The Winter Solstice is December 21, bringing with it a different significance to many people. An American school child may remember that it is the shortest day of the year, the first day of winter. To the ancients it was the most powerful day of the year, of great astrological significance. Pagans did (and still do) view it as a day for celebrating renewal. The early Christian church saw it as an enemy to be conquered.

To be sure, they did conquer it. In fact, the church was so successful at overtaking the pagan customs, and wrapping them in new clothes, that you may celebrate the Winter Solstice and not even know it! The following Christmas traditions are, in fact, lifted wholesale from various Winter Solstice celebrations.

Gift giving:
Although Christians give gifts to represent the gift that God gave his people (Jesus), the Romans gave winter gifts long before Christmas was started. The Roman holiday of Sigillaria was celebrated by giving children rings and seals.

Yule Logs:
Burning a yule log was seen by the Scandinavians as a way to fight off the cold and dark, as well as to bring good luck. Oak represents the waxing (or, coming) solar year, and holly represents the waning (or, closing) solar year.

Mistletoe:
The Scandinavians are also responsible for bringing us the tradition of kissing under the mistletoe. In Norse mythology, the god of evil (Loki), gave the god of winter (Hoder) an arrow made from mistletoe. He used the arrow to kill the god of the summer sun (Balder). His mother was so happy that she kissed everyone who passed under the tree. Her tears of joy became the berries on the plant.

Candle Lighting:
Candles are used symbolically for Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa celebrations. It is a custom started by the Romans, who lit candles to convince the sun to shine again and to ward off evil.

Bell Ringing:
Christmas celebrations often include bells—ranging from bold church bells in steeples to tiny silver bells on shoes. This idea came from Pagan celebrations, which were noisy affairs, including bells and other noisemakers intended to frighten away evil spirits.

Christmas trees and other greenery:
Germanic cultures celebrated the solstice by lighting an evergreen, the “tree of life”. The Romans decorated their homes with green plants, as did European pagans, believing their magic powers enabled them to live when other things died. Many Christians use evergreens as a symbol of eternal life.

In Europe, many pagan cultures constructed megaliths as part of Winter Solstice worship. Although Stonehenge is NOT likely a place of worship for the solstice, it is the best-known example of this type of engineering. One place in Ireland, known as Newgrange, was built for this purpose. It is so perfectly aligned that even thousands of years later, the rising winter solstice sun shines through a “key hole” and down a passageway to illuminate an engraving (the triple spiral) on an upturned stone. Nothing in contemporary religious celebrations mimics this feat. And since they could not integrate this aspect of winter celebration into their culture, the medieval church simply ignored these ruins and let them fall into obscurity.

Of course, many non-religious people continue to enjoy Winter Solstice festivities today. Do you celebrate the solstice? Whether it is instead of or in addition to a modern religious holiday—tell us how!

During the busy holiday season, I’ve found that when you need to order specific gifts for kids, like board games, video games, and sports jerseys, it’s best to save yourself the hassle of running around. Instead, place an order online. With these gifts, it’s not the thought that counts—the kids have already done the thinking.

Save your precious time for more interesting things—that is, of course if you’re a shopper, like me. I rummaged through toys at a discount store and found a couple of quality gifts for our baby and my baby nephews. Babies don’t have Christmas lists, so we get to have fun picking out things that will make them laugh, smile or squeal on Christmas morning (and, hopefully interest them for a long time afterwards).

Despite a tight budget this year, Santa is still coming to our house. We’ve decided to skip some gift exchanges between adults. I just have to give something to my sisters, though. I’m spending less on them than usual but putting a little extra thought into their gifts. I bought them soft, snuggly slipper socks, small Yankee candles in a jar and plan on buying them each a box of yummy tea, maybe a holiday flavor or something to help them relax and unwind (they’re busy moms, too). I’ll put it all in a little basket with a tag reading: “Have a warm and cozy winter!” Smaller, thoughtful gifts can have a big impact.

