DEDECEMBER7th:
• Thought/story:
“Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Clause”
Scripture: Luke 10:38-42
Event: Dining with Mary & Martha
Jesus Christ made people happy
• Recipe: Frappe (great for serving a crowd).
Ingredients: 2 qts. Vanilla Icecream, 1 qt. Lime Sherbert, 1 qt. Ginger Ale or 7-up, 1 qt. Unsweetened pineapple juice.
Instructions: Mix all the ingredients together with a blender. You will probably have to divide it into sections and then mix it because it makes a lot!
• Tradition: So much of Christmas is focused on the commercial side of it, you may want to set new guidelines for your family. If you have small children who haven’t or don’t understand Santa Claus yet anyway, you might want to try eliminating Santa Claus from Christmas (or having one gift from Santa Claus) and having the “Wise Men” bring three gifts for each child. Children will still get other gifts from family members, but it takes the emphasis off of Santa and onto the true meaning of Christmas. Anotheridea is to simply have Santa bring one or two gifts and have the rest be from mom & dad.
• Small Gift Idea:
Wire whisks and candy: Buy an inexpensive wire whisk and put in Hershey kisses or any other fairly large, wrapped candy. The tag reads: “We whisk you a Merry Kissmas” if you’re using Hershey kisses. You could also use cinnamon bears and do one that says “We whisk you a Beary Merry Christmas”
REDUCING CHRISTMAS STRESS
Must you send 75 cards? Buy gifts for every brother, sister, cousin, grandparent, your daughter’s Brownie leader, and the FedEx delivery guy? Visit your parents on Christmas Eve and his parents of Christmas day, lugging Santa size sacks of gifts? If you think (or wish) not, first ask the parties involved how important such rituals are to them. If they answer “very,” ask what isn’t.
Some other ways to pare down: If you haven’t gotten a card from someone for one or two years straight, take him or her off the list. Propose to extended family that you each pull a name out of the hat and get only that person a gift, or rotate the list each year so people aren’t getting the same person every year.
Dear Editor,
I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Clause. Papa says, “If you see it in THE SUN, its so”. Please tell me the truth, is there a Santa Claus?
Virginia O’Hanlon
Virginia, your friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a special age. They do not believe except they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia whether they be men’s or children’s are little. In this great universe of ours, man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.
Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Clause. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! How dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Clause! It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.
Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies. You might get your Papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if you did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children or men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that’s no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are, unseen and unseeable, in the world.
You tear apart the baby’s rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart. Only Faith, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, Virginia, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.
No Santa Clause! Thank God! He lives and lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay 10 times 10,000 years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.
From the editorial page of The New York Sun, 1897
Spreading the joy of families throughout the world. Hoping to give you and your family helpful tips and ideas to simplify your life!
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DECEMBER 7TH
DEDECEMBER7th:
• Thought/story:
“Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Clause”
Scripture: Luke 10:38-42
Event: Dining with Mary & Martha
Jesus Christ made people happy
• Recipe: Frappe (great for serving a crowd).
Ingredients: 2 qts. Vanilla Icecream, 1 qt. Lime Sherbert, 1 qt. Ginger Ale or 7-up, 1 qt. Unsweetened pineapple juice.
Instructions: Mix all the ingredients together with a blender. You will probably have to divide it into sections and then mix it because it makes a lot!
• Tradition: So much of Christmas is focused on the commercial side of it, you may want to set new guidelines for your family. If you have small children who haven’t or don’t understand Santa Claus yet anyway, you might want to try eliminating Santa Claus from Christmas (or having one gift from Santa Claus) and having the “Wise Men” bring three gifts for each child. Children will still get other gifts from family members, but it takes the emphasis off of Santa and onto the true meaning of Christmas. Anotheridea is to simply have Santa bring one or two gifts and have the rest be from mom & dad.
