappointing. Wouldn't we all like gifts we love?

Every year, Christmas seems to become a little bit more materialistic as we look for the right gifts for people, and find ourselves competing with others to lay on the best hospitality to inevitable Christmas visitors. It is easy to lose the overall message of the holiday, which is still a religious one and one which brings delight to the children of the world whenever they learn about it.

That is why it is worth having a Nativity play for your children to take part in. The story of Christmas is known to all of us and magical to so many. But for too many people there is a disconnect with the real story, because the story of Christmas for them is in the chance to get a new games console or music player.

With this program – containing audio packages and easily readable text files – you can put on a Christmas nativity play for the local school or for neighborhood children. Because the play contains only non-speaking parts, the children do not have the pressure of having to learn speaking roles, and can enjoy the story for themselves.

The truth about Christmas for many people is that it just is not a time for adults in general. More than anything Christmas is a time for children – after you have been through a few decades’ worth of it it rather tends to pale slightly. For children, though, each Christmas is much more exciting than their birthday because they can share it with everyone else in a way that their birthday just doesn’t allow. Making things fun for your kids at Christmas need not be difficult – but laying on activities for them will mean that it never needs to pale.

Educational and fun, these activities will delight your children for hours and hours and help them learn even during the school holidays. Not only that, but they do not cost the earth either – which allows Christmas to be fun without putting too much pressure on you and your family. For young children it is the perfect way to work on their math and writing while also passing the hours between the “most exciting” spells. The perfect way for Christmas to not lose its meaning, this will show children both sides of the holiday.

It could be said that since it was the birth of a baby as a gift to mankind that gave rise to Christmas, then children should also and always be the primary focus of the season. Individual families will say they have always put children first and parents will sacrifice seeking th

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

eir desires at Christmas to make sure their children are satisfied. And although adults also look forward with much anticipation to the Christmas season, the frenzy that accounts for all
the shopping and preparation during the Christmas season is really for the benefit of children.

From a financial perspective, the extensive shopping done at Christmas is really of benefit to businesses. But what really drives the maddening shopping activity is a desire by parents, relatives, friends and acquaintances to play Santa Claus, mainly for children.

Christmas, celebrated on the 25th December of every year, is a celebration of brotherhood, mankind, and love for all. It marks the pious birth of Christ, known to be the savior of the mankind. This time of the year has been widely celebrated in all parts of the world. People wait all the year through in anticipation of this festival. The kids have real fun because they receive exciting gifts. The adults exchange gifts too and revive their bonds by get together and parties. Although different countries throughout the world celebrate the customs and traditions of Christmas according to their culture, the essence remains the same.

1. Christmas trees were first lighted with actual candles, which presented a fire hazard. As a result containers filled with water had to be kept near the Christmas tree.

Image via Wikipedia

2. Workers in the construction industry are responsible for the tradition of having a Christmas tree on display at Rockefeller Center in New York City. They are credited with placing an undecorated tree at the site in the early 1930s.

3. Since the mid-1960s, The National Christmas Tree Association has maintained a presence in the White House at Christmas by donating a Christmas tree to the First Family.

4. The former Woolworth department store first sold manufactured Christmas tree ornaments in 1880.