Also, instead of filling the kids’ stockings with a bunch of junky toys, I’m trying to fill them with useful things, for the most part, like Chapstick for my older son who’s always complaining about his chapped lips and sticky notes.

Does anyone else have any tips for smart shopping on a budget this holiday season?

We have never been in the habit of using credit cards to celebrate the true meaning of Christmas. We’ve given more when we had more, and given nothing when we had nothing. As my father said to us during our last Christmas with him, “Your presence is my present.” But most of us know it’s really FUN to give our kids Christmas gifts, and it’s really hard to see just a present or two under the tree.

But the pinch is being felt all around the world this year, and even the North Pole has had to cut back. Malls and other spots where St. Nick usually pops up can’t afford the $125 an hour commanded by the gents with real beards (who knew they made so much?). The Amalgamated Order of Real Bearded Santas–an honest to goodness real union–says bookings are down about half of their usual number this year. Many Santas are commuting long distances to find work. And even when Santa does show up for portrait sessions, many consumers just can’t afford little luxuries like that this holiday season.

Like I said, in my home, we’ve had our ups and downs when it came to gifts. There was a year I gave my husband a new razor and a pair of long underwear; our son got a couple matchbox cars and a new big box of crayons. It’s going to be another one of those years. We’ll be forced to put into practice what we say we really value–time together as a family and celebrating the significance of the religious holiday. Because, in my home as in many others, Santa has been RIFfed this year.

The baby, of course, doesn’t give a hoot about presents. She’ll be delighted by all of the bright paper she can chew and the curling ribbon she’ll try to strangle herself with (see my post about her dangerous obsessions. Thankfully, we had already planned ahead buying a couple things for our son (who turns 12 TODAY), but that book and CD is all he’ll get. And I’m just about finished making homemade gifts for my extended family. It’s a challenge to find things to make that people will use and appreciate, but that’s a post for another day. We won’t be buying gifts for each other this year, nor for my husband’s office mates or for our friends and neighbors. Yet I don’t think the holiday will suffer.

Looking back, no one in my home was disappointed in “The Year of the Razor.”And this year, I don’t think my friends will be offended that they don’t “get” anything. Maybe we all need a lean year to help us remember that it isn’t about the gifts. Maybe we should put the man in red on a long-term leave of absence.

I am not a shopper. I don’t know why I don’t like to shop, I just don’t. Every year around this time, I’m reminded of my shopping phobia as I fight the crowds to get gifts for my 5 children. Sometimes, when my husband is traveling with work, I have to take the children with me while I shop.

Once, I lost my blind child in the store. I thought she was holding onto the cart, but when I looked around a few minutes later and discovered that I’d lost her. We did find her a short while later sobbing in the next aisle. That experience prompted me to make some changes in our shopping routine.

During busy shopping seasons, I don’t take the kids with me. If my husband is traveling on business, I pay a neighbor to watch the children for me. If I have no choice but to shop with kids in tow, I go early in the morning or in the evening when the stores aren’t so crowded. I avoid the mid-day shopping rush and also the rush at the stores at 5pm when people are getting home from work.

I’ve found that it’s best to go shopping with a game plan. I make sure I know what I want and where I’m going to get it. This means that I research before hand to find out where the best sales are. If an item I want is not in stock during a sale, I ask for a “rain check” at customer service. This means that I can get the sale price on the item when the store gets the item in stock.

In recent years, I’ve found that I can find great deals online. This has cut back my shopping time and saved me a lot of stress! Many online stores offer free shipping deals during this time of year and that makes it worth my while to shop there. However, it may still pay you to shop at an online store even if you have to pay shipping. For example, how much gas and time will you spend driving to that brick and mortar store? How much will it cost you in “aggravation dollars” to have to deal with the kids and the other stressed shoppers? When you look at it that way, shipping and handling costs are a deal!

This year, will you do most of your shopping online, or at a brick and mortar store?

