Eight years ago, I started my first blog– Mrs. Cropper’s Books. I had recently left the classroom to be a full time mom, and while I loved my baby boy and felt blessed to spend my days with him, I couldn’t drive by an elementary school without tearing up. Blogging about Children’s Lit helped to soften the blow then, and, even now, almost a decade later, it is still one of my favorite topics to write about.
Today I’m sharing the most simple idea ever to help you feel like Supermom when a new holiday rolls around.
In the age of Pinterest and countless blogs, everything has become so much more, right? When I had my first two children, things like maternity and newborn photo shoots were uncommon, and I had never even heard of a labor and delivery photographer or a gender reveal party! Every time I visit Pinterest, I am bombarded with images of seemingly perfect moms doing all sorts of clever things for their children on holidays. Of course, this is really a topic for an entirely different post–it has become almost controversial as some people roll their eyes at such things and push back against such trends. Honestly, I love a little holiday magic. You’ll never find an Elf on the Shelf in our home, but I love decorations and special meals and whatever else feels fun that year (and some years, it is next to nothing!). In the end, I think we should all do what we want and allow others the same privilege (see previous post!). The reason I bring this dilemma up, is that my suggestion today can help any mother feel like she is providing something festive for her children, and it doesn’t involve frosting, sprinkles, or a mess left by leprechauns. I also think it has the potential to add more meaning to each and every holiday.
The idea is simply this. Every family needs a designated Holiday book basket. This is a habit I got into as a teacher, and I have loved carrying on the tradition with my family. All year, the books for every single holiday live in a giant, lidded bin in an upstairs closet, and as a new holiday season is approaching, I pull out the books for that holiday and put them in our holiday book basket.
Three huge perks to this system:
1. Our holiday books aren’t just scattered amongst the rest of our library, so when I get them out, my kids are delighted!
2. Because of that novelty, the children naturally spend more time reading. I am constantly finding them lying by the holiday books, looking through them independently, and we spend hours snuggled together on the couch, while I read them aloud.
3. We try to include some particularly meaningful books in the basket for each holiday, so the children are learning who St. Patrick really was, reading stories of compassion at Christmas, and so on.
I hear a lot of my friends say things like, “Oh, we don’t really have any Valentine’s Day books. I guess I should buy some.” That can feel a bit daunting at first. Just add to the collection every year. You could give your children each a book for Valentine’s Day. And an Easter book is the perfect thing in an Easter basket.
And that’s it. Find yourself a cute new basket, bulk up your book collection, and pat yourself on the back for making holidays more magical for your children.
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