I didn't grow up attending large family gatherings around the holidays. Some years, when it was just the three of us, we'd take a mini vacation and celebrate in unique and non-traditional ways. The very first trip my husband and I took together was to visit his family for Thanksgiving. After a long weekend filled with extended family, Southern cooking, and football, I realized that I wanted the holidays to be special, particularly when children entered the mix.

It's very easy to get caught up in the busyness of the holidays. My husband and I vow each year to create unique, memorable experiences for our children, while instilling within them the true reason behind each season.

Pause...Reflect... What do you remember about the holidays as a child? What message do you want to convey to your children about the season? Think about how you can incorporate some of the magic you felt into the present day. Perhaps it was a special place, a favorite meal, a cherished song... Each year, my husband and I combine some of our best-loved memories with new inspirations for a truly memorable season.

Intermix old and new traditions. Growing up, my mom and I used to shop the day after Thanksgiving. My father would join us at the movies when we'd worn ourselves out. We plan to continue these two traditions with our family, along with some new ones we've introduced, like decorating Gingerbread Houses. Incorporating family traditions bridges generations and families. Talk to grandparents about how they celebrated the holidays throughout their seasons of life. Glean inspiration from family members to start your own traditions.  Ask family members, including children, to describe one tradition they'd like to celebrate each year.  Some of my favorite traditions include going around the table to state what each family member was thankful for at Thanksgiving and picking out gift exchange partners for Christmas.

Engage your senses. So many of my childhood memories of the holidays are tied to sights, sounds, and smells.  I still remember waking up to the smell of rice pilaf on Thanksgiving Day and sipping eggnog while decorating the tree at Christmas.  While I am not opposed to the convenience of prepared meals, I believe that the smell and taste of a home-cooked holiday meal creates warmth, promotes togetherness, and bonds families during the holidays.  Brew cinnamon in the kitchen...decorate the family Christmas tree with ornaments you've created together...involve children in the process of cooking and baking holiday dishes. 

Stroll off the beaten path. I will forever remember the year my parents and I spent Thanksgiving in San Francisco. We ate seafood in place of turkey and stuffing and toured Alcatraz instead of watching football. While I believe that there is value in upholding traditions, some of my most memorable childhood experiences were those that were unconventional, creative, and outside the box. Take a staycation... eat a nontraditional meal...engage in new and exciting activities.

Document, Photograph, and Record Memories. In my children's three short years of life, specific moments are starting to blur. Despite the fact that I take a ton of photos and videos of my children, there are moments I've failed to capture. Commit to creating photobooks, scrapbooks, photo montages, or videos of your annual holiday celebrations to look back on as time passes. Whether it's taking a yearly family photo or writing a seasonal family newsletter, years from now you'll cherish the ability to relive those memories you created.

This holiday season, take time to reflect on what's important to you as you celebrate with your family.  With a little thought and creativity, you can create a lifetime of memories....

By guest blogger Caryn Bailey at RockinMama

My daughter never attached herself to anything like a pacifier or a blankie but my son completely loves his blankie. It’s not even a blankie really; it’s a receiving blanket, the kind you can purchase about six of in a single package. He’s never been picky about color but he takes it everywhere and we count on it for emergencies, but is it time to say good bye?

I’ve been talking to friends and other experts on how to help your child say goodbye to their luvie, snuggie or pacifier and these are a few of the things I learned.

Weaning! Making your child go all day long without something is a great way to start. Use distractions during the day whenever they ask for it. Diverting a child’s attention is the best way to discipline and get them away from tears. So take the day time first then move to night time. Of course, you can always just go cold turkey and listen to the tears for a few days.

The Fairy! Many families take this approach. Tell your child a story about the pacifier fairy that comes and collects pacifiers. Explain to them that they are big boy or girl now and that the pacifier fairy takes the pacifiers on to other children that need them and in exchange the pacifier fairy will bring them a special prize. They have to actually make the decision to give up their luvie in exchange for a treat. You know what motivates your child.

