So on Thanksgiving, my parents had a problem with their electrical meter and ended up blowing up their boiler and frying other appliances. They went a day without any electricity. This prompted my mother to disinvite everyone from visiting for Christmas. Yay! Holidays!

I can relate to this blog post, especially –

The holidays, as an adult, don’t always stay as magical as they felt as a kid.

This post reminded me of a previous post How To Get Your Kids To Do What You Want
Remember that one? Remember that our kids are watching and they are learning by our example. How we deal with holiday stresses makes a big impact on their development.

Read the post here – Surviving Family Holiday Gatherings

Instead of “Joy to the World,” does your December sound a lot more like this:
“Who has time to enjoy Christmas? I’m too busy trying to get ready for it!”
”Next year, we are going to enjoy the holiday season more.”
“I wish we would have (you fill in the blank).”

Overloaded schedules and extra to dos can make the holiday season something to get through. But for many of us, we want it to be more than that. We want to be intentional with the time and to have fun with our families. And most of all, remember why we celebrate Christmas—the birth of Jesus Christ.

This Christmas, make sure you have at least one meaningful (and enjoyable!) moment with your kids. Block out a few hours or a whole day to enjoy age-old family traditions or make new traditions with some of our favorite (and simple!) Christmas ideas:

CHRISTMAS ORNAMENT SHOPPING. Before decorating your tree, make a fun family outing of picking out new ornaments. Have each family member secretly pick out and purchase (or make) an ornament to represent this past year (think of trips, pets, hobbies, etc.). Then let each person reveal and explain their ornament choice while decorating the tree together!

CHRISTMAS CARD PRAYERS. At dinner each night, open and read any Christmas cards you received that day. Pray specifically for those families together.

CHRISTMAS LIGHT NIGHT. Pack a thermos of cider and load into the car to drive around your community and look at Christmas lights. Take it to the next level by making a simple scavenger hunt with things like: 1 inflatable Minion, 3 inflatable Santas, 1 Snoopy decoration, etc. Don’t forget to blast your favorite Christmas tunes (and the heat!).

DONATE GIFTS. Whether it’s through your church, Salvation Army’s Angel Tree program, Samaritan’s Purse’s Operation Christmas Child, or any number of local drives, find a family in need this Christmas. Find out what they need most and shop for them together as a family.

READ THE CHRISTMAS STORY. Set aside time on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day to gather together as a family and hear the Christmas Story (Luke 2:1-20). Trade off who reads each year or have the same member of the family read every year while the others act out different parts.

Do you sometimes worry you aren’t doing enough to encourage compassion and service in your family?

Here’s your cue: Start with the next family meal and ask yourselves what situation is in need of a super-hero strength miracle? It could be in your lives, in your community, on your street, in your world. Start writing down all of the ways you might be able to respond, no matter how absurd they sound. Then take the next step together to listen to, receive from, be there for those who Jesus has given you a collective burden.

Read more – Compelling Your Kids To Serve

I want to raise kids who help others feel like they have value, something that’s in short supply in their selfie generation. That won’t happen on its own, so it’s up to me—and you other parents—to teach them and raise kids who are counter-culturally kind!
Dan Scott

5 Tips for Raising Kind Kids in a Selfie Generation

No one in my house plays Fortnite and yet I seem to know a lot about it! How does that happen? Well, obviously it shows that the game is having a big impact on our culture. Perhaps this blog post will be helpful to families engaged in Fortnite, or even those of us who aren’t!
The Family Battle Royale

And just for fun – I don’t play Fortnite but I did try to play Roblox which Makayla is obsessed with playing – this is pretty much what happened:

Download your copy of the 2018 Advent Calendar here!

Sesame Street was right, Cooperation makes it happen! Chaos reigns when no one is getting along and everyone is trying to do their own thing. On the flip side, when everyone focuses their energy and cooperates so much more can be achieved. Here are a few practical tips for parents to help their kids start combining forces to do great things together:
Make it Happen!

Holidays are meant to be a break, a time when work and school go on the back burner, teams and clubs have a lull in the schedule (sometimes), families relax and enjoy extra time with the ones they love most. But we all know that holidays more often turn into stress-filled days trying to make everyone happy and counting down the minutes until you can go back to your normal 9 to 5.

This Thanksgiving, make sure you have at least one meaningful (and enjoyable!) moment with your kids. Block out a few hours or a whole day to enjoy age-old family traditions or make new ones with some of our favorite (and simple!)Thanksgiving ideas:

THANKSGIVING SCRAPBOOK. Have your kid pick their favorite family photo from this past year. Paste it to the middle of a scrapbook page and have each family member write what they are most thankful for around the photo. Continue the tradition next year (and the next) by adding one page/photo a year!

THANKSGIVING PUMPKIN. On November 1, place a pumpkin and a Sharpie® marker in the middle of your dinner table. Throughout the month, encourage your
family members to write the things they are most thankful for on the pumpkin.

THANKSGIVING TRIAL-RUN. If your last Thursday of November will be a hectic gathering of second cousins and great aunts, plan a mini-feast with just your immediate family on the first Thursday of the month! Have your kid(s) help out in the kitchen as you make smaller portions of your favorite Thanksgiving foods. Don’t forget the pie!

BRANCH OUT. If you are too far from your extended family to celebrate the big day together, make your Thanksgiving extra special by inviting others to join you. Local college students, an elderly neighbor, or even another family you know who is far from extended family are all people who might be needing a big feast.

TURKEY TROT. Many communities have a local fun run on Thanksgiving morning. It’s a great way to get outside and active during a time of year you might usually be confined indoors. If you don’t have a local Turkey Trot, organize one in your neighborhood. Don’t forget to bundle up and stretch!

How To Get Your Kids To Do What You Want
When I saw the title of the article I was so excited! Finally the answer I had been waiting for! Finally my kids were going to listen to me! I clicked on it and well…here’s a snippet of the post:

If we want our kids to pick up after themselves, they need to see us doing that.
If we want our kids to be responsible on social media, they need to see us posting responsibly.
If we want our kids to have a day of rest, then they need to see us resting.
If we want our kids to read more, then we need to read more and let them catch us doing it.
If we want our kids to eat healthier, exercise more, speak politely, have healthy boundaries with technology, not get angry, or have a practical faith—then we need to model these things.
Because your children will follow your example, not just your opinion.

I wasn’t as excited to see that I had some work to do! But it was a great article and gave me a lot of food for thought. Read the whole thing here

Training your brain to get off the detour down Discontentment Drive and redirecting it up Appreciation Avenue is going to take you to the Land of Contentment where you’re happy with what you’ve got because you realize you’ve got a lot to be happy about.

Read more at parentcue.org