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Home › Articles › Holidays: Winter › Home for the Holidays

Home for the Holidays

Celebrating Christmas With Your Newly Adopted Child

By Heather V. Long

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 (St. Martin's, 2003), says that Christmas should be a magical time for all children, no matter what age they are. "The younger children, of course, have no basis of comparison," she says. "But the older ones often see it as another extraordinary aspect of their new lives."

Tom and Sabrina Glidden of Eaton, Ind., are preparing to celebrate their first Christmas with their sons who were adopted from the Ukraine. They plan to incorporate some traditions from their children's home country. In the Ukraine, there are two sets of holidays, Catholic and Orthodox. "This will be our first Christmas with the boys home," says Sabrina. "We will set up the Christmas tree after our Thanksgiving meal. We'll set up a handmade replica of a fireplace, on which we will place our empty stockings. On Christmas Eve, we will set out two cookies and a glass of milk for Santa."

 

What to Do
Champnella encourages families to celebrate their traditions with their children, but to also learn about the holiday traditions of their homeland. "Local groups, like Families With Children From China, often have parties and celebrations for the Chinese New Year, the Dragon Boat Festival and other traditional Chinese holidays," she says. "They are wonderful occasions to add new traditions to a family."

Hochman finds it energizing for all family members when a child's heritage is considered in celebrating the holidays. "We know families where there are birth children and adopted children from a variety of cultures," she says. "They celebrate Ramadan, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah and Christmas. Children learn to appreciate their own cultures and those of their sibings."


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