It was just yesterday that my tween was screaming as I tried to get a picture with her and Santa.  Then she loved him and believed in him and wanted to take pictures, write letters and leave cookies.  Now, well, we have to keep her silent as not to ruin her younger siblings magical beliefs.

It was last year that she questioned his existence.  Then it happened.  I messed up.  I wrapped “Santa’s” gift with the same paper as another gift from us.  The result of an innocent mistake was a confirmation she had long been waiting for.

Many kids start questioning the belief of Santa around 8 years old.  Then more and more children start making fun of others who still believe.  My daughter questioned for a year or so but held out for the magic in her heart.  Then, she was too observant and had too many unanswered questions about the validity of the “North Pole” and people realistically being able to sustain life in the temperatures and environment.  Logic prevailed.

We have been trying to have her keep the silence and she has humored us by slyly smiling as phone calls to Santa (grandpa) are made, letters are written, cookies are made to be left, etc.  She has asked us why we should “deceive” my son with the belief.  Our youngest is still too young to believe yet.  We simply said, “don’t shatter others’ beliefs, we still believe.”

This discovery also led to all the other “magical” holiday fairies’ validity.  Hence, I get handed a tooth and asked for the “fairy money.”  To which I reply, “there is no payment beyond disbelief.”    The sad reality of my growing tween!

Has your tween discovered “Santa?”  How and when do you manage our tween with their questioning minds?

We celebrated Christmas early this year with my family in Florida.  We have found that the holidays are the holidays when we are all together, regardless of the actual date.  We will celebrate our own family Christmas here in North Carolina on the 25th.

For Christmas, Lincoln’s Grandaddy gifted him with his very first set of golf clubs.  To say Lincoln was excited was a HUGE understatement.  The gift was so thoughtful and kind.  Lincoln has spent hours upon hours swinging his clubs outside, getting a good feel for them and just smiling!!  I guess you could say it was a pretty special moment.  I’m sure someday Lincoln will learn to love golf as much as his Dad.  He will continue to practice, improve and will spend many, many hours out on the golf course with friends and family.

Those clubs will serve Lincoln until he grows out of them.  Then they will be passed down to his little cousin who will then grow out of them and pass them down again.  I am so grateful for the love of family Lincoln enjoys and is blessed with in his life.  I am grateful for his Grandaddy who takes so much time to make happy memories with him.

There truly is something so special about the love of family.  When all else fails, we will ALWAYS be supported and surrounded by family who loves us!!

To others, they may just look like a little set of golf clubs, but to me and my tween, they represent so much more…the love of FAMILY!!!

I love holiday’s – I think they add so much spice to life!

I especially love Halloween!  It is one of my favorite holidays.  I don’t know what I love most, the candy corn, bobbing for apples, dressing up, the colors, the creativity…..I could go on!!

I have been pretty on the ball this year with getting my Halloween decor up and having our home super festive!  But, there is still lots to do!!

I have a neighbor who makes Halloween SO FUN for my tween.  I will post about him in a future Mommy Talk blog!

Here are some of the things I still need to get done before that frightful October 31st!!!!

- Get costumes together.  We are dressing up like a cowboy family this year, I have lot’ s of costumes to lasso together (courtesy laugh please).

- Plan a little Halloween party for the kiddos and a few of their friends.

- Buy lots of Halloween candy for the tricker -treaters – I don’t want to be running out to buy it at the last minute.

- Convince Onslow County to celebrate Halloween on SATURDAY since Sunday is just not the appropriate day to celebrate Halloween!!

- Get a fun ‘couple’ costume together for an ADULT ONLY Halloween party we will be attending.

- Come up with a spooky menu for the week before Halloween…lots of pumpkin stew, chilling root beer and spooky appetizers.

- Just enjoy all the fun that goes along with such a creative holiday!!

What is on your Halloween ‘to do’ list??

I love traditions!  I love the traditions I had as a kid and I adore making new family traditions for my own children. I think traditions give my kids something to look forward to, a sense of security and a devotion towards family.  As a mom, I have made it one of my top priorities to make as many fun and happy traditions for our family.

Over the past 10 years, my husband and I have pulled some traditions from our own families and created some new traditions of our own. One of my favorite traditions is on the 4th of July.  We make a small cake to celebrate the USA’s birthday.  It is red white and blue.  We top it with sparkler candles and sing Happy Birthday to America.  The kids love it and I hope it helps them remember the real reason we celebrate the 4th of July.

These are a few other traditions we have started as a family over the years-

- For Valentine’s Day, we have a special dinner and a gift has been wrapped especially for each person and is opened before the meal. 

- On our children’s birthdays, the birthday fairy leaves a wrapped present by the end of their bed so they have something to open as soon as they wake up.

- For Christmas, we have a traditional Christmas Eve dinner (ham, mashed potatoes, broccoli bake and cornbread cookies), open new pajamas, read about Christ’s birth in the Bible and act it out, leave cookies for Santa and go to bed.

- For Christmas, we have a notebook we have compiled of drawings from ourselves and the children about our favorite Christmas moment.  Someday that notebook will be burst with drawings when our kids are grown.

What are some of your favorite traditions you have with your family?

My husband is a total college football junkie!  And so it is, our son has also become a college football junkie, too!!  I used to fight it tooth and nail.  I always have far too much to do then to sit for FOUR HOURS and watch a football game.  It used to drive me crazy, there was no way I was going to sit and watch football with my boys!!  After many, many years,  I figured out that my football junkies were never going to change!!  So, I pulled up my bootstraps and decided if I had to sit and watch these games, then I was going to make it fun for ME and my daughters, too!!

The result: I now LOVE football along with my tween and husband.  We make it a family affair (don’t get me wrong I only watch ONE team…..that is where I draw the line.)  I make the games super special by making lots of fun football treats, inviting friends over and having the kids help me with each detail!!

It is amazing to me that by changing my attitude, I have developed a fun family tradition that will continue many generations.  I love college football (The Florida Gators….chomp chomp) and love that it is a family activity now.

Moral of the story: Even though our interests might be different then our tween’s, we can make the choice to make ourselves a little uncomfortable and embrace the things they love!!  Whatever it may be, whether its bike riding, chess, wrestling, weight lifting, reading or even history.  Be a part of your tweens life by supporting and embracing their interetsts.   GO GATORS!!

What activity does your tween love that you might consider embracing?