How to Celebrate ANYTHING!!!!!

Until-further-notice-celebrate-everything

This summer, I made a promise that when my Traditions page on Facebook hit 1,000 fans, I would select someone to win a Celebration in a Box. Inside this box, I said, would be a bunch of tools and resources that would help that person and her/his family celebrate pretty much whatever came up in their lives.

I also promised to blog about the Celebration Box, so that anybody else who is interested might consider keeping some of these supplies on hand, and trying out some of my ideas.

My philosophy of celebrating is that you want to excite as many of the 5 senses as you possibly can. You want decorations: fun, thematic things to look at. And you want delicious fitting food to eat. But you also want sounds — noise, music, clapping, singing, stomping — something for your ears to enjoy as well. Smells might come from candles, or the food. And touching implies that your celebration will be active, not just people sitting around, but people dancing, jumping, joking, laughing, blowing bubbles and playing games. All the items I’ve included fit into these five sense categories, and when you plan a ritual or celebration, you might want to think about them too.

rsz_1celebration_box

 

Decorations: Several items here can be used to decorate for party time, including the balloons and the banner. Another good item to keep on hand is crepe paper streamers!

Making Noise: What kid doesn’t like an opportunity to make noise? One of the great things about special occasions for kids, is that it’s a rare excuse to go big and go loud, forget the “indoor voice” and break the rules about eating too much sugar. Ritual is life with italics and exclamation marks!!!! I put in some dollar store noisemakers, but it’s hard to beat a pan and a wooden spoon.

rsz_6noisemakers

Having fun: there are a million ways to have fun and you probably know some of your kids’ favorite ways to party. Here, I have included bubbles, because blowing bubbles is my go-to 30-second cure for anxiety at any age. Also, there are pinwheels here. You will likely choose a game that fits the theme of your celebration, whether a holiday, birthday, or just a “You Rock!” occasion to cheer your kid on for kicking a goal, or kicking a bad habit. One guaranteed way to have fun is to hand out quick props that instantly transform people in a goofy way, which is why I threw in a dollar-store pack of stick-on mustaches. Mustaches are cool now — below is a photo of a bride and groom wearing them! (from the Offbeat Bride blog, naturally.)

rsz_moustaches

 

 

mustaches--offbeat bride blog

 

Also included in my Celebration Box is a white paper tablecloth and two boxes of crayons, because. I mean, who ever outgrows the joy of doodling all over a paper tablecloth? Not me, that’s for sure. Again, there are various ways to do this, and craft stores sell those rolls of paper you can just pull out and tape to the bottom of your kitchen table. But you should also not neglect this idea with adults. True story: my husband’s ex was having a birthday and made a comment about being sick of adulthood or birthdays or both, and I decided to have a kid party for her. I taped white paper to the fancy dining room table, and put on crayons, and gave every person a silly hat and a goody bag — and we had the BEST time. This is what happened: everyone wound up wearing a plastic dinosaur on their nose…..

dino noses

 

Crescendo moments: at most celebrations, there is a “tada moment” when the reason for the celebration is expressed, the candles are blown out, or the one being celebrated takes a bow or makes a speech. Do it with energy, passion and pizzazz. That’s why I included a box of 60 confetti poppers (well 59, because I needed one badly) in the Celebration Box. The reason I included the star-shaped cookie cutter is so when you need to shine a spotlight on your kid, for a big birthday or an everyday accomplishment, you have a quick way to react: just cut out a brownie and stick a candle in the center (or make tomorrow’s PB&J sandwich on star-shaped bread).

images

 

Toast Like a Pro: While we’re on the topic of ta-da moments, I want to share some good advice about making effective toasts at any age. This is a good social skill to pass on, right? And little kids LOVE to clink glasses together and connect — literally and emotionally — even when they are still drinking out of sippie cups. So here is a blog post from the Wall Street Journal called “How to Give Really Good Toasts.” It’s funny because the guy is a writer for the Simpsons tv show, but I think the advice is spot-on. (Amy Nelson, the mom who won the Celebration Box, you don’t need to click on the link. I put a printout of the blog post in the box.)

Celebrate-the-new-year-with-kids-NoBiggie.net_1

 

There you have it!!! I hope this post will give you some food for thought about what celebration staples you might keep on hand, so whenever you need to celebrate something on short notice, you will be up to the task.

One more piece of advice: I’m a sucker for the tradition of “Special” plates. Some families have a special plate for the birthday boy or girl, which is fun. Others have a more generic “You are Special” plate, or one that might say “Celebrate!” on it. Maybe I love this tradition so much because of the plate my mother gave me several decades ago, after I graduated from college and headed off into the world. This plate is decorated with a smiling face, so that no matter how many meals I ended up eating at home alone as I began my career, there would always be a face smiling back at me! This is one celebration staple I’ll never be without.

rsz_happy_plate

Now, I’d love to hear from you. What are YOUR celebration staples? I’m going to put together another Celebration Box when my Facebook page hits 2,000. What should I put in next time?

Note: You can get tons more ideas about how to celebrate everything from families all over the country interviewed for my latest book. Find it on Amazon.com, at your local independent bookstore, or the library. Library Journal said this book “belongs in every child’s home.”

home_book_newtrad

Postscript: When winner Amy Nelson opened the Celebration Box with her kids, they got right into the spirit, immediately trying out the stick-on mustaches! How will you celebrate life at your house?

10655246_10204115046704092_36942472808587842_o

 

Ditch the Guilt, Pack the Joy: Heading for the Shore

     P1040117

      As someone who has researched and written about family traditions for nearly 20 years, I sometimes feel guilty that some of my own family’s rituals aren’t as gangbusters creative and spectacular as those of the people I interview. I wrote in one of my books about an extended family in Baltimore that goes on so many expeditions and holiday outings, they refurbished their own bus! Other families I know travel to one exotic vacation locale after another, boasting of arduous climbs and clever original games played along the way.

      I do love visiting countries I’ve never been to, and revisiting favorite cities like London, Paris and Rome. And I still hope to visit all the great American National Parks still on my bucket list. But I can finally now confess that my family’s very simple, humble summer visit to the Jersey Shore is a real highlight of every year. 

 images

      This year, I had an aha moment about how the simple things we do together are just as important and satisfying as splashier, more distant excursions. We don’t own a house at the beach, but we rent one of a handful of houses again and again, just a hundred yards from the beach on Long Beach Island on the quieter end of the island. The more we go, the more it means to us, and we cheer as we drive over the familiar bridge to the long, skinny island we love. 

