Thanksgiving Traditions and Rituals

Add some spice to your family Thanksgiving this year with these fun family ideas.

Create a family tradition by having everyone sign the dinner table cloth with their name and something for which they are thankful. Use the same table cloth every year and have family members add something new every year.

Teach your kids to give back to their community by letting them organize a mini toy or food drive. Ask family members to bring either a toy or food donation to the family dinner and once the day is over drive the kids to your local charity to drop off the collected items.

Take a family photo and have it made into a jigsaw puzzle. Mail the puzzle to family members who couldn’t attend, elderly family members confined to a nursing home, or to family members overseas. You can have puzzles made from your digital photo’s at places like Snapfish.com, Shutterfly.com or Upinpieces.com.

Visit our website for more great ideas for family Thanksgiving rituals, traditions, and activities.

Family Meals Made Easy for November

Great Recipes, Helpful Hints, and Fun Ideas

Family Fun Idea

The next couple of months we are going to use dinner time as a way of establishing meaningful opportunities to talk with our kids. Using dinner time to engage in meaningful conversations with each other is an easy way to reconnect, share thoughts, and check the pulse of the family. This isn’t something that should be forced in the family. The ideas for conversation are just thought starters. Feel free to modify them as needed for your family’s tastes and ages. They are meant to be answered by both parents and kids.

Conversation Starter Idea

For the kids – When you become a parent, what things will you do differently and what things will you do the same? Why?

For the parents – Now that you are a parent, how is your parenting style different from your parents? What things are you doing differently and what things are you doing the same?

Why this Question is Important….

Giving kids the opportunity to talk about how they would parent, gives parents some insight into what things are important to their kids and to some possible frustrations. Likewise, by parents sharing how they are different from their parents, gives kids an opportunity to better understand their parents and to reflect on some of the choices their parents make.

Great Recipes

The original recipe for this came from a Cooking Light magazine, but I have modified it further to make it a little more lighter and to better suit my family’s tastes.

Green Beans with Balsamic Browned Butter

Ingredients

4 Cups Fresh Cut Green Beans
3 Tablespoons Light Butter
3 Teaspoons Low-Sodium Soy Sauce
11/2 Teaspoons Balsamic Vinegar

Steam the green beans in a covered pan for about 10 minutes. While the green beans are
steaming, melt the butter in a small skillet over medium heat. Cook the butter for 3 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove the butter from the heat and stir in the soy sauce and vinegar. Transfer the green beans to a serving dish and drizzle the balsamic butter over the green beans. Serve.

Helpful Hints

To cut down on the number of pots and pans you use and to make clean up easier, try steaming the green beans in a microwave steamer bag. You can find them in the plastic wrap aisle at your local grocery store. Simply place the green bags in the plastic steamer bag, zip it close and follow the directions printed on the bag.

Make family meal preparation easy and less stressful with either our monthly family meal planner or our new weekly meal planner.

A Parenting Tip – Create a Sane Holiday Season Now

By: Colleen Langenfeld

Could you benefit from a useful parenting tip with practical applications? Most parents
can. As a mother and a business owner who has worked with hundreds of moms over the past few years, I often hear the same thing.

“This year, it will be different,” these overwhelmed moms sigh as the holiday season draws near. “I won’t let my family do so many activities. It won’t be such a blur! We’re going to have a sane holiday this year.”

Starting to sound like a New Year’s Resolution, isn’t it? Great idea…if only you could pull it off.

Well, this year you can.

I have been parenting for over 26 years. As a mom, I know how crazy the end of the year has become for our whole culture. Not only is there an abundance of activities for adults, but our children have been pulled into the madness as well, with nearly unlimited opportunities of their own. To top it off, most of these activities are good, even excellent.

Feeling a little overwhelmed just thinking about it? Me, too.

So here’s a parenting tip with long term consequences: let’s get on top of this situation now, while the season is still in front of us and we actually have time to plan. Pull out a calendar and ask yourself how you really want your holiday season to be this year.

For example…

• Do you enjoy having an activity every evening?

• Do you enjoy activities away from home or at home? Or a mix?

• Do you want your kids to primarily do activities with their friends or with their family? (I really hope you’re choosing family!)

• What traditions are most important to you? Baking cookies? Sending cards? Caroling? Helping in your community? Serving in your house of worship?

• Do your children even understand “why” this time of year is so precious? Do they understand the religious and historical backgrounds of the holidays you celebrate?

So what’s the bottom line here? Stop trying to do everything and concentrate on one or
two activities that are truly meaningful to your family. YOU decide the important messages you want to impress upon your children this holiday season. You can choose from the long-established traditions to teach those messages or create brand new traditions that your family will love embracing.

Making family memories is what will stay with your family, year after year. It’s what your
children will take with them into adulthood. It is what they will form their own family traditions on.