I’m a gift giver. At least, I try to be. Whenever someone makes my day or goes out of their way to do something for me, my family or someone else I know, I like to say thanks by giving them a meaningful gift. It can be something small, like a batch of home made cookies or a hand made card, or something larger to go along with a larger gift.

Thinking along these lines, I started to wonder: what kind of gift could I give the nurses who help with my labor, delivery and recovery in just a few short weeks? What sort of gift would be appropriate for the men and women who are going to be helping me with one of the best gifts that anyone could ever receive? How can I possibly express my gratitude?

With all the expenses of a newborn, money is definitely tight, so here are some inexpensive ideas I came up with:

• Flowers. A single rose or other flower (perhaps the birth flower for that month?) for each of the nurses.

• Candy, Cookies or Snacks. Small boxes of candy, a tin of flavored popcorn or a fruit basket that can be shared.

• Breakfast. Bagels and cream cheese or a box of doughnuts in the morning is a great way to start the day on a positive note.

• Gourmet Coffee. The coffee in most hospitals is pretty bad – treat the nurses to the good stuff!

• Handmade Ornaments (for the holidays) or Other Hand Made Items. I enjoy knitting, and have thought about knitting up wash cloths or some other small items that I can hand out to the nurses. Bath salts or other crafty items also make nice gifts.

Don’t forget the thank-you notes and birth announcements!

What will or did you bring to the nurses when you delivered?

Do you remember shopping at Sears when you were a kid? I am dating myself now, but I remember shopping for clothes at Sears when I was a child. My mother would put our clothes on ?layaway? until she could pay off the total amount of the bill.

Layaway, for those of you who?ve never heard of it, is somewhat like a reverse credit card. When you buy items on credit, you immediately get the item, but then you must pay back the balance and a hefty fee (interest) for the privilege. Unlike credit purchases, with a layaway account, the store keeps the merchandise until you?ve paid off your account in full. The fees to open an account are minimal, either 15% of the purchase price, or around $5-$15, depending upon the laws in your state.

Several years ago, Walmart stopped layaway accounts, and it was a sad day for many frugal shoppers. I figured that the concept had died for good, kind of like rotary telephones.

While talking with a sales associate at Sears last week, I found out that on November 17, 2008, Sears and Kmart will again have layaway accounts! I was thrilled because our local store had a great sale on winter coats which began on Friday. In addition, I?d found online coupons which I could use at the store to further discount the price of the coats. Even though I didn?t have the money outright to take advantage of the sale, I could use the layaway option and get the sale price. The online coupons I?d found would more than cover the layaway fees too!

This year, many families are dealing with strained budgets, lost jobs, and limited credit. As the holiday season is fast approaching, those budgets could get even more strained. You?ll have to ?do the math? for your particular situation, but a layaway account could help you to manage your holiday expenses.

Have you ever had a layaway account? Will you be using layaway this holiday season when purchasing toys for your family?

You Could Win Gifts From Gymboree’s Celebrity baby Shower

Enjoy an inside peek at our special Gymboree baby shower for celebirty Elisabth Rohm, of “Law & Order” fame.

From clothing and toys to Gymboree classes, we have everything you need to welcome home a Brand New Baby. Enter online for a chance to winall the gifts Elisabeth received and more!

Click here to Enter to Win!

Do you remember a time when households had to borrow a camera from a neighbor or an aunt just so the latest addition to the family will have his picture taken? And do you remember a time when pictures are taken only during special occasions like birthdays and the Holidays (you know, those classic poses behind a birthday cake or in front of a Christmas tree?).

Well, in this digital age, that time is no more. Even cellphones can capture a baby’s everyday smiles now. And babies nowadays have hundreds of pictures taken even before they reach the age of one.

So what to do with these pictures?

Well, aside from uploading them to the internet to share with friends and family from afar, or posting printed copies on your ref, bulletin board, door, or bedroom wall, you can also use them for personalized souvenirs and giveaways for special occasions.

