Holiday Traditions

As an OT student I can't help but notice occupations that surround me.  This Christmas, I was amazed at the number of occupations that occur around our house in order to aid in Jazz having a successful Christmas.

Since Jazz was a baby, she would help me do the Christmas baking.  When she was a little baby she would sit in her high chair and watch and sing while I ran around the kitchen.  As she got bigger she would help with more and more pieces of the projects.  Eventually, it became a tradition for her best friend to join us.  They "help" with everything from pouring, to mixing, to decorating.  All of the baking gets done during the course of one day and the ways they "help" can often make for a longer day.  But it's our tradition and an important holiday occupation that I am glad she can be a part of.

Age 5 yrs

Age 6 yrs

Then there are the presents.  Santa presents are wrapped in a different color for each person so that Jazz can tell the difference between gifts.  If this is not done, she opens every person's presents.  We also make sure to get her something that her presents can go into, so she can tell where hers begin and end.  This year it was a little trunk that her dolls could go into.  In the past, we have gotten her indoor tents that she can crawl into for her presents.  We learned this the hard way when she was about two and she just began partially opening every wrapped thing she could touch.  Every year since then has been successful.  The rules about presents and wrapping has always baffled my husband Matt and my dad.  They just cannot keep track of who's presents go in what wrapping and why you have to separate Santa presents.

Presents separated by color, location, and graphic

We have to separate Santa presents from family presents because she cannot  keep track of who gave her a gift and what it was, or if she had gotten one from everybody, or if her presents to people have been opened yet.  And so we open Santa presents first thing in the morning, followed by breakfast, and then family presents.  For breakfast we have home made waffles, which is the only time each year my mom makes them.  

 

I had never really thought about the delegate dance we all do around Jazz in order to have a successful Christmas.  It's a lot of work, but in the end it pays off because we get to have fun and enjoy the day with her.  All of her anxiety has been building up since Halloween and is finally released into pure joy as new toys are explored and opened slowly throughout the day.

Much Love!