A winter of love - that will be the key to making it through, I think.
So far, I have started by doing an advent calendar with the kids - they haven't totally gotten on board with it yet, but its not too bad. Teenagers - they resist fun with their mom, lol. Since we are Orthodox, the advent is 40 days long. Took me awhile to get everything ready, but I loved it. We have a beautiful little 'Jesse' tree - Bex tweaked, of course. I have made up icons of the creation story, some of the major people through history, and the nativity story.
We are just now adding the Scandinavian trolls to it - which would be scandalous to some, but is one of our family traditions, so what the hey. I'm all about mixing things up a little. The poor Father gets totally flabbergasted at my mixing of cultures, religions, rituals, and flights of fantasy with Church.
The latest things we found were for St Nicholas day - Poopman (http://comicsalliance.com/benito-cereno-and-anthony-clark-bring-you-a-true-christmas-story/) - the kids still love bathroom humor - and for the trolls -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLtKlXjN44o&list=RD_oPq6eq1SjI&index=3
But Church is not God. God is like breathing - essential, and underneath everything you do. Church is the gathering of people. Its wonderful, its terrible - just like people. And I just love to find new stuff, and when I see stuff I like or I know my kids will like - I add it. We are what some would call a quaint family, others would call us fruitcakes. Ah well.
Anyways, ........
They have a little advent chocolate house, and they find St Nicholas icons every morning for a candy cane.
This year our troll tradition gets a twist. Usually the kids just get a little treat from them each morning in their shoe. This year I'm making it into an elf on the shelf thingie - troll on a roll?! Each morning the troll of the day will be found doing something, and the kids get something. eg: pie-crust eater is found eating pie, kids get pie for breakfast (!!!!).
Kind of exciting :) I'll post a photo or two if I can.
So, finding love by having fun with the kids, and getting into the Christmas spirit. Works for me.
What should I do when Christmas is over, I wonder? Hmmmmm.