       Gone are the days when visiting the Hamptons or the Vineyard tempted us: we got sick of the crowds and the spectacle, the sense that everybody was preening and showing off. There’s something so relaxing in visiting a seasonal place that seems stuck in the past: there are neither glitzy bars and restaurants, nor any garish fast food eateries.  There isn’t even a movie theater on the island any more, though you can trek into Beach Haven for a cool lecture on local ghost stories. 

       There’s the beach and the ocean, different and thrilling every day.

P1030220

       Posing my son’s childhood toy, a stuffed animal alligator named Gus, for silly photos — he loves the beach (and drinking beer.)

P1040049

        And the search for that day’s fresh food, whether it’s just-caught fish or perfect pasta from the local Italian market.

P1040077_2

        And our books and games and crafts.

 rsz_shells

        Just the sheer joy of hanging out. At liberty to look and breathe and be.

 

rsz_p1000999

             

 

 rsz_sand_creature

 

I love my ritual of going to the local arts foundation and taking a Pilates or yoga class on the roof before breakfast. I love my first cup of coffee while I pick up the New York Times, and see all the other relaxed families, riding bikes or walking or jogging on the main drag. 

rsz_1pilates

      Just picking out my special pile of books before we leave is a joy. I pack a mix of old classics I haven’t yet read with brand new books, mostly fiction, and we always go at least once a week to the small but excellent local bookstore because we want her to be in business forever. (Of course I always pack hand-sewing or quilting projects.)

       When my son was younger, our summer rituals were different: for some years, we went to the Smuggler’s Notch family resort in Stowe, Vermont. We would scramble up and down the hills to our little apartment unit, explore the creeks and woods, and sign up for fun outings like a hike with llamas that included an ice cream break. Every year, we ate at the same little diner, Dunn’s, which had gargantuan farm-style breakfasts. At the end of the week, the same goofy but skilled magician would entertain the families in a green field. We called the pools with all the extra slides and waterfalls the “Special Effects Pools,” and our son loved them. 

      Now that my son is in college and I look back at all our summers, I think these relatively simple but repeated vacations are among the most memorable and beloved rituals that I helped shape for my small tribe. 

      Wherever you go with your family this summer, don’t beat yourself up that it isn’t grander or farther away. Allow yourself to relish that lovely slow time as you unplug and reconnect. It is more than enough: it’s a feast of current joy and treasured memory.

 P1050011      

 

  

Prayer Flag Blog Hop: Fresh Ideas for an Age-Old Tradition

 
8fa51
 
 Vivika Hansen DeNegre, editor of Quilting Arts magazine, said she asked me to participate in this week’s Prayer Flag Blog Hop because of my unusual combination of skills: as both an expert in quilting and traditions, she thought I might have something fresh to add to the ongoing conversation.
 
Crafters, sewers and quilters looking for small but worthwhile projects have been gravitating to making banners inspired by the tradition of prayer flags. These flags have a rich history and tradition and are made to express the maker’s prayerful pleas for a better, more peaceful world. Even creating small flags on strings using contemporary embellishments can tap into some of those feelings of thankfulness and awe. Tibetan prayer flags, simply made and decorated with sacred colors and symbols, are meant to better all living things as the breeze lifts them. But a string of indoor flags can also express love and devotion.
 
 
10db721b61befab6a26868f761780d11
 
  When my packet came in the mail from Quilting Arts with the Moda Home Made banner set, the timing was perfect. I was about to fly to St. Louis to help my sister after back surgery, and it seemed perfect to make my flags express a prayer for her healing. I would be staying at her home for a week without access to my sewing machine, stash or other sewing supplies, and here was the perfect portable and meaningful craft project. 
 
At first, I planned to use bright, spring colors to make it cheerful. But once I got the idea of using the bold Red Cross symbol, I decided it would work best in just red and white. And that made packing easy. I grabbed some bright red prints, some white fabric, and a few tokens to stitch on, like a guardian angel charm. Along with a pincushion, thread and scissors. There was no time to explore local quilt shops while I was in the area to add more, but I did find a packet of red buttons at WalMart, while buying groceries.  (And, I did have to buy an IRON at WalMart, because my sister didn’t own this basic quilting tool.)
 
rsz_flags_in_progress
 I thoroughly enjoyed working on this project, my first attempt at making prayer flags. This kit was wonderful because the size of the individual pennants gave me enough room to play with. It was the buttons on the banner that inspired me to add more buttons still as a design theme. And the buttons allow one to play around with the order of the individual flags as well. Also, there are 8 pennants in the set, but since they are only attached by buttons, you can choose how many you want: my design concept took seven.
 
 rsz_tracy_wflags
 
 
 My sister — shown here with her charming daughter Jenn– was thrilled by the results, and happy to have these healing wishes shine upon her daily, even after I left to come home to Princeton. 
 
rsz_flags_in_tracy_house
 
  Now I’m eager to play with some more styles and sizes of prayer flags, and will dig into all the inspiration found in Interweave’s ebook on Prayer Flags: the readers of Quilting Arts magazine provided more than 550 miniature flags and construction ideas for this special publication. Go here to order just the eBook from Interweave or the eBook and Moda banner kit. 
 
I can envision making strings of flags for many occasions, including major milestones and accomplishments, and to send love and prayers to my nearest and dearest, whether I can bring them personally or not. And, I am seriously considering finding some fabric I could print on and leave outside, in my garden. I want to research the Tibetan and other traditions for using these objects respectfully. I feel like I’ve discovered a whole new medium, both in my crafting work, and as a maker of tradition. 
 
By the way, I will be giving away a banner kit in the April issue of Quilt Journalist Tells All.
 