The Bed! This was a new idea that I had never heard of before. You and your child should sit down together and make a little bed for your child’s luvie or pacifier. Make the bed like a box so you can close it or cover it with a blanket, letting your child decorate it completely. As you are decorating and building the box explain to them what the box is for. Then at bed time, tell them it’s time to put their luvie to bed. They may not do it the first night, and it’s not the answer for everyone, but it does work. They get to tuck in their luvie into its own bed.

By guest blogger  Louise Bishop, MomStart

By Whitney from RookieMoms.com

When Henry Ford launched his automobile into the world, he had never even heard of television.  Now, minivans come equipped with them.

Back when the current generation of parents were themselves children, and Sesame Street was part of the average American media diet, car trips were full of Are we there yets and Slug bug YELLOW! punches.  Now, children can immerse themselves in a Pixar video and look out the car window for the first time just in time for the car to roll into the LEGOland parking lot.  Siblings may speak less than five words to each other during a two-hour ride.

Is this healthy?

Isn’t gazing out the window and learning the lay of your state’s land part of one’s basic education? How about road trip games? That’s quality family time. And being bored? Experts now claim it’s good for children.

On the other hand, when momma ain’t happy, nobody’s happy, or so says the frequently quoted adage. So, the possibility of arriving at a destination without enduring hours of bickering and whining is a tremendous upside to TV in the car.

So, I vote YES to TV in the car. A thousand times yes. I do buy the “being bored is good for kids” argument, but not to the extent that I might suffer for it on a precious vacation day.

Since our car did not come with an embedded DVD player, we attach a portable one to the back of the front seats on rides that exceed one hour. It has two screens so both kids can see the same movie without craning their necks.  When we arrive at our destination, we remove the screens to avoid the inevitable requests for movies as we drive from a hotel to a nearby restaurant. (To purchase one like this, search for a “dual screen portable DVD player” on your favorite online store.)

On which side of this debate do you land?

And by the way, you parents who are pretending that handing your kid an iPhone is somehow different than a DVD player, I beg to differ. Unless they are using the camera for documentary purposes, it is unlikely that iPhone users are enjoying the landscape of our great nation.

Whitney Moss is the co-founder of RookieMoms.com along with her partner Heather Flett. They are also the authors of The Rookie Mom’s Handbook: 250 activities to do with (and without!) your baby.

I was still working when I was pregnant with my first child.  As you all know, people can't pass up giving a pregnant woman advice of some sort.  Along with all of the horrible stories and advice that I heard, I was also told over and over again to cherish every second because it goes too fast.  I couldn't agree more.

 
I feel like I was living my life in play mode before my kids were born, but after they arrived life switched to fast forward.  I'm not sure how, but I blinked and my baby was 3 and I had another 1 year old.  I'm realizing now more than ever that I'm beginning to forget things.  My husband reminded me the other day how we used to stand outside of my son's door in the mornings and call his name while he giggled in his crib.  I had completely forgotten those special moments.  I immediately went to write it down in his baby book so I could look at that and not forget.
 
I did a great job of capturing our son on video at least once a week doing different things that I felt needed to be recorded.  I now find myself watching those with an occasional tear running down my cheek because he's no longer a baby.  I admit that I am guilty of not recording our second child as much because I was trying to ta

ke care of a 2-year old and infant at the same time.  When she was about a month old I realized I didn't have near as many pictures of her as I had taken of my son and vowed to start taking more.
 
I know that I would definitely regret it if I slacked off on recording as many moments as possible.  I started a blog when my first child was a year old as another way to be able to look back and read what he was doing at different times.  I've since started carrying around a camera and hand held video camera so that I could capture any cute moment.  I hope to one day have enough time to sit down and make each of them a scrap book with some of the thousands of pictures that I've taken.  Having those pictures, videos, baby books, and my blog will help trigger many memories that may have otherwise been forgotten.   My sole advice to pregnant women is that it all goes way too fast and they only have one chance to capture as many of those memories as possible.

By guestblogger Two of a kind working on a full house