Tag: holidays

Printable Gratitude Advent Calendar

by Jen Rabulan-Bertram

It’s December 1st and the holiday season is officially underway.  Today’s the day that many people break out their advent calendars and start the countdown to Christmas. Inspired by other advent calendars and the need to instill gratitude and giving thanks for my kids, I created a Gratitude and Giving Thanks Advent Printable Calendar.

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I recognize that there are so many wonderful calendars floating around promoting kindness and the importance of the holiday season. I wanted to create something that would give my kids ownership for their actions. While I absolutely believe in the importance of acts of random kindness, I think showing gratitude and giving thanks is of equal importance.

We’ve done every kind of toy and candy calendar out there, but in my house, I think the significance of Advent got clouded by all the milk chocolate and daily gifts of tiny Legos. Gratitude is an extremely vital virtue that seems to be an afterthought in our age of entitlement. I curated acts of gratitude that can be done with the whole family throughout the entire holiday season.

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I researched various organizations that are kid-friendly or that can help achieve the end result as described in the calendar. For the red underlined items I will provide the links to the organization’s website for addresses below. I think showing gratitude is a relevant act for the whole year, but for this calendar, I filled in suggestions until the end of the month.

If you’d like to print out this calendar, click here for a larger PDF of the file above. Feel free to share this printable!

Links
December 1: The Gift of the Magi
December 3: Give a Book
December 9: Big Brothers and Big Sisters
December 10: Kids That Do Good
December 12: Holiday for Heroes 

I will be cutting out each day of the calendar to tuck into my kids’ Advent Calendar, right next to their little morsels of candy. I hope you join us on this journey of showing gratitude throughout the holiday season. If you do, be sure to share on Instagram and use #givethanksgiveback

While researching for this calendar, I found this especially thoughtful quote that moves me on so many levels.

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, confusion into clarity…. It turns problems into gifts, failures into success, the unexpected into perfect timing, and mistakes into important events. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow.  – Melody Beattie

Happy Holidays! 

Barnes & Noble Rolls Out Mega Playroom Boutiques

by Jen Rabulan-Bertram

Just in time for the holiday season, my friend, Carrie of Dog-Eared and Well-Read reminded me of Barnes & Noble’s latest foray in the kid space.

Big Box book retailer, Barnes and Noble announced that they are rolling out a 3,000 sq. ft. playroom boutique concept in five test stores.  Barnes & Noble is describing the play area as “Ultimate Playroom” Mega-Boutiques where interactive displays, creativity and learning through activities, scientific discoveries, and favorite children’s characters can underscore children’s experience at the bookstore.

Barnes & Noble has aligned partnerships with several toy manufacturers and brands who are well known in the educational sector, such as LeapFrog, Crayola, Curious George, Thomas the Tank Engine, among others.

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Gift idea: Wooden Jewish Holiday Puzzles

by Jen Rabulan-Bertram

Undoubtedly, there’s a lot of excitement in the air for the holidays, but there’s another important celebration–the Celebration of Lights– that starts next week.

In 2009, Hanukkah begins at sundown on December 11th. For those that don’t know, according to the interwebs, Jews have given Hanukkah gelt to friends and family since the 17th century, but the custom of giving more elaborate gifts has only been around since the 19th century.

Gift-giving goes hand-in-hand with fabulous kid gifts, of course. One of my lovely Jewish friends mentioned this site, and I was hooked. They had me at Jonathan Adler!

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Over in the kid gift ideas, I spotted the Jewish Holiday Puzzles. Not only does it include a Hanukkah-themed puzzle, but this set includes Shabbat, Passover and Rosh Hashanah Puzzle as well. By Kid Kraft, the puzzles feature diverse shapes and comes with a puzzle rack for convenient storage. And thank goodness, all paints used are lead free and non-toxic.

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Wooden puzzles are definitely a favorite for us, and for many other families. The fact that four puzzles come in the Jewish Holiday Puzzles set, combined with its entertainment, educational and cultural value make these puzzles an ideal Hanukkah gift! These puzzles are in the $30 price point (not bad for 4 wooden puzzles!) and can be found on sites like Modern Tribe.

Tree Lighting Celebration and Pixar Shorts

by Jen Rabulan-Bertram

Tonight is one of my most favorite nights for holiday tv: it’s the annual Rockefeller Tree Lighting on NBC! This year, is a little different since we’re not even in the NYC are at the moment, but it’s sure to be just as amazing!

As in years past, this tree lighting will be ushered in by a host of fabulous celebs and one of my favorites, Zachary Levi of Chuck will be hosting alongside of Jane Krakowski of 30 Rock Fame.

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The tree lighting celebration will feature Michael Buble, Aretha Franklin, Alicia Keys, Barry Manilow, The Roots, Shakira, and The Radio City Rockettes performing a mix of some festive tunes. I heard some rumblings that the Electric Mayhem (as in The Muppets!) will perform along with Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Gonzo, and Pepe the King Prawn tonight as well!

Aside from the Tree Lighting Celebration on NBC, be sure to catch day 2 of ABC Family’s annual “25 Days of Christmas.” The ABC Family 25 Days of Christmas will features a great lineup of holiday family movies, with the Pixar Shorts as the highlight for me.
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Starting at 7:00 p.m. tonight as part of the 25 Days of Christmas on ABC Family, Disney will present 20 “Pixar Short Films.” The lineup of shorts will include: “Presto,” “Lifted,” “Jack-Jack Attack,” “BURN-E,” “Unidentified Flying Mater,” “Adventures of Andre and Wally B.,” “Boundin,” “For the Birds,” “Geri’s Game,” “Knick Knack,” “Luxo Jr.,” “Mater and the Ghostlight,” “Mike’s New Car,” “One Man Band,” “Red’s Dream,” “Tin Toy,” “Your Friend the Rat,” “Rescue Squad Mater,” “Mater the Greater” and “El-Materdor.”

Jack Jack Attack and Boundin’ are our family’s absolute favorites!

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The Tree Lighting Ceremony AND Two fun hours of Pixar awesomeness! Holiday programming just doesn’t get any better than tonight!

Lionel Electric Trains Comes to 30 Rock

by Jen Rabulan-Bertram

IMG_2822Christmas is in the air, guys. Just this week, I attended 3 holiday-related events including this fun one that train lovers would enjoy!

Well loved among train enthusiasts and little kids alike, Lionel Electric Trains, recently opened its first pop up retail shop in Rockefeller Center. In its 100+ year history, this is the first time Lionel Trains has set up shop in New York, 30 Rock on 50th Street between 5th and 6th Avenues to be exact.

Because of its high traffic location, this pop up shop in the heart of midtown attracted a flock of tourists and shoppers.  The Lionel store featured various train sets, including an impressive set that was activated with the push of a button.

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