Thanks, Vivika!!
 
 prayerflags
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Want more inspiration? Visit The Prayer Flag Project blog, to learn more about this movement, upload your own prayer flags, or just be inspired and uplifted by the flags of others.
Here’s the rest of the blog hop, do visit each one. These women are far more accomplished quilt artists than I, and I can’t wait to see their takes on this project.
April 11:    Quiltingdaily.com 
April 14:     Jane LaFazio  
April 15:   Meg Cox  (YOU ARE HERE!)
April 16:    Deborah O’Hare  
April 17:   Jamie Fingal 
April 17:   Susan Brubaker Knapp 
April 18:     Carrie Bloomston

 Go here to subscribe to my monthly newsletter Quilt Journalist Tells All!

Reading Rituals: “Good Books by Dead People”

 Do you belong to a reading group? 

For me, a book group combines two of the things I love most in this world: books and traditions. One of the most satisfying things I ever did was belonging to the same book group for 20 years.

I want to share some of the best books we read, but I also want to share some of the rituals that made the experience richer.

The group began shortly after I moved to New York City. My friend and agent Geri Thoma and I decided to start a group and Geri declared: “I read bad books by living people for work, so we are only going to read good books by dead people!” Thus we embarked on a mission to read only “classics” and we stuck with fiction, mostly novels.  I think having some sort of theme or area of concentration is a great idea for reading groups, and helps when trying to assemble a like-minded group of readers. Sticking to an organizing principle means that the more books you read, the more you can explore and comment on them in relation to one another, giving you a deeper understanding.

First Meeting: at my tiny East Village apartment.

First Meeting: at my tiny East Village apartment.

Book groups vary in their rules and composition. Ours was about half men, half women. We switched between different members’ apartments, and we always had dinner first.

There was a strict rule that the book could not be discussed while eating, and that once we started the discussion, no chitchat was allowed. But it was wonderful having a very social meal, where we could get caught up on everyone’s private life before plunging into a serious discussion.

Bill Borders' Famous Meatloaf

Bill Borders’ Famous Meatloaf

 The members were extremely well-read and discussions ranged from lively to heated. It was such a joy to read novels I had read as an English major (or should have), but with plenty of time to digest them, and no tests or grades. We devoured multiple tomes by some of my favorite authors including Dickens, Wharton, Conrad,  and Austen.

At the same time, I made new discoveries, reading major authors like Anthony Trollope, Emile Zola and Ralph Ellison for the first time. I don’t think I ever would have tackled the Mt. Olympus of James Joyce’s Ulysses without the support of this group, but it was so worth reading and discussing.  Who knew that Emile Zola wrote a page-turning novel about shopping (The Ladies’ Paradise)?  How had I ever missed Middlemarch? And where had British author George Gissing been hiding all my life?

The closer the group got over the years, the more we started creating traditions. One of the best was turning the December meeting into an annual Christmas party. This included voting for the best and worst book of that year, as well as the best discussion. Also, we each brought a gift-wrapped book and had a gift grab bag.

We met 10 times a year, taking off August and one other month. It was good to schedule a mega-tome like War and Peace for when we had two months to read. Most summers, we would spend a weekend at the summer lake house of one of the members in an exercise we called Book Group Summer Camp, and this was heavenly.

Book Group Summer Camp

Book Group Summer Camp

If you are in a book group you love, consider ways to celebrate and deepen your connections. When our group turned 10 years old, we had a wonderful party with a book-shaped cake, and I had special bookmarks made for party favors.

10 year party

We even had signature gifts for special occasions: any member of the book group who got married, was given a set of bookends featuring the famous lions that guard the New York Public Library. And, when a book grouper had a baby, each member gave the parents a wrapped copy of his or her favorite children’s book.

Is this one Patience or Fortitude?

Is this one Patience or Fortitude?

It was difficult to commute to a NYC book group from Princeton, so I stopped going a few years back, but I have indelible memories of this wonderful group of people and the 200 books we read together. What brought it all back to me was a request for a charity auction item. I decided to put together 10 Amazing Classics Most People Haven’t Read, and share some of the group’s greatest “finds,” including The Odd Women by George Gissing and Germinal by Emile Zola. Would you like to see my full list of 10, with my reasons for the picks? Just shoot me an email at meg@megcox.com and I’ll send it to you.

My Basket of 10 Hidden Classics

My Basket of 10 Hidden Classics

Meanwhile, what about you? What do you like best about your book group?

Please share some of you favorite reading group books – and traditions.

And if you have never tried a classics book group — Do It!!!!

10 years books

 

What Am I Doing In a Documentary About Rap Music?

 
     Journalism is only partly about writing. For me, research and interviewing have been equally satisfying (and usually less stressful).
     In the 17 years I worked as a staff writer for the Wall Street Journal, my mind was opened wide by the staggering range of people I met — and whose lives I had a ticket to explore. I interviewed farmers and movie stars, CEOs and Rockettes. I hung out with Rupert Murdoch, the inventor of kitty litter and Jeff Koons. 
 
Always did have a "busy" desk with piles around me!

Always did have a “busy” desk with piles around me!

 
 
     But perhaps the most fascinating person I got to know during those years was Russell Simmons. Before the mansions, philanthropy, yoga-mastery and swimsuit models, Russell Simmons was a driven young man with an idea that seemed wildly implausible at the time: to develop rap into the soundtrack of the nation, and to make a fortune for himself in the process. 
 
     Our paths first crossed in 1984. Russell was in his 20s, promoting a handful of unknown rap performers at clubs and working out of a tiny midtown office with graffiti -covered walls. A colleague trying to get publicity for Russell’s tiny DIY label, Def Jam, called me up and said this hip hop thing wasn’t a fad, and I should interview Russell because he was the “mogul of rap.”  That seemed like a laughable oxymoron, but as a hook, it got me. 
 
Russell Simmons & LL Cool J

Russell Simmons & LL Cool J

 
     To start with, Russell said I needed to go with him to “the birthplace of rap,” a dingy club in the South Bronx called Disco Fever, and I needed to go at 2 am, because that’s when it gets interesting. He wanted to bring along his young protege, a guy too young to drink at the bar, but his first single had just come out: his name was LL Cool J. To report that first story, I traipsed around with Russell as he took rap records with a single song  from one hot downtown club to the next, trying to persuade the DJs to play the music. I travelled to Baltimore for a touring show called the Fresh Festival, which included some of the hot acts of the day like Run-D.M.C. and the Fat Boys. 
 
disco fever
 
   
Run-D.M.C. (Run, aka Joseph Simmons, is Russell's little brother)

Run-D.M.C. (Run, aka Joseph Simmons, is Russell’s little brother)

 
       Over the years I covered rap (when my beat was the business of the arts, and later, the music business), I wrote about the changing scene. I interviewed up-and-coming stars like Queen Latifah, Salt-N-Peppa, and the guys who started the Source magazine in their Harvard dorm room, but I kept in touch with Russell. What always impressed me most about him was his work ethic. He was a total Type-A workaholic and obsessed with his projects, and always eloquent in his defense of the music. I recall one lunch at a diner in the East Village early on when a middle-aged black man sitting at the next table, overhearing us speak about the state of rap music, started attacking it as vile both musically and culturally. As always, Russell responded with a detailed, passionate defense. 
 