They won’t remember all the hectic activities. But they will remember things like this: that every year, on the weekend after Thanksgiving, we get the Christmas decorations out of storage, snuggle up with hot chocolate, and fondly reminisce over the history of each ornament. It’s the story of our family, remembered and added to each year.

That’s one of my children’s favorite holiday traditions. Pretty simple, huh? But my grown sons speak fondly of this tradition so I know it has been important to them. And I continue it now with my daughters.

Do you see what else is going on here? Besides the warm fuzzies, I am now much more aware of the powerful influence I have as my children’s parent. And it makes it easier for me to intentionally use making memories to teach them what I believe is most important for them to know.

So what is my most excellent parenting tip for you this holiday season? Stop going with the flow. Instead think, plan and create your family’s holiday memories this season. Be intentional with your family’s limited time (and energy), and encourage peace, laughter and thoughtfulness during this blessed and holy time of the year.

About the Author
Colleen Langenfeld has been parenting for over 26 years and helps other moms enjoy mothering more at http://www.paintedgold.com. Visit her website to get the parenting tip you need today.

7 Surefire Tips to Help You Avoid Getting Stuffed this Thanksgiving Holiday

By: Holly Rigsby, CPT

Thanksgiving; a time to offer thanks, a time to EAT – turkey, stuffing, pumpkin pie, etc. Unfortunately, the Thanksgiving holiday is the time of year when many people end up putting on the extra “holiday pounds”. It is easy to do for the holiday season continues for two months! This means more family dinners, parties with friends and high-calorie foods than we eat during the rest of the year combined. But the holidays come once a year. What’s the point of refusing a piece of pecan pie, then feeling miserable? As my close kept secrets are about to reveal. It’s absolutely OK to enjoy your favorite holiday treats and stay on the fat loss train. Incorporate the following 7 strategies to fight back against the battle of the holiday bulge.

Make Exercise A Priority – The first key to preventing weight gain is to increase your activity level. Besides burning extra holiday calories, exercise reduces stress, elevates your mood and gives you more energy. Yes, it’s harder to fit in a workout when you toss in traveling, shopping, baking plus a whole host of other holiday-related activities. That’s why it’s important to make a commitment to fitness and incorporate short burst exercise into your routine.

Have a Plan – If you are prone to overindulging, have a plan in place. Visualize what and how much you will eat before you approach the dinner table. Have a backup plan that incorporates physical activities for that day, or the following day, to burn off those extra calories. The activities can be anything from a longer shopping spree to a game of flag football.

Don’t Skip Meals – On the day of the Thanksgiving feast, be sure to eat regularly all day long. If you will be eating in the evening, start with a supportive breakfast – particularly something with protein and a high fiber carbohydrate. Be sure to eat something light in the afternoon like a healthy, high-protein snack. The protein will help you feel full longer. You’ll be less likely to binge, and reduce overall calorie consumption. Once you arrive, go ahead and indulge in some of the fun, delicious foods. Since you have eaten meals earlier in the day, you will find that you aren’t as tempted to go overboard and eat everything in sight. Whatever you do, do not starve yourself. Not only will you slow your metabolism down to a hearty fat storing rate, arriving ravenous will guarantee overindulgence.

Portion Control is Key – Instead, allow yourself to enjoy your favorite foods with the ones you love, but in moderation. Take time to survey the foods before you make your choices. Try a serving-spoon size of the foods you really want to eat and smaller portions of the foods you just want to “taste.” By selecting a sample size of several offerings, you will have the enjoyment of trying many different foods without overeating. Make a small plate, take small samples of each kind of food and skip the seconds. Instead, save room for dessert, but have smaller portions. For example, you might allow yourself two small samples of decadent desserts. You don’t need to deprive yourself of the foods you love, otherwise your cravings will grow and you’ll be more likely to overindulge.

Wear Form-Fitting Clothes – Want to really keep yourself honest and the same size during the holiday season? Wear your most form-fitting clothing. Another trick is to tie a string or ribbon around your waist under your shirt that will not budge with the bulge. This will keep you mindful of the actions you take during dinner.

Limit or Avoid Alcoholic Beverages – If you decide to drink alcohol, stick to light beer or a champagne spritzer. The average alcoholic drink contains 200 calories per glass while an 8-ounce cup of eggnog with rum contains 450 calories. Not only does alcohol pack a lot of empty calories, but over-consumption lowers inhibitions and self-control. Not a good combination when you’re near the buffet table! Some suggested non-alcoholic alternatives include club soda w/lime, tomato juice and diet soda.

Practice the “Cheat Technique” – If you make supportive food choices 80-90 percent of the time, you can – and should – allow yourself to let loose and ”cheat” the other 10-20 percent. You’ll enjoy the festivities without carrying them around on your waistline and into the New Year. If you do over-do it, be forgiving of yourself and get back to your regular plan the following day.