• Small Gift Idea:
Wire whisks and candy: Buy an inexpensive wire whisk and put in Hershey kisses or any other fairly large, wrapped candy. The tag reads: “We whisk you a Merry Kissmas” if you’re using Hershey kisses. You could also use cinnamon bears and do one that says “We whisk you a Beary Merry Christmas”
REDUCING CHRISTMAS STRESS
Must you send 75 cards? Buy gifts for every brother, sister, cousin, grandparent, your daughter’s Brownie leader, and the FedEx delivery guy? Visit your parents on Christmas Eve and his parents of Christmas day, lugging Santa size sacks of gifts? If you think (or wish) not, first ask the parties involved how important such rituals are to them. If they answer “very,” ask what isn’t.
Some other ways to pare down: If you haven’t gotten a card from someone for one or two years straight, take him or her off the list. Propose to extended family that you each pull a name out of the hat and get only that person a gift, or rotate the list each year so people aren’t getting the same person every year.
Dear Editor,
I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Clause. Papa says, “If you see it in THE SUN, its so”. Please tell me the truth, is there a Santa Claus?
Virginia O’Hanlon
Virginia, your friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a special age. They do not believe except they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia whether they be men’s or children’s are little. In this great universe of ours, man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.
Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Clause. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! How dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Clause! It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.
Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies. You might get your Papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if you did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children or men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that’s no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are, unseen and unseeable, in the world.
You tear apart the baby’s rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart. Only Faith, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, Virginia, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.
No Santa Clause! Thank God! He lives and lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay 10 times 10,000 years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.
From the editorial page of The New York Sun, 1897
• Thought/story:
“Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Clause”
Scripture: Luke 10:38-42
Event: Dining with Mary & Martha
Jesus Christ made people happy
• Recipe: Frappe (great for serving a crowd).
Ingredients: 2 qts. Vanilla Icecream, 1 qt. Lime Sherbert, 1 qt. Ginger Ale or 7-up, 1 qt. Unsweetened pineapple juice.
Instructions: Mix all the ingredients together with a blender. You will probably have to divide it into sections and then mix it because it makes a lot!
• Tradition: So much of Christmas is focused on the commercial side of it, you may want to set new guidelines for your family. If you have small children who haven’t or don’t understand Santa Claus yet anyway, you might want to try eliminating Santa Claus from Christmas (or having one gift from Santa Claus) and having the “Wise Men” bring three gifts for each child. Children will still get other gifts from family members, but it takes the emphasis off of Santa and onto the true meaning of Christmas. Anotheridea is to simply have Santa bring one or two gifts and have the rest be from mom & dad.
• Small Gift Idea:
Wire whisks and candy: Buy an inexpensive wire whisk and put in Hershey kisses or any other fairly large, wrapped candy. The tag reads: “We whisk you a Merry Kissmas” if you’re using Hershey kisses. You could also use cinnamon bears and do one that says “We whisk you a Beary Merry Christmas”
REDUCING CHRISTMAS STRESS
Must you send 75 cards? Buy gifts for every brother, sister, cousin, grandparent, your daughter’s Brownie leader, and the FedEx delivery guy? Visit your parents on Christmas Eve and his parents of Christmas day, lugging Santa size sacks of gifts? If you think (or wish) not, first ask the parties involved how important such rituals are to them. If they answer “very,” ask what isn’t.
Some other ways to pare down: If you haven’t gotten a card from someone for one or two years straight, take him or her off the list. Propose to extended family that you each pull a name out of the hat and get only that person a gift, or rotate the list each year so people aren’t getting the same person every year.
Dear Editor,
I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Clause. Papa says, “If you see it in THE SUN, its so”. Please tell me the truth, is there a Santa Claus?
Virginia O’Hanlon
Virginia, your friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a special age. They do not believe except they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia whether they be men’s or children’s are little. In this great universe of ours, man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.
Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Clause. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! How dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Clause! It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.
Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies. You might get your Papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if you did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children or men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that’s no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are, unseen and unseeable, in the world.
You tear apart the baby’s rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart. Only Faith, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, Virginia, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.
No Santa Clause! Thank God! He lives and lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay 10 times 10,000 years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.
From the editorial page of The New York Sun, 1897