my true love gave to me... A set of Baboushka babies!
I got the idea for these lovely little ladies from The Pesky Bombolino. There is no pattern I just held up a piece of paper to my computer screen and traced them. I cut two shapes out of felt like a number 8, or a big peanut :)They are about 10cm tall. I embroidered one side and then machine sewed wrong sides together, leaving a gap to turn out, stuff and handsewed the hole shut. Voila.. you have a little baboushka doll that your kids will be fighting to get their hands on (well maybe that's just my girls - hence why I made 3.) They sit near a real russian babouska set I got from a friend who served her mission in Russia (which I love and hopefully these stuffed ones will stop my kids from further destroying my non replaceable Russian ones)
Now you might think what does this have to do with Christmas? Well apart from being Red and Cute here are a few reasons for you to consider
We have a book of Christmas traditions from around the world that we love to read. On of my favourites is about Old Befana. These babouska's are my Befana's. Both Italians and Russians tell this similar story. I much prefer Befana/Baboushka over Santa.
The Wise men stopped to stay with Befana. They invited her to go with them to see the Christ Child. She declined as she was busy cleaning. After they had left she saw her mistake and tried to follow after them... She was never able to find the Christ Child. So today she leaves a gift at any house that has a child incase the Christ Child is there.
How lovely is that? I would love to compare my children to the Christ Child at Christmas. To me at least this story is Christ related which is the whole meaning of Christmas :)
In Spain it is not Santa who comes bearing gifts, but the Three Wise Men, children place their shoes on the doorstep, and in the night, the Three Wise Men pass leaving gifts. What great traditions which you can't really do here as Santa is all invading, but its nice to dream :)
Here are some links to websites that tell of different Christmas Traditions around the world if you are interested in finding something new to do at Christmas
Traditions around the world
Traditions around the world
Traditions around the world
We actually don't do the santa thing at our house *gasp* I never thought I would be one of those parents as my husband and I both believed in santa as children. But I have a question to you all - how do you do it? How do you keep up the facade?
When my first child was 1 and 2 we just gave her presents under the tree. We usually decorate with nativitys, trees, stars, tinsel, wreaths etc. I only have a few santas. Miss K could talk by 1 year and very well by 2. By the time she was 3 she just instictively knew Santa wasn't real. And thus our non Santa Tradition began. We didn't back track and start implementing Santa and now we have 3 kids and it is too late... I am actually glad.. but sometimes feel they may have missed out on the magic of Christmas. This same thing happened in my family with my youngest brother (10 years under me - we all pretended to believe in Santa for his sake) - and the little thing was too smart and asked so many questions after question he just didn't believe either at around 4 years old... too smart for that story!
One thing about my children not believing in santa is that I get the recognition for buying their gifts.. they are grateful to their parents! I don't have to let them down one day when they find out the truth. And my guilt in not believing in santa forces me to make the month of December enjoyable for my girls. I try to put effort into many other activities and not just waiting for the magical 25th of December to come - which is always a let down anyways!
Also I find it enjoyable to read the story of the Real St nicholas and why santa came about... Because they don't believe in Santa we can have conversations about the real st nicholas and what we can learn from him and other traditions around the world. I am actually fine with movies with Santa and books.. we love to read "The Night Before Christmas" I am comfortable that they can learn something from these without believing in it...when it is Christ I want them to believe in and I also don't have to lie to my children.
There it is off my Chest.. We don't believe in Santa and are proud of it... It happened by accident but I am glad. I am happy for those families who do celebrate Santa, I promise... I tell my kids they are NOT allowed to tell other kids that Santa isn't real... I don't want them to be dream wreckers!!
4 comments:
The babushka dolls are adorable!
We don't do Santa either. We have many traditions around Christma though that make it very special. One of my favorites is an advent calendar that my dad made for the kids. Another is we don't put any gifts under the tree until the kids are in bed on Christmas Eve. When they wake up Chrstmas morning it is a big surprise to see all the gifts under the tree and their stockings on the couch.
The dolls are so very cute. LOVE THEM. We do Santa, but I think this is the last year. m
I found this an interesting post. We don't do Santa either, and for much the same reasons. Our eldest was 18 months old at her 2nd Christmas and was quite upset at the idea that Santa would come into our home to leave presents. (We actually hadn't dicussed this with her, she gleaned this knowledge from others. I felt torn because the Santa story just seemed like lying.) She was adamant that he couldn't get in because we always lock the door. Other people (Aunts, grandparents, neighbours etc.) kept talking about Santa. Just before Christmas she stopped being worried and nothing more was said. The next year when people started talking about Santa she would explain that he wasn't real. Everyone said I was a terrible mother for disillusioning my daughter, but she had worked it out herself. Santa just didn't make sense to her, we had emphasised the birth of Jesus Christ rather than the Santa story, and Jesus and Heavenly Father were more real to her than Santa. I have never been upset at this because celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ seems so much more important than keeping the Santa tradition alive. My kids get excited about Christmas, just as other kids do. We all have one present under the tree to open, but before we do we read the Christmas story from Luke. This is a tradition that our children really enjoy and we spend a lovely family day together!
You don't know me but I peruse your posts regularly. I do love the 12 days of Christmas posts you done so far. :)
I just wanted to comment on Santa beliefs...We have always told our children, as parents we believe in the 'magic' of Santa. Everyone has the choice to believe or not to believe.
If a child or their parents does not believe they will still get their presents. I explained long ago that I was just the kid of person who liked to believe in fun and magical things, so I do.
And in the end, it seems they do to. We also have a rule, stated very long ago and reminded regularly that when you choose to longer believe, if you ever do, You are not allowed to discourage the beliefs of others.
My children even thought of the Birthday Fairy on their own. It's more work for me but I love doing it for them because they love it so. :)
Post a Comment