     
You can tell how little the WSJ editors thought of rap by the headline, right?

You can tell how little the WSJ editors thought of rap by the headline, right?

 
 
        I’ll be honest and admit that rap is probably still my least favorite genre of music. But there is absolutely no denying that Russell Simmons and all the other artists and producers of this music have lived out his dream, and I don’t just mean his net worth exceeding $300 million. Rap is the soundtrack of 21st century America in many respects, as likely as rock to be in the next ad you see. 
 
      I’ve not seen any of this 4-part documentary, The Tanning of America: One Nation Under Hip Hop, but I can say the producers were extremely professional, well-organized and thorough. I kept telling them no, I didn’t want to be interviewed for a rap documentary, but they kept asking until I said yes, explaining that Russell Simmons told them it took being quoted in my front page story for him to get the mainstream credibility he needed to finally sign a big record deal. I’ll be very interested to see which of my comments during the hour they filmed me made it into the documentary, but yes, Russell Simmons did call me “The Ivory Snow Queen.” He said I was the whitest person he ever met. 
 
       So that’s how I wound up becoming a talking head in the The Tanning of America (they tell me I appear in parts 1 and 2.). It will debut Monday, Feb. 24 on VH1, at 11 pm, running four consecutive nights, and afterward, will be available for streaming online, including at iTunes. You can watch the trailer here, and see if it isn’t worth checking out.
 
         rap poster

You Gotta Have Heart!

   monday-hearts1

     Page Hodel is a DJ living in San Francisco. She fell madly, wildly in love with her neighbor Madalene Rodriguez in 2005, and every Monday morning, Madalene would wake up to find a Page-made heart on her front porch. The hearts were constructed out of whatever objects caught Page’s fancy: flowers or twigs or corks or stones or tiny toys. 

     Sadly, Madalene was diagnosed with a virulent, fast-moving cancer, and about one year after the two women met, she died. But Page has continued to make these hearts every Monday for her forever sweetheart, sharing them with the world through photographs. So far, she has made over 400 of these hearts, using as her materials anything from human beings to the innards of a de-constructed piano. I’ve been privileged to be on her email list for years, and find one of these magnificent hearts in my inbox every Monday morning. But anyone can enjoy these amazing creations on Page’s website. See them all displayed, and if you wish, sign up to receive these weekly treasures in your e-mail inbox. I also heartily recommend Page’s book, as well as her licensed notecards and posters. The image above, showing shirts fashioned into a giant heart, is from a poster. 

        Unknown-1

    For Valentine’s Day, I urge you to look at Page’s hearts, and be inspired to make your own. That’s what I decided to do this year, make hearts out of any objects or substances, whether found in nature or man-made, that crossed my path or tickled my imagination. I’ve been shaping these all week, and thinking about a particular person I love with each one. I’ll be sending them out in e-mails with sentimental or romantic notes on Friday. Make some hearts, and share them with those you love.

 rsz_purple_heart

 

 

rsz_red_hots_heart

   

 

rsz_1lego_heart

 

rsz_cheerios_heart

 Happy Valentine’s Day to all of you!!!!!

And don’t forget, there are hundreds of great traditions and celebrations in my book, The Book of New Family Traditions. 

home_book_newtrad

Reviewing the Year as it Ends: A Questionnaire

Every year, we sit down as a family on New Year’s Day and we each write 3 resolutions, which we save on the pantry door.

But a bigger deal is the list of questions we ask each year.  Part of the fun is re-reading what we wrote in previous years. P1040635

However you choose to celebrate, I wish you all a very happy New Year!! And hope I see you back here in 2014. 

Here are the questions for 2013:

QUESTIONS ABOUT 2013

BEST THING THAT HAPPENED TO YOU?

 WORST THING THAT HAPPENED TO YOU?

BEST THING YOU ACCOMPLISHED?

 DESCRIBE THE YEAR IN ONE WORD.

BEST MOVIE YOU SAW IN 2013? WORST?

 BEST BOOK YOU READ IN 2013?

 BEST TV PROGRAM OF 2013?

 WHAT EVENTS OF ’13 WILL MAKE HISTORY?

 WHAT YOU WILL REMEMBER MOST ABOUT ’13?

 3 THINGS YOU HOPE FOR MOST IN 2014?

 

 

How to Turn Cash Gifts Into a Tradition with Meaning

1386285536000-cash-gift       Ever since their teen years, my nieces and nephews have had just one item on their Christmas wish list: CASH.

      Chances are, you’ve got some young folk with the same requests. Maybe, like me, you understand that they’ve got their own tastes and wants, but you find giving money kind of boring. They spend it, it’s gone, with nothing left over to indicate there was a relationship between the two people in this transaction. 

       Maybe I got to thinking about creating new rituals for money gifts because of my grandfather, Michael Hohenstine, a craftsman and jeweler in Columbus, Ohio. He didn’t like to just give plain bills either. So he would get new bills from the bank, and using glue on one end, turn a stack of money into a pad. His 4 daughters got pads of twenty dollar bills every Christmas, while each of the grandkids got 20 singles glued in a pad. So simple, I know, but it made spending the money an adventure, because of the reactions of sales clerks when you started peeling off your bills!

MrP_tb_moneypad

 

      But I wanted more than a memorable sight gag. I’m a word person, dontcha know, and I wanted to share wisdom and wishes with the cash I gave.  So I started doing what I call “Cash-PLUS.” I go to the bank and get new bills, like my granddad, but I take each bill and wrap it into a small scroll along with a thin piece of paper. On that paper, I write a series of inspiring quotes, or, depending on the occasion, my wishes, hopes and dreams for that child. When they reached milestone birthdays, like 21, I would use 21 bills (either fives or tens). 

