NYC Family Holiday Traditions

Two of our favorite family activities for the holidays are going to see Santa at Macy’s and our annual tree trimming party.

While we hear there are other places to see the man in red, we’ve been going to Macy’s since before Andy could swallow solid food. Usually we go closer to Christmas (and end up waiting in line for an hour or more), but this year we went Black Friday. We figured the day after Thanksgiving would present a sea of out-of-towners seeking their own Macy’s moment, but the elevators ended up being more crowded than Santaland. Within 20 minutes of reaching the 8th floor, the boys were whispering in Santa’s ear. Talk about a miracle on 34th Street.

Another tradition we, as the token gentiles in our building, have fallen into is our annual tree trimming party. As with many Christmas-celebrating families, our kids view decorating the tree with about as much enthusiasm as practicing cursive. Thank God for our Jewish neighbors. While they determine the perfect placement for baby toothbrushes and other homemade ornaments, we Methodists are onto more important tasks.

For me, that’s quality control of the eggnog. For Neil, it’s grating fresh ginger for his homemade cookies. And the boys, well, they view their primary job as sucking up frosting and gumdrops from the otherwise denuded the gingerbread house we bought at Costco.

As for the favorite tradition of this “slacker mom”—eating Thanksgiving dinner out. After three years of having a clean kitchen all day Thursday, I’m not sure why anyone cooks. Besides, this is the opportunity to force the boys to ditch the tennis shoes, wear their blazers and practice the manners they’ve been trying to ignore for the past 12 months.

Hillary Chura is a Manhattan reporter, writer, and cultivator of sentimental memorabilia she recycles into Christmas tree ornaments. She blogs about family finance for New York Family and can be found on Twitter @hillarychura.

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Italian Fun for Kids and Teens! Learning a new language isn&rsquo;t just fun&mdash;it&rsquo;s also great for the brain! Did you know that it can help develop essential skills for life? Studies show that learning a second language at a young age can improve problem-solving, critical thinking, and listening abilities, while boosting memory, focus, and multitasking skills. Children who are fluent in multiple languages also demonstrate increased creativity and mental flexibility. At Collina Italiana, we make learning fun with stories, games, activities, and conversation. Each class blends art, storytelling, singing, and dancing to keep kids engaged. For older children, our classes focus on grammar and vocabulary, providing the tools they need to learn and practice Italian in a small group setting, all while having fun with a variety of resources. Kids love exploring the stories behind our cultural traditions, adding a rich, hands-on experience to their language learning journey. &nbsp; &nbsp;

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