How to Begin a Holiday Tradition in an Open Adoption as a Birth Mother
The holiday season in an open adoption is an incredible thing because it gives both the birth family and adoptive family the opportunity to start traditions that can be passed down for years to come. As a birth mother, you can introduce holiday traditions you might have grown up with while the adoptive parents will present their own as well. This, in turn, allows you all to experience the joy of the holidays with each other and your child, making pleasant memories that will last forever.
If you need adoption help now, please call or text us at 1-480-900-5520 or visit us at Adoption Choices of Arizona.
It may be challenging to figure out which traditions are the most significant and how to meld them together into a celebration that you can do annually. Adoption Choices of Arizona adoption agency is here to help. Especially if this is your first holiday season with your child and their adoptive parents, we understand that you want to make this special and something to look forward to for years to come. That’s why we have compiled this resource of commonly celebrated holiday traditions to help guide you in how to begin a holiday tradition in an open adoption as a birth mother that you can share with your new, extended family.
- Decorating the Christmas Tree
Many families put up Christmas trees once the holiday season is in full swing. Christmas trees are often decorated with different colored holiday ornaments, strings of lights, tinsel, and either a star or angel as the topper. The bottom of the tree is often surrounded by fake snow to add a special touch or tree skirt. There are also artificial trees with fake snow already on the pine needles to give a more winter wonderland type look. Christmas trees come in a variety of colors and types, giving you options to choose what best fits your family.
If decorating the Christmas tree was an important or memorable part of your holiday celebration, this may be a good one to pass down to your child. Discuss with the adoptive parents if this is one that they would like to include in their holiday celebrations as well. Placing small, delicate ornaments on the tree can bring you all closer together as a family made through adoption and share in the joy of the season. It can also present the opportunity to give your child a new ornament each year that represents a milestone or special event in their life each year. Or to teach them how to properly place the star or angel on the top of the tree so it doesn’t fall. Of course, you’ll want to make sure that their adoptive parents are comfortable with you doing this.
- Baking Christmas Cookies
Making Christmas cookies with your child can be a lot of fun — messy or not.A fun option to consider is using cookie cutters to help produce whimsically shaped cookies. Whether you and your child’s cookies are shaped like Christmas trees, ornaments, presents, stockings, candy canes, gingerbread men, or snowmen, you both will not only enjoy the making and decorating part, but also the taste of the finished product.
You and your child can use icing decorators to avoid having to pick up butter knives to spread the icing. You both also have the option of covering your cookies with sprinkles and nuts. Feel free to use tools, such as toothpicks, to make small details in the icing.
- Driving around Admiring Christmas Lights and Decorations
During the holiday season, you may see houses and entire neighborhoods adorned with Christmas lights and holiday figures decorating various lawns. If you grew up driving around admiring these as you grew up, ask your child and their adoptive parents if they would be interested in sharing in this tradition with you. The various colored bulbs lighting up the streets at night are sure to bring smiles to all of your faces and put you in the holiday mood.
Who knows? Doing this may give you ideas for your own future Christmas decorations!
- Playing in the Snow
There are plenty of activities you, your child, and their adoptive parents can enjoy all throughout the holidays. Take playing in the snow, for instance. If you live in a place that gets a good amount of snow during the winter, consider starting a holiday tradition around this. Make snow angels with your child. Build a snowman. Have a snowball fight with your child and their adoptive parents. All of these activities will bring you closer as you create special memories together.
When your child is old enough, you can teach them how to dress their snowman. You can both make the decision to place a hat on the snowman’s head, wrap a scarf around its neck, use stones or buttons as the eyes and mouth, and give the snowman a traditional carrot nose!
Holiday Traditions in an Open Adoption as a Birth Mother
What’s great about learning how to begin a holiday tradition after an Arizona adoption in an open adoption as a birth mother is that there is always a place for each member of the adoption triad to contribute. As the birth mother, engaging in holiday traditions with your child and their adopted parents bring each of you closer together for this wonderful time of year.
Though birth mothers cannot always be a part of every aspect of their child’s life, the holidays serve as reminders that you will always be family. Moments like these are the ones you will want to never forget.
For adoption resources or to begin your adoption journey, birth parents can visit us at Adoption Choices of Arizona or call or text us at 1-480-900-5520. If you are an prospective adoptive family hoping to adopt a baby, please instead, visit us here!
Meet the author: Amanda Glover is a recent graduate from Savannah College of Art & Design in Atlanta, Georgia. She has earned her Bachelor’s of Fine Arts in Writing. Amanda is currently editing her first novel. Besides being a published novelist, her dreams include singing in a musical, becoming a figure skater, and traveling to Europe.
When she is not writing, she is reading a good romance or suspense book, painting a landscape on canvas, watching a comedy or thriller, or spending time with her friends and family. She loves fashion, books, music, pets, and all things Whimsical. Amanda currently lives in Decatur, Georgia.