      For Christmas, why not wrap your scrolls in holiday paper? You might consider writing on the papers events and accomplishments you hope for the kid in the coming year, or list the qualities of their character and personality you appreciate the most. 

 rsz_cash_quotes

     

 

rsz_cash_how_to

 

       What I try to do is find a small attractive box to hold the scrolls. This gives you something to wrap, and it gives the recipient a place to save the scrolls as a keepsake. 

 rsz_cash_box_outside

     rsz_1cash_box 

            Do you have other ways to make money gifts special? I did find some on a blog called Party Animal, including things like folding bills into origami shapes.  But I would love to hear some fresh ideas from you!

            Here is another idea from my friend Nancy Breland. When she turned 25 and was a “starving” graduate student, her father sent her a prescription bottle full of cash. On the label, he was listed as the prescribing physician, and he wrote: “RX: Take as needed.” Nancy says you can get new prescription bottles at your local drugstore and do this yourself for a loved one’s gift. I could also see this being done for a Christmas gift. 

           images-golocalprov-com--health_Pill+Bottle+and+Dollars-320x320

 

 

    

Special Giveaway for Reading or Parent Groups!

 

     images-1

 

     Here is a special deal for any group using The Book of New Family Traditions to learn more about creating memorable rituals for families. Whether your group is school- or church-based, a regular book group or informal mommy group in your living room, you can get free handouts and discussion guides.

     All you need is a group of people planning to meet and discuss my book, and give me at least one weeks notice. I’ll send you a pdf of a handout on How to Conduct a Rituals Inventory, a great exercise at the start of a new year, and an essay called You Are What You Celebrate. Your group will also get a discussion guide, with questions to enliven your meeting. 

     Finally, assuming that my calendar is open for the time of your meeting, I’m happy to make a Skype call to your group to answer any questions you might have and share some further resources that aren’t in the book. 

      If you would like to take advantage of this offer, please contact me by sending an email to meg@megcox.com. Please write Group Giveaway in the subject line. 

       Discussing family traditions with a group is a terrific way to gather fresh ideas, and share some of your favorite ways of celebrating. 

Unknown-2

Advent: Creative Ways to Count Down the Days

     

     6a00d8341cc08553ef017c33e275f5970b

 

       Advent means “the coming or arrival” and counting down the days to Christmas is a wonderful daily activity to do with children. They actually get a little less antsy, because they can celebrate in small steps. 

mini-tree-advent-calendar

     There’s a family in my book, The Book of New Family Traditions, where the mother puts a small stocking on her son’s bedroom door. Every day, starting December 1, he wakes up to find a tiny toy in the stocking, and each one is part of a bigger set. One year it’s all the animals in a farmyard, and the next all the soldiers in an army. By Christmas Eve, he’s collected an entire set but his mother only had to buy one thing, at the dollar store. 

d217062i-01

        Of course, there is nothing wrong with buying an Advent calendar readymade: there are thousands of options made of paper or wood, stuffed with candy or little ornaments or toys. For years, we have bought a Lego Advent calendar every year. Even now, in his first year of college, my son wanted a Lego Star Wars Advent calendar sent to his dorm room.

 476x367xLego-Star-Wars-2011-Advent-Calendar.jpg.pagespeed.ic.JvKwheQb6X

         But there are also many clever and personal ways to make your own version of an Advent calendar, and I want to share some of those.  You can do something as simple as sticking little envelopes or paper bags to a wall or posterboard, with numbers on the front. The dramatic example at the top of the blog, with the red envelopes in the shape of a tree is from Martha Stewart. No matter what containers or pockets you create to count down, each day, your child can pull out something after finding the proper number. It could be a candy cane, tickets to the local Nutcracker ballet, or a a toy. 

wood-cabinet-advent-bhg

       And here are links to some blogs and websites that have amassed collections of Advent ideas, so you can scout around for one that is perfect for your own family: 

        

35 DIY Advent Ideas at the Crafty Crow

35 DIY Advent Ideas at the Crafty Crow

         Go here for the Crafty Crow suggestions on homemade Advent calendars. That’s where I found the Martha Stewart red envelopes as well. There are 20 more clever countdown ideas at the Babble website, here

         Being a quilter, of course I have to include one version that is quilted. This is from the Sew Mama Sew website, and there is a free tutorial on the site about how to make this. It’s probably too late for this Christmas, unless you are a very speedy sewer, but you could save the idea for next year.

EFF727091

          When I write and talk about traditions, I’m always emphasizing that traditions should reflect the parents’ passions and values, so when my son was little, we were always looking to add rituals that made books seem valuable and special. I interviewed a woman who used to wrap her Christmas books up like packages and put a number on each one (she got the idea from the marvelous Family Fun magazine), and we adopted that idea immediately. 

         It’s very simple to do: I always hid the Christmas books the rest of the year, so they would be fresh once a year, and before December 1, I would wrap them all after laying them out on my study floor: I wanted the longer books to fall on the weekends, and The Night Before Christmas to get opened on December 24. If you haven’t got 24 holiday books, borrow some from the library, or find some good stories online and print them out and wrap those. 

      xmas book tradition

         Part of the tradition was that lovely moment each night after dinner, when my son would run into the living room to find a wrapped book under a little felt Advent calendar. He would grab it and run to the sofa, to snuggle in my lap while I read it. It was so much fun to open an especially beloved favorite book like How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Olive the Other Reindeer, Night Tree and The Polar Express. 

        I found other people who have their own versions of this, and loved the Craftsmumship blog about how she has her kids make the numbers that go on the packages for her literary Advent tradition.

         christmas-book-advent-calendar-1024x682

         A more ancient way of celebrating, of course, is to have an Advent wreath and light Advent candles. Here is a link to a website that will tell you which are the proper colors, and suggest some hymns or Bible verses for candle-lightings. 

      advent-wreath-3

         But while searching for new ideas, I also stumbled across a website called the Advent Conspiracy, which really piqued my interest. It was established a few years ago by a small group of ministers whose goal was to help people celebrate Christmas in a less materialistic way. They’ve done a beautiful job of creating what they call the Advent Conspiracy Calendar, full of ideas for making this countdown a time of giving and spiritual contemplation. 