Babies Online’s Personalized Gifts section offers so many ways. First, there is the tie-up with Clark Color where registered members can get 15% discount on photo gifts. Now you can paste that sweet face on mugs, teddy bear shirts, buttons and many more. Choose a really great picture and have it printed as a mouse pad, which all your friends are sure to use. For my son’s christening, I had his picture printed on a mug and asked the recipients (via a note inside the mug) to use the mug as a coin-tainer for loose change.

Other personalized gifts offered by Babies Online include Personalized Books and Music CDs. These are sure to tickle your baby pink to hear his or her name read or sung out loud!

And then there’s my personal favorite, The Birthday Chronicles is a must for every scrapbook and would be a brilliant giveaway for christenings and dedications. It would also be lovely to have it framed and every child you have to have one. It’s the best easy reference for how the world was like when you were born. It’s even a perfect birth announcement.

Sure, you can still give cupcakes and pies or knitted and cross-stitched somethings. I’m just saying that you might want to maximize the photos you have painstakingly taken (and with babies, it sure is not always easy to get them looking at the camera!). And there really is so many ways now to personalize gifts, it’s crazy.

I vaguely remember my baby shower ? I was a bloated exhausted seven months pregnant and the thought of a room full of my husbands crazy French relatives, and my own family made me long for the couch, a Snickers, and some maternity sweatpants….

But I suffered through it. I had spent hours pouring over baby stuff from Target and made a fantastic (if I don’t say so myself) registry of top notch baby chairs, swings, and polka dot swaddlers. I will be honest ? I’m an opinionated young mom who believes in ?stupid stuff? girls don’t need to wear pink in order to diffuse future gender issues….My list was a colorful array of lemony yellows, and deep forest greens. At my baby shower the only item I got that I requested was a first aid kit. Sitting in the center of a restaurant surrounded by pink frilly nightgowns I wanted to sob. So, from a post-pregnant-hormonal-current mom to the go-er of a baby shower….here are the top ten items you can get someone who’s full of baby:

1. Diapers and wipes. I know I know you were probably thinking along the lines of an elaborate ?going home form hospital? gown but lets face it: all babies do is poop and pee. Diapers are expensive and a new mom can’t get enough…the thought of a nursery chock full of supplies is comforting for a new mom who’s going to want to spend what little free time she has napping, not cruising the baby isle of Shop rite.
2. Get a diaper genie, for said diapers and wipes. If you wanna be really cute get a 100 pack of Pampers for newborns, and the genie. It’s a god-send!A nice safe, powder fresh place to store dirty diapers.
3. Gift cards (I know I know, I need to get the boring stuff out of the way) Once said diapers run out and the mom to be (who may or may not be nursing or pumping or formula feeding) will need baby stuff. Baby stuff can get expensive and there’s nothing more satisfying than realizing you have a $50 gift card to Babies R Us so you won’t need to shell out your own money.
4. Onesies. Remember when I mentioned poop and pee? Well, I forget drool, vomit, and boogers. New moms sometimes swoon at the idea of dresses, and little sailor outfits for their newborns but the truth is we are often too exhausted to deal with anything less than a piece of cotton that has three buttons. And when you end up changing said newborn five or five hundred times per day it’s nice to have an endless supply of onesies around.
5. A month’s worth of pick up laundry service. This will be the best gift ever, I can promise you.
6. If you’re the DIY type why don’t you make a coupon book, similar to the kind you might have made your parents when you were too little to have a real job, and real money to buy them gifts? Coupons that say ?4 hrs babysitting while you sleep in? or ?two meals cooked by yours truly…?
7. Bibs. Hundreds and millions of bibs…pre-baby I had a nice stack of about thirty in my linen closet and now I’m lucky if I can find one before I force feed my daughter rice cereal. There is is parallel universe where all the bibs end up, floating around.
8. A breast pump. I know this tends to cater to the boob-mom but even the worst kind of boob-mom sometimes needs a break. Maybe she wants to go out for dinner, maybe she wants to sleep through the night? She’ll need to pump, and pumping is expensive. Chip in, or rent the woman a breast pump! You can also scour Ebay and Craigslist for them.
9. Subscriptions to mom-magazines. You’d never guess, but there are lots of fun friendly magazines that make the (sometimes) dull monotonous days of mommy-hood go buy. My two personal favorites? Cookie and Wondertime. Steer clear of Baby Couture unless your mom-to-be is materialistic and the type to chuckle at six year old girls looking like mini Kate Moses.
10. The baby Bjorn baby chair. It’s pricey, but there’s a reason…it’s a miracle worker. It’s pretty basic (red or black gingham I believe) and has wooden toys once baby becomes interested and develops that fun thing called hand eye coordination. The little one can relax, or once he’s ready sit propped up to view the world. While being a mini voyeur he can twirl the wooden bears or suck on them, while mom does what she needs to do.

