Chinese New Year! A La American

The Chinese New Year is celebrated the world over on the day of the second new moon after the winter solstice which is between January 20^th and February 20^th. This celebration has taken place every year for over 2000 years and is one of the most important days for making peace with the past and moving on to a new life for the year to come. But this is going to be a different type of article to create a new way to celebrate with an Americanized version.

On the eve of the New Year children show respect for their elders and for American children this can be done by picking one room each and doing their best to make it look nice. The parents show respect for them by appreciating the hard work and their attempt to make you happy. Never insult their efforts or results.

On the day of the New Year everyone wears new clothes. This can be in the form of a new item received for Christmas, new shoes, new socks or any other accessories. The children are given red envelopes with money. It doesn't have to be much, just enough to put in a bank or treat themselves to lunch. It is a gift from the heart, not meant to be material in nature.

On the second day of the New Year is a time to visit family and friends. Gifts are given to the children and in this case a small gift of cookies or candy is acceptable. Then it is two weeks of celebration. Since this could be expensive you can create celebrations of simple things. Such as special movie night, special dinner night and special desert night. Other suggestions are a night spent reading a story to your family or just singing and playing games. The celebration lies in the planning of something to look forward to over the days as a family. It will provide happiness and a bonding every family needs as the winter wears on. When the days are dark or cold it is the feast of family togetherness that brings the warmth.

The seventh day of the celebration is everyone's birthday! Everyone is considered a year older. There is no need to exchange gifts, but a celebration with a special dinner will work. Have the kids make each other and the parents birthday cards or use their imaginations to write a poem.

On the fifteenth day of the New Year is the lantern and Dragon parade. Light candles or turn on all the lights in the house for a short time and do a skit on dragons. Let the children dress up and pretend they are the dragon of the house and must chase away bad thoughts so that only happiness is left behind.

When winter is closing in at this time of year and everyone is starting to feel the cold to their bones a celebration will help bring warmth and light back into the family bond. It will get young minds creating and ready for another year of learning and exploring other ways of life and culture. Do not forget the ancestors of the past because without them the celebrations would not continue.

Pass stories of times gone by and family members no longer among us to your children. Tell them stories about your own childhood and how you met. The stories are how they learn who they are and how they came to be. It will teach them the ties of what a family is even in the bad times. Children love to know what you were like when you will little and why you had them. This is a time your children will not forget even if you celebrate with stories, food and fun only once in their life for Chinese New Year - A La American!