        It turns out that virtual Advent calendars are a growing field. Some are free, others will cost you. You can find some apps to check your virtual calendar on your smartphone, but I also found two really creative ones online. For the more religious, I recommend the one on the Busted Halo website (which calls itself “an online magazine for spiritual seekers.”) The December 1 item is a photo of the Pope, and clicking on it reveals a quote from the pontiff. Like the Advent Conspiracy calendar, you can’t peek at future days: they won’t open until that date. This is not true of another virtual Advent calendar over at Red Ted Art, a website offering tons of creative activities for kids. All the links are open now, and they each lead to craft activities on various blogs. 

        I have many, many more Christmas ideas in The Book of New Family Traditions, which itself makes a wonderful Christmas (or Advent) gift. However you count down these days, I wish you much warmth and intimacy with your loved ones, and a deep sense of the season’s meaning. 

 EFF727094

     

How to Make a Thankfulness Tree

            rsz_p1000654

             One of my very favorite personal family traditions is our annual Thankfulness Tree. We’ve been doing it for more than a decade, and it means more with every passing year.

            This year, I discovered that the concept has blossomed all over the country and there are many wonderful variations of Thanksgiving trees. I’m sharing some of my favorites here in hopes they will inspire you to embrace this tradition and make it your own.

original_Jeanine-Hays-Thanksgiving-Thankful-Tree-Beauty_s3x4_lg

Jeanine Hays did this one for HGTV

           

            There are several steps in how I start our Thankfulness tradition each year. First, I go outside and gather an armload of thin, bare tree branches in the yard. These will get decorously stuffed into a large, pretty vase.

            Step 2 is to cut out the paper leaves that we’ll use to write down our gratefuls. I use plain old construction paper, in red, yellow and orange.

           cut leaves

            My template for leaves is to draw around a cookie cutter shaped like a maple leaf, but there are so many other ways to do this: trace around actual leaves you find, make up your own simple leaf shapes, or pick up some precut paper leaves from an art supply store like Michael’s. There is an actual template on page 250 of The Book of New Family Traditions, if you have a copy of my book or borrow it from the library. Once I cut the leaves, I make a small hole at the top of each one, and tie a string or ribbon onto the end so the leaves can easily be hung on the branches.

         use actual leaves

            Step 3 is the actual ritual of everyone writing on the paper leaves. There are many ways and times for doing this. Since our extended family members aren’t really into this tradition, we tend to write on the leaves before the Thanksgiving feast, often early on Turkey Day.

           

In 2002, my son was grateful for "My Brane".

In 2002, my son was grateful for “My Brane”.

           If everyone in your family and guests want to join you, so much the better: you can arrange extra leaves on a table next Thursday, and writing on them can be one of the activities for hungry people waiting to celebrate.

            Note: however you create your Thankfulness tree, they make beautiful centerpieces. I always leave ours up for several days after the holiday.

            This part is important: SAVE all the leaves when you dismantle the tree, because they are fantastic keepsakes, holders of family memories that will remind you for years about what was most important to everyone in a given year.

            rsz_baggie_thankful

             I put mine in baggies, marked with the year in which they were made. Eventually, I may create a big scrapbook for them all or find another way to display them, but it’s fun to look back and see the people, things and experiences we treasured most.

            But as I said at the start, there are so many fun variations on this idea now. 

            

http://www.carinagardner.com/2011/11/15/giving-thanks/

http://www.carinagardner.com/2011/11/15/giving-thanks/

 

                     I like the clothesline approach, but your Thanksgiving tree can also be made from hand-shaped leaves. 

                   thanksgiving_tree

 

                      This one is also sweet:  

                   kids-thanksgiving-paper-tree-500x752

                       The tree above and the one below both came from the Shelterness blog, a post with 20 cool examples of Thanksgiving trees. Here is a link to that blog post

                        very-cute-thankful-tree

                         

                          And here is one more, in the Forsyth family blog that is just adorable and also a wonderful decoration for anyone’s dining room. 

                      

Go see the close-ups on the blog. This is awesome!

Go see the close-ups on the blog. This is awesome!

                         Whatever ways you choose to express gratitude this year, I wish you all a very memorable and delicious Thanksgiving!!!!!!!!!!! God bless you all.

 

Alert the Media: Quilters TOOK Manhattan!

 

 1383083_10201625993719323_553563181_n

I’ve loved being president of the nonprofit Quilt Alliance, and I think my proudest accomplishment was deciding we should have a benefit in NYC every year. This past weekend marked our third annual Quilters Take Manhattan, and friends, we really took it in style.

A quilter from Australia, now living in North Carolina

A quilter from Australia, now living in North Carolina

 

Photo by Victoria Findlay Wolfe

Photo by Victoria Findlay Wolfe

 

Keynoter Hollis Chatelain sells her denim patterns

Keynoter Hollis Chatelain sells her denim patterns

 

Last year, attendees told us that they’d love for us to “take more of Manhattan,” so we added vendors, classes, tours of the Garment District and special events, and most sold out well in advance. We even had a quilter’s night on Broadway.

 
Mark Lipinski's Class

Mark Lipinski’s Class

Since the Alliance only has a paid staff of 3 people, this obviously requires passionate volunteers, and that includes amazing board members who came all the way from Texas, Georgia, Vermont and D.C. to help make this happen.  They taught classes, filled goody bags, erected quilt stands, whatever it took. Thanks also to the fab City Quilter shop, which let the Alliance use its classroom for free, and its basement for storing sponsor goodies.

Embellishing Class with Frances Holiday Alford

Embellishing Class with Frances Holiday Alford

 

Once again, our main event was an inspiring and exciting afternoon at FIT, the Fashion Institute of Technology, and we jammed the room with ecstatic quilters. We had great speakers like Hollis Chatelain and Paula Nadelstern, who brought eye-popping quilts.

Paula Nadelstern Meets Her Fans & Sells Fabric

Paula Nadelstern Meets Her Fans & Sells Fabric

There were primo vendors like Aurifil thread and Cherrywood fabrics, along with a silent auction and raffle prizes. As one person said to me, “This is better than a Hollywood premiere for quilters: I check the name tags and see one famous quilter after another!”

