Building Traditions - Diwali Edition
Do you have holiday traditions you look forward to? For me, the most memorable ones are for celebrating Diwali. My parents introduced us to traditions we repeated every year growing up – a prayer to Lakshmi (Hindu goddess of prosperity) and, my favorite part, taking a big tray full of tea lights and lighting them in all dark corners of the house, inside and out. A perfect way to celebrate the festival of lights!
Last year I ended this special day feeling pretty bummed. I was five months postpartum (not sleeping much at all) and the day just didn’t feel special. It was a weekday and super hectic with the usual school drop off / pick up for my older one and then being at home the rest of the day with the baby. Plus my husband’s work schedule and not getting free until late in the evening. I felt like I hadn’t had any time to create meaningful moments and we weren’t together for many waking moments with the kids.
After sharing this with my husband, we took it into our own hands to redefine the way that we approached the day this year. Here are some things we did:
- Adjusted work schedules to all be free and together the day of Diwali
- Celebrated early with other family and friends to get into the spirit
- Decorated the house with festive garlands (like these and these)
- Put (fake) flickering tea lights around the whole house and up and down the driveway – the kids had a blast with this and they last super long!
- Read lots of books about Diwali. Our 3 favorites are:
- Shared the celebration with our neighbors (most of whom were non-Indian) with sparklers, tea and snacks in our driveway.
There are so many more things that I wanted to do, but time ran out. Regardless, I left this year feeling much happier than the last – knowing that putting in the effort translated into great moments and made great memories for my family. After this year, I know my four-year-old will look forward to Diwali next year.
Jhula was started with the intention of inspiring joyful moments and encouraging Mom to take a step back from her constant mental gymnastics to spend quality time with her kid(s). Building this brand has also taught me to be more intentional with the way I want to spend time with my own kids and that includes creating traditions thoughtfully and in advance – because we all know it’s so stressful to pull things together at the last minute with so many other things always going on!
What traditions do you look forward to with your children? Do you have any thoughts for other moms who might be looking for inspiration? As the holiday season approaches, I challenge you to take a second and think of one thing you want to experience with your kids and make it happen.
Ready, set, go!!