TWU
Home > Marketing
& Communication > next link > next link
TWU Professor
Offers Tips On Making Holidays Less Commercial
Holiday Feature
Story
To download
this story as a Word file, click
here.
DENTON —
Christmas decorations show up in stores before Labor Day.
Children demand the latest “it” gift — the
one that “all the other kids” will get this year
— while last year’s “it” gift sits
forgotten in the closet.
Parents often find
themselves caught up in the frenzy of the finding all the
right gifts, even as they may wish for more significance to
the season.
Dr. Glen Jennings,
professor of family sciences at Texas Woman’s University,
said it’s important to involve the whole family in talking
about the real meaning of the holidays, whether it be Thanksgiving,
Christmas, Hanukkah or Kwanzaa. Families also need to establish
their own way of celebrating the holidays and develop their
own traditions.
“Traditions
anchor us; they root us,” he said.
Jennings said families
could choose a theme for the holidays, then make decorations
and perhaps even choose gifts based on that theme. The holidays
also could be an opportunity for families to celebrate their
ethnic heritage or learn more about other cultures, he said.
Preparing foods and decorations connected to those cultures
could become a fun family tradition as well as a learning
experience.
Jennings said holidays
should be a time of celebration and fun, with less emphasis
on the commercial aspects and more focus on spending time
together.
It’s often
the simple things that bring meaning to the holidays, he said.
Playing games together, having a movie night or singing around
the piano can make lasting memories. Choosing a Christmas
tree is a family activity that can bring the joy of doing
things together, he said.
Families also could
connect the holiday seasons to nature by camping, hiking or
even having snowball fights. Rather than go to the after-Christmas
sales, Jennings said, families could plan a picnic or some
other activity that would bring them together.
“It’s
togetherness that matters during the holidays,” he said.
“Commercialism tends to erode the meaning.”
###
For Further
Information Contact:
Karen Treat
Senior Copywriter
Tel: (940) 898-3456
e-mail: ktreat@twu.edu
|