We had a party Saturday night, and that was an over-the-top experience, featuring a quilt design contest between three great quilters: Luke Haynes, Mark Lipinski and Heather Jones. The crowd went wild, watching the 3 create a design in just an hour, helped by people they selected from the audience (it helps when Denyse Schmidt happens to be at your party!)

 

Here I am with our 2 Quilt Star Referees: Yvonne Porcella & Jamie Fingal

Here I am with our 2 Quilt Star Referees: Yvonne Porcella & Jamie Fingal

 

Let the contest begin!

Let the contest begin!

 

The Finished Quilts

The Finished Quilts

The photo above is from Victoria Findlay Wolfe’s blog and if you go there, you can see tons more photos, and even a short video that captures the party’s madness (and loud music).

Mark Lipinski Won!  Champ Belt by Frances Holiday Alford

Mark Lipinski Won!
Champ Belt by Frances Holiday Alford

On Sunday morning, we had our final outing of the Quilters Take Manhattan weekend, a behind-the-scenes peek at a new quilt exhibition. Stacy Hollander, curator at the American Folk Art Museum, showed us the works from 3 artists she had chosen for alt_Quilts. One was Luke Haynes, an Alliance board member, who talked about his work.

All three of the contemporary artists in this show are amazing, but curator Stacy Hollander also mixed in traditional quilts with similar patterns to create a dialog across the centuries. 

Luke's work is at Right, and the other quilt was made by British soldiers in the 19th century

Luke’s work is at Right, and the other quilt was made by British soldiers in the 19th century

 

As makers ourselves, we all found it fascinating to watch the museum “make” an exhibition: they were still adding touches to the show, and painting the artists’ names on the wall. This terrific show will run until January 5.

 IMG_1265

            Save the date for next year! The main event will be Saturday, September 20, and our keynote speaker will be the “it” girl of fabric design, Amy Butler. 

QTM 2013

Celebrating the Body I’ve Got

            I was one of those brainiac kids who loves school, but hates gym. My siblings called me a klutz. If not for a chance encounter my freshman year in college, I might never have paid my body any mind.

            There was an open house for the campus karate club, and Lord knows why, I dropped by. Goju-Kai was the type of karate, and next thing I knew, I was doing these boot camp-hard training sessions 2 and 3 times a week. After a couple of months, I realized with a shock that my body had changed dramatically: it was leaner, stronger, more defined. Hey, it liked all this attention!

Not Me-- Doing Karate

Not Me– Doing Karate

            Being strong felt great, and the ritualistic aspects of the training struck a chord I didn’t know was in me. But there were few women in the group. I could only spar with women. I got tired of being kicked by brown belts. By year’s end, I quit. My aha moment was realizing that the kata, the prescribed patterns of kicks and blocks and stances, were choreography. Hey, I was meant to dance!

 

Ballet Pose @ the Rodin Museum, Paris

Ballet Pose @ the Rodin Museum, Paris

            For a good many years after college, I took up to 5 dance classes a week, mostly ballet and modern. It kept me strong but also fed my spirit. Moving to live music, drums or piano, brought my head and body into the same rich hum. When that proved impractical, I switched to aerobics classes, in my teensy Jane Fonda unitards.

 

My fave fitness instructor in NY, Judith Scott, put a bunch of her students on the cover of her book, Good-Bye to Bad Backs!

My fave fitness instructor in NY, Judith Scott, put a bunch of her students on the cover of her 1988 book, Good-Bye to Bad Backs!

 

           For awhile, I had a personal trainer in NYC. In Princeton these days, I get my exercise fix through yoga, Pilates and Body Pump classes at the Y.

            But we all know what happens: life and children and age.  You come to crave that feeling of your body as well-tuned engine, and then accidents or disease steal it. You feel betrayed.  Frustrated. Angry. Helpless. Embarrassed. Cranky.

            I felt all those things. On top of the ordinary indignities of aging (like not being able to buckle any of my belts) I had to go through two “female” operations in the past 2 years. In a word, the first operation was botched, so I had to get it done properly, and endure the 8 weeks of recovery again.

            Doctors prescribed painkillers but after both surgeries, I found I needed to invent my own practical prescriptions to calm the impatience even more than the discomfort. There was a feeling of almost revulsion, inhabiting this sore, impaired, and strange-seeming body.  To lose my long-honed body-mind connection left me feeling lost, even though I knew that over time I would be able to resume my fitness level. The word “unfit” really stings.

            What was in my personal medical chest? In the first instance, my proactive response was dear friends and humor. I hosted a “Bye Bye Uterus” party the day before my surgery. I promised the “ritual burning of the tampons.”  (I’d been through menopause, but wanted to make light of what I was losing.) Instead of gifts, I asked my women friends to write toasts. We laughed and cried as they were read, and the winner of the competitive toasting was a raucous limerick I won’t share. (“There once was a woman named Meg…..)

Yes, We Are All Waving Tampons

Yes, We Are All Waving Tampons

            This medicine delivered swift results: I went into surgery still grinning. Feeling buoyed by love and empathy. When I came home to recover, there was a readymade circle of women, ready to talk to me, walk with me, feed me, or help in any way.

The Ritual Burning of the Tampons

The Ritual Burning of the Tampons

            Something different was called for the second time, a daily event that would promote physical healing but also engage my mind. I was told not to lift things, but to walk every day, so I made a ritual of it. I started a journal, on my computer, called My Comeback. Every day, as I began my walk, I took a photograph of my feet. I recorded the length of the walk, what I saw and thought, how I felt.            

Another Step Towards "My Comeback"

Another Step Towards “My Comeback”

 

            To keep from getting bored, I tried to walk lots of different places, and get people to join me. 

             In a slow, small way, it was profound. What it taught me is that the fullest, most satisfying way for me to live, no matter the compromised or aging state of my body, is to keep my mind and body aligned, It’s NOT my abs or butt that need to stay tight at all times, but the connection between all parts of my being.

               

College Days: My Spirit is Still Young!

College Days: My Spirit is Still Young!

                  I write this on the anniversary of my second surgery. At 60, I am not defined by the size of my waist, any more than I was defined by the size of my bust at 20.

 

Celebration and Invitation: More Reasons to Hire Me

 

A photo of Wagner in a birthday hat from The Atlantic, but it expresses my mood, OK?