I hope I helped at least one person. One person with a sense of humor and the understanding that the basics in baby-buying are important

I have found my favorite online company for natural mom and baby care products!
Earthmamaangelbaby.com has an amazing selection of products to pamper
mom-just in time for Valentine’s Day. It offers organic treatments to care for
all of those unpleasant pregnancy, labor and post-labor symptoms.

There is a morning wellness tea, to soothe the queasiness which is often
present during the first trimester, heartburn tea, and 3rd trimester tea,
specifically formulated to tone the uterus and prepare for baby’s birthday.

You’ll also find bottom balm to treat mom’s sore bottom after delivery,
stretch oil to prevent and treat stretch marks, soothing treatment for those
lovely post-partum hemorrhoids, cream for swollen feet and much more.

Also featured are natural formulas for breast feeding mothers, including
creams to treat sore, swollen breasts and cracked nipples, a formula to help
stimulate milk production and a formula to help soothe breasts during a
reduction in milk supply and the weaning process.

The site also features CDs to help relax moms during pregnancy and labor.

For baby, you’ll find a nice selection of lotions, shampoo, baby wash, diaper
ointment and more. There is a baby care kit which makes a great gift!

Best of all, everything is 100% natural! I will soon be trying out some of
these wonderful products, myself.

So we’ve finally gotten all of our Christmas decorations packed away and managed to stuff the last of our used wrapping paper and gift boxes into the recycle bin. But there’s no time to relax, because no sooner has the holiday season ended than birthday season has arrived. My son turns 4 in two weeks, followed by our daughter’s first just two weeks after that.

My to-do list is still packed, but looks a little different: swap baking Christmas cookies for ordering birthday cake; buy gift bags adorned with construction trucks or flowers, instead of Santa or snowmen; and send out birthday invites instead of Christmas cards.

The one constant on both lists is buying gifts for the kids, which is always tricky business when they’ve already gotten loads of stuff over the holidays. We tend to be low-key on gift buying for the birthdays (and store extra gifts from grandparents to break out during the summer) but the question of what to buy is even more complicated this year. I’ve noticed a very interesting thing with the Christmas loot: My son is playing with my baby daughter’s Little People playhouse, while she is checking out his police car and Screaming Monkey. My husband and I worked hard this year to get our daughter some more “girly” things, just so she’d have something that wasn’t a hand-me-down from her brother in which construction trucks, trains or cars didn’t figure prominently. Guess we didn’t have to worry about that after all. And because he’s “big brother” he likes to play with everything that belongs to our daughter, maybe because it reinforces that he’s “in charge.” Maybe we’ll get them a joint birthday gift of a toy dump truck filled with stuffed animals and dolls, and then they’re both happy.

Is there a “battle of the sexes” when it comes to your playroom, or are a lot of your toys gender-free?

Santa Claus used Chad McMaster to deliver the gift of a liver transplant to his grandmother Patricia Middleton. She suffered with chronic liver disease for many years before finally needing the transplant. According to his grandmother, Chad was a perfect match out of all of the family members who volunteered to be donors.

