How wonderful it is to spend Christmas with your family! You all decorate the Christmas tree together with lots of ornaments and lights. The children write letters to Santa Claus, while Dad struggles to light the fireplace. Mom makes warm cookies and the whole house smells delicious! Then you all take a walk together in the city where it is decorated with lots of lights and beautiful, towering Christmas trees. This way, the children have really gotten into the Christmas spirit!
“Christmas for children is the best day of the year and the most magical time of the year. They look forward to it with impatience, because they don’t have school, because they wait for the gifts that Santa Claus will bring them, because of the special decorations we make at home and especially in the city. For all these reasons, Christmas for children is the best time of the year,” psychologist Chrysoula Mavraki tells us.
Armed with...Beautiful Memories!!!
Parents and… consumption
“Parents approach Christmas precisely with the awareness that it is an amazing day for children and they try to create a program for them that includes activities. They buy them lots of gifts and do everything they can for their children. The bad thing is that they do everything they can for their children within a consumerist mindset. In other words, they believe that with lots of gifts, lots of games, lots of outings… they have made their children experience a wonderful Christmas,” the psychologist points out.
"The message of Christmas is love, philanthropy (loving others), companionship and giving. We should see Christmas as a time when we will stay at home more, be more relaxed, be able to play meaningfully and communicate with children, listen to them and talk to them."
"But first, let's listen to them, because all the rest of the time we don't hear them in the rush from here... to there, from school to daycare, from daycare to another daycare. It's not easy to listen to our children, nor to discuss with them. We need to show them that the spirit of Christmas is the spirit of giving and not just the spirit of consuming and demanding gifts."
Some tips!
-Make gifts with your children. Cards, handmade crafts, sweets... Wrap them beautifully and give them to loved ones.
-Don't spend money thoughtlessly on gifts that anyone can find in any store.
"Thus, we accustom the child to a spirit that does not have consumption in it, but passion, a personal stamp, caring. He learns that a gift is love and thought. Not that a gift is an obligation and if you don't give me a gift or a great gift, you are not a good dad, godfather, Santa Claus," emphasizes the psychologist.
-Visit grandparents, godparents, and all the people you see little of in everyday life.
-Take beautiful walks so that they can fill their eyes and ears with beautiful sights and beautiful sounds.
-Get plenty of rest, take a nap... because this is the spirit of the days and not the spirit of fatigue, staying up late, eating too much, and spending too much.
Finally... CAN'T WE BECOME CHILDREN AGAIN THIS CHRISTMAS WITH OUR CHILDREN?
by Angeliki Christopoulou
With the collaboration of psychologist Chrysoula Mavraki
English 
Greek