A photo of Wagner in a birthday hat from The Atlantic, but it expresses my mood, OK?

What am I celebrating right now?

The new edition of The Book of New Family Traditions just earned its 15th 5-star reader review at Amazon.com, and I’m celebrating how good it feels when people tell me I made their family life even better. 

This latest review is entitled: “Improving Family Life One Ritual At a Time” and Lauri B. had this to say in her comments on the book:

“Unless you have the all time perfect family, you might profit from a little help as to how to reinforce connections in an era when there are so many distractions. I got many wonderful ideas from this book, and I am implementing them now with excellent results. I have purchased this book for several young women as Mother’s Day gifts and they have all thanked me profusely. I also appreciate the references to other books that might help me delve into related topics, which I have done. This book is a gem.”

Lauri B., whoever you are, I thank YOU profusely!

There is tremendous value from reading a good book, but often, people are helped even more by hearing from an author in person, and getting to ask questions.

There is a wonderful YES jar ritual in the book, and I usually bring a Yes Jar to demonstrate.

There is a wonderful YES jar ritual in the book, and I usually bring a Yes Jar to demonstrate.

So, just a reminder, that I’m a skilled speaker and workshop-leader, and I work on this topic all the time. Currently, I’m starting to craft a workshop for a synagogue in Dallas, while working on a webinar about what to add and what to subtract when overwhelmed by the winter holidays. In addition, I’m preparing a Christmas holiday open house for a local retailer, with demos of fun and simple Christmas traditions. And working with school groups to help families overwhelmed by the digital technology create rituals using those devices in a limited and positive way.

Do you know a school, community, library, parenting or religious group that is looking for a powerful but practical workshop presentation? One real estate investment firm flew me to Atlanta for four figures just to lecture the employees during lunch hour, and a NJ drug company bought a copy of my book for every parent with a child in the daycare center on the premises (after I lectured at the daycare center). But many of my clients are non-profits, like libraries and museums, and I reduce my rates accordingly.

Send me a note at meg@megcox.com to discuss dates and topics, or click on the Hire Meg tab.  You’ll find out more about topics I’ve covered often in lectures and workshops, but I am happy to tailor a program just for your group. 

8655802921_3cf21e9e6f_b

 

Oh, wait. One more thing worth celebrating: the number of people who have “Liked” my traditions page on Facebook is getting very close to 500. So, I’ve announced a fun giveaway. When I reach 500 “Likes,” I am giving away a wonderful one-of-a-kind Ritual Toolkit, based on my traditions philosophy. This special box will be packed with confetti poppers, special candles, bubbles, sage bundles and a whole lot more to help your family celebrate all the milestones ahead.

How to enter? Just go to www.facebook.com/TraditionsBook and leave a comment for me under the post about the giveaway. And, while you are there, Like the page. A name will be picked randomly from all the comments when the time comes.

Why Not Celebrate on Facebook too?

Why Not Celebrate on Facebook too?

 NOTE: My Traditions page on FB reached 500 “likes” in less than 24 hours!! Thanks to everyone who responded. I will be giving away another ritual toolkit, and extra goodies, when the page hits 1,000. 

The Zen of Empty Nesting

rsz_img_1079

Here is a small sample of the questions I am NOT asking my son since he started college last month:

Did you shave?

Have you done laundry yet?

Are you making friends?

Did you sign up for all your classes?

Are you eating healthy food?

What will you wear when the freshman class has dinner with the new college president?

Do you miss me?

I’ve decided that August 28, the day we dropped our son off at Haverford College, was the polar opposite of November 14, 1994, the day we brought Max home from the hospital. On both days, our lives changed completely. This change, I think, is as hard as the earlier one, but not quite as scary.

After 18 years, we know him so deeply, and to whatever extent, our ways of being and loving helped formed the person he is. What he becomes next is something completely out of our control. As it should be. 

Drop-off was pretty classic: although we had carefully agreed ahead of time that my husband and I would stay briefly to do a few things like make the bed and build a bookcase, when the day came and the 3 of us were crowded into a cramped single dorm room, he just wanted us OUT of there. 

Max's Desk at Haverford

Max’s Desk at Haverford

What helped enormously was the panel discussion we attended led by the school’s counseling staff, who told us, “Get over the idea that in 15 minutes, you can tell your kids everything they need to do this brilliantly. You are done. Even if you are pissed at them, hug them and say good-bye.”

I didn’t have a complete plan for anything other than getting my son ready for college: I didn’t get me ready, really. But even in these first few weeks, I’ve figured out some basic wisdom about this new empty nest living that is serving me well. I started by insisting to my husband that we didn’t head straight home from the emotional day to an empty house: I booked a pretty hotel on the Delaware River near New Hope, Pennsylvania, and made a dinner reservation too. 

We arrived emotionally spent, but were met by a charming, old hotel with a river-view suite. After a delicious meal, complete with champagne toasts to our future, we fell into the luscious big bed and fell asleep. By the time we got home the next day, we had something else to talk about, and were returning from a fun adventure that reminded us that we know how to have a good time on our own. 

 

View from Our Hotel Room

View from Our Hotel Room

The first five days without a phone call, surviving on the crumbs of occasional emails, was killer hard. But I kept reminding myself that while only one thing had changed in our lives, EVERYTHING had changed in our son’s life, and he needed to pay attention to that. If he were out in the world and at a job, would I be calling him up and asking him “Did you finish that report yet?” or “Have you explained to the boss why you missed the meeting?” Of course not. That would be ridiculous. But his job now is learning how to live without us, and that should also be done without nagging, needling or unnecessary interruption.

The other big part of this change is addressing this new era for myself, seeing it for the real opportunities that are opening for both my marriage and my work life. Who am I now? What else belongs in my life?

So many things are coming now: like signing my husband and myself up for an 8-week course in digital photography. We can travel more, eat more veggies and less meat, go see movies without CGI special effects and battles. We’re doing movie nights weekly, and finally starting the book group we always wanted.

What is your hard-won wisdom for living wholly in the empty nest?

I think I might be able to make a habit of this letting-go. But I am so glad that he has now promised to call every Sunday.

 

The Secret to Empty Nest Happiness

The Secret to Empty Nest Happiness