Non-religious meaning of Christmas

[Misty9]

Ds is well and truly a child of consumerism,and just loves getting presents. I'm not particularly religious but dh is atheist so what else can I say to ds that Christmas is about? I've said family etc, but was interested in how other non-religious parents handle Christmas.

HeadDreamer that's fascinating, what a lovely story :)

Please share the new years story, I've not heard of these before...

There are two I can think of that's related to chinese new year.

The one children like most is the animal race. The jade emperor (a god) called for a race for the animals on earth. The first twelve to arrive will have a year named after them. The cat asked the mouse to remind him on that day. But the mouse didn't. And that's why you don't have the year of the cat. The mouse arrived first by riding on top of the cow. So the first year of the zodiac is mouse, followed by cow.

There's another one with a monster called nian. He comes out of the water every year around new year time to terrorise villagers. One year a villager asked for the help of a god to get rid of nian. The god advised him to put red paper in front of his door, and burn firecrackers. Nian was scared of the colour red, and didn't like the loud bangs from firecrackers. This is the way we put up red pieces of paper around the house. And also the reason behind the fireworks and firecrackers.

And according to wikipedia, lots of east asian countries have the same (or similar zodiacs). Like the korean one is the same. The japanese has the boar instead of the pig. And the Thais have a naga instead of a dragon. You can get a feeling how widespread the belief in these stories were once.

We are a humanist family and although we want our children to understand and respect other peoples beliefs, we will be celebrating Christmas without any of the religious elements.
We focus on being charitable, spending time together, santa, and food!
I have found that some Christians are offended by my 'commercial Christmas' but this is how we want to celebrate, and we have no issue with anyone doing it in their own way either.

• Charity
• Importance of family

Thanks, they are wonderful :)

HeadDreamer

1. some lovely stories, thank you for sharing :)
2. where the heck have you been on cookery book club?

I think it's lovely to make connections across the traditions by focusing on festivals celebrating "light in the darkness". Early celebrations in mid-winter would have centred on turning that corner towards spring with longer and lighter days ahead. Many of the autumn festivals embrace such themes too, from Halloween/All saints day and Bonfire Night to Diwali, Hanukkah and Advent. Like you I guess OP I like to have some meaning and story amongst my mid-winter celebrations and though the Journey to the Manger is one we like to share (and which I and many have grown up with) I don't think it has to be the only one.

Wow, lots of responses! All I mean by non religious is how to suggest to a 4yo that it's not just about presents! I like the Christmas story so I will share that one, and I'm part Dutch so will be starting a tradition of sinterklass this year too once I figure out how

Peace and goodwill to all is sorely needed in light of tonight's events in Paris :(

Very true Misty. Wishing you and your family and all readers a peaceful and happy Christmas and New Year

It is winter solstice (more or less, day or 2 out) and well worth celebrating. The time has turned towards longer days, I think it is a natural human response to celebrate that, far more easily explained than a birthday in a distant land.

Another atheist household here. Here are a couple of links I always share with people to explain what Christmas means to me:

This article by David Wong for Cracked.com

Neither is what you might call an obvious source of spiritual advice, but they both work for me.