Failing to plan is planning to fail. Right now, before the holidays get crazy, make fitness your priority. Thinking you’ll ‘get around to it’ just doesn’t happen when there are gifts to buy, foods to prepare and family to visit. Make a plan, write it down, and stick to it. You can enjoy the holidays to their fullest, without depriving yourself of the great food we all look forward to.

If, by chance, the scale registers the same weight on Jan. 2 as it did on Thanksgiving Eve, rejoice! The cheer of the holiday season should not come to a screeching halt; in fact, you have given yourself the gift of “weight maintenance.”

Have a Healthy Thanksgiving!

Holly Rigsby is America’s #1 Fat Loss Expert for Moms. She is the Author of Fit Yummy
Mummy. For additional tips and strategies, be sure to visit www.FitYummyMummy.Blogspot.com

Being Intentional About How You Communicate With Your Kids and Spouse

A family with purpose is a family who is intentional about who they are as individuals and as a family. They know who they are, what they stand for, and what they want from life. They have goals and dreams and plans to make them happen. They are families who live their lives with meaning.

“Is your homework done?” “Your room is a mess! Clean it up now!” “Did you remember the milk?” “You’re not just going to sit there all night, are you?”

Does this sound like your family? Let’s face it. Life is hard. Families are busy and there are days when it seems all we have to say to each other are complaints, desperate pleas for help, or tactical questions of who is doing what. Every family has days like these. But families with purpose manage to go beyond the day to day talk of snide complaints and fire drill tactics to foster a deeper level of communicating. Families with purpose manage to weave into their lives real conversations about the friend at school who has suddenly became so cold or the co-worker who will do anything for the next promotion; as well as the more joyous conversations about next year’s family vacation or the possibility of an exciting new job half way across the country.

Families with purpose are intentional about how they communicate by making it a point of their daily lives to really talk. They make it a point to go beyond the daily obligatory comments and questions to connect on a much deeper level. Here are some signs your family is on the right track.

• Parents regularly spend time discussing their kids, their goals and aspirations, and the general direction of their lives. They know intimate details about what is important to each other and they respect and encourage each other.
• Your children come to you with most of their problems and seek out your advice. Most children are not willing to share every detail of their lives with their parents, but when they are really struggling with something they are not afraid to ask for help.
• Kids feel comfortable asking their parents questions about things they don’t understand. A home in which children are encourage to seek answers and are not afraid to ask is a home in which children will thrive emotionally, academically, and socially.
• Parents take the time to answer their children’s questions and they answer them truthfully. When kids repeatedly hear “not now, I’m busy” or “can we talk later?” they quickly learn the message their questions and thoughts aren’t important. It is also important to answer your kids truthfully even when it is difficult to do so. Children are very perceptive and can sense when their parents are not being straight with them. Nothing will destroy your children’s trust in you faster than a lie.
• Parents frequently make themselves available to their spouse and kids when they can’t be with them in person. They have systems in place to reach them in other ways (e.g. phone calls, text messaging, email, etc).
• Parents and children understand what is important to each other and know each other’s dreams, goals, and aspirations. This is connecting and communicating on its deepest level. When a family isn’t afraid to share some of their innermost thoughts they have truly connected.

Communicating on a deeper level like this doesn’t happen over night. It takes a lot of time, attention, and patience to develop this level of trust and communication. Here are some suggestions to help you get on the right track.

• Avoid judging, shock, or hysteria in talking with each other. Kids and spouses won’t come to you if they feel judged or embarrassed. Sometimes just quietly listening is all that is needed.
• Be ready and willing to give kids real world answers and solutions to their problems. This takes understanding the social dynamic at your kids’ school as well as the skill in giving kids the words they need to talk through a problem with their friends, telling a friend no, or standing up to a bully. Kids won’t take your advice or find it helpful if you can’t make it real for them.
• Actively listening and watching for signs of stress. Signs will come in the form of behavior changes, little comments, hanging around waiting for you to notice, or comments/calls from the teacher.
• Make it okay for kids and spouses to tell you when they are upset and frustrated with you. You don’t have to agree, but you do have to hear them.
• Be willing to admit when you don’t have the answers and offer to help them find one.
• Be willing to apologize to your kids when you make a mistake. This is huge and will go a long way in fostering a deeper relationship with your kids.

Does your family have a purpose?

Are You a Family with Purpose?

Families of today come in all shapes and sizes. From the traditional (though somewhat rare) Leave it to Beaver family to the chronically dysfunctional Burnham’s in the 1999 film American Beauty, our neighborhoods, schools, towns, and churches are filled with families of many different sizes, styles, and varying degrees of dysfunction. These are the same families you see on the soccer fields, at the PTA meetings, and shopping in the grocery store. These are families who for better or worse are striving to make the most of their lives and to raise happy confident children who will make a difference in the world.

And some families will succeed and some will fail. Read more