During the operation, 55 percent of his liver was removed. The procedure took place in early December and Patricia will spend the winter adapting to the new organ.

The liver is the second most transplanted major organ. The kidney is the first. There are many criteria used to determine who is eligible to receive a liver transplant, but those with a status 1 ranking are at the top of the list. These are patients who have a life expectancy of less than 7 days if they do not receive the transplant. Currently, the success rate is over 95 percent for these procedures and there are about 17,000 people on the waiting list.

Source: Foxnews

Gift Ideas For The Holidays, Birthdays and More!

Now that you are a parent you might find it harder to shop for friends and relatives throughout the year whether there is a birthday coming up, or the busy holiday season. Maybe after your first baby it was still easy, but now that you are on baby two, three or more you are finding it hard to simply find time for yourself, much less time to shop for others. Unfortunately, just because you don’t have time, it doesn’t mean that the holidays will wait. That brings up the question, how do you spend the least amount of time and get the most quality out of your gift purchases once you have little ones at home you are taking care of?

Pictures

Photographs of your child, your children, or your whole family are great gifts for family and friends. Many members of the family, like grandparents, will be happy with ONLY receiving a picture of their grandkids. You can buy inexpensive picture packages at places like Sears and Target, or take your own pictures and go to Clark Photos to print out the quantity and sizes that you want.

Mugs, Calendars and More!

Expanding a bit on the “photography” theme you can have items made to give as gifts with your favorite picture on them. Family members will love a calendar that has a new picture of their grandchild, niece or nephew on it every time they turn the page. A mouse pad would be a great gift for the family computer guru or for dad to take to the office with him. These items can all be bought online and shipped to your house, sometimes already gift wrapped making your job that much easier.

Gift Cards

Pictures aren’t the only great holiday gift! Who doesn’t like a gift card allowing them to eat out, or go to their favorite store and buy whatever they want. If you have a set amount you are going to spend on each family member, or household, you can go down to the mall, stop in one store and buy gift cards for everyone from that store. Or you can go to a nearby restaurant and buy a gift card from there, treating your family to a night out, and the wives to a night off at the same time.

Scam Alert! Some clever thieves have figured out that they can take gift cards off of store racks and copy down the serial numbers. Days later, they check to see if it’s been purchased, and if yes, will go on a shopping spree from the store’s website. By the time Christmas rolls around, all the money has already been spent. To avoid this, always make sure that all or part of the identification number is hidden behind a “scratch off” (similar to a lottery ticket) so a would-be thief isn’t able to copy the information from the gift card.

Lottery Tickets

One thing that few people think of, but that is really a good idea and can be a lot of fun is scratch off lottery tickets given as gifts. My uncle used to buy everyone 5-10 scratch off lottery tickets for Christmas. If you won on your ticket you could either give it back to him and he would give you another one, or you could keep it and cash it in. As kids it was fun to scratch these off, even if you seldom won. However, occasionally someone would win $1 on a ticket, “sell” it back to my uncle for another ticket, where they would scratch and win as much as $100. Even though we knew what we were getting for Christmas from him, the element of surprise and excitement was always there.

Home Baked Goods

Who doesn’t like homemade cookies and pies? Homemade fudge, with and without nuts is always a big hit as well! For those that are low on money, or don’t have the time to run around outside of the house picking up presents, a good shopping list, successful grocery store run, and good time management skills can come in handy when it comes time to give someone a gift. Homemade goodies can be made throughout the day at your leisure, during nap times and after your baby goes to bed at night. Many items, like cookies, can be made weeks in advance and frozen till the big day, giving you a lot of time to get ready for the holidays.

Just because you have a new baby doesn’t mean that you have to forget about the holidays or not give gifts because of lack of time. With all the internet, pictures, gift cards and one stop shops that are available to consumers today, you can still have a great and successful holiday season and impress your loved ones with your gift ideas. Most families are more concerned with the quality and meaning behind a gift than they are the cost of a gift, making even the inexpensive choices some of the best ideas and most loved gifts of the year.