Children Can
Help Prepare
For Holidays
Ohm upon a time, Christmas was
■peaqsftil fondly holiday. These days,
homsw, parents an often so busy
with Christmas entertaining, shop*
ping and cooking—not to mention
their Jobe—that the season can eas
ily become rushed and children
stand to miss out on all the joys of
this special time of year.
How can parent* main sure kids
don’t get lost in the hustle and bus
tle of holiday shopping and enter
taining?
Sue Smith, home economist
from Black ft Decker, has some
creative (and delicious) tips to help
put the holiday focus back on the
family by involving children In holi
day preparations.
• Turn the kids' excitement for
Christmas into constructive energy.
Let them help around the house with
easy decorating tasks that don’t
take a long time or require careftxl
supervision.
• Kitchen time is the perfect
time to get kids involved. When
baking, let your child be the “des
sert chef” by allowing him/her to
assist you when mixing cake frost
ing for a special holiday dessert.
• Use lightweight, easy-to-op
erate appliances—these features
make kitchen projects easier for
children and parents alike. For ex
ample, Black ft Decker’s Handy
Mixer"1 Cordless Beater allows a
parent to move an entire mixing
pngect down to a child’s eye level.
And to make it easy on adults, the
detachable parts from this mixer
go right in the dishwasher for con
venient clean up.
• For those parents who have
no time to bake dessert, let kids
make any store-bought cake/cup
cakes more festive by adding nuts,
chocolate shavings, or dried fruit
which can be easily chopped in a
compart mincer/chopper. As an added
safety feature for kids and adults,
Black & Decker’s HandyChopper"*
Mincer/Chopper will not start until
the Ud is securely fastened.
• Another interesting idea is a
festive holiday breakfast with edi
ble Christmas wreathe—toasted
bagels topped with, cream cheese,
chopped green parsley and red pep
per "bows." Use a toaster with extra
wide slots for bagels and a cool
touch exterior to prevent accidental
v bums, so your kids can even pre
pare this Christmas treat for you.
Black ft Decker’s FasToast'- Toaster
makes, a good choice.
• Making Chriatmaa preaenta
together ia alwaya a Ain activity.
One creative idea ia to make a holi
day nightahirt from a plain white
t-anirt, aome fabric paint, iron-on
fabric and, of courae, an iron. Firat,
let your child create the artwork,
uaing painta to write namea and
holiday maaaagea on the ahirt, and'
iron-on fabric to create holiday cut
outa (like holly leavea, candy eanoa
and atara). Ngprt, a parent can fol
low the art aupply package direc
tiona to iron the artwork to the
ahirt. The reault ia a one-of-a-kind
nightahirt that will be cherlahed for
many Chriatmaaea to come.
Uae an iron with atrong ateam
performance for thia craft project,
(tee with an auto ahut-oif feature,
like Black ft Decker’* Automatic
Shut-Off" Electronic Iron, will aleo
provide added peaoeof mind during
the hectic holiday aeaaon.
• Finally, for a Chriatmaa prqj- >
act children can do by themaelvea
(if peace and quiet ia the one thing
that ia needed at the moment), kida
can ll>*'M a centerpiece for the table
with pine branchea, holly, pine
and other aeaaonal foliage
that can be found around the yard.
The upcoming holiday aeaaon
ahould not he one of hectic, non
atop preparation. With a little in
genuity, Chriatmaa can be what it
ahould be: a time to ei\joy with fam
ily and flrienda.
If you're planning ou nerving
froah turkey, pick the bird up juat
one or two daya before you plan to
cook it.
L
V k i 1
U_J.
iz
Jfoui utben Seaus uiaa born in Ketblebem of
Subea, in tire bags nf King Hernb. bebnlb,
JHagi came from tbe East tn Jerusalem, baging,
“Ubere ia be that is bnrn Mng nf tbe Serna?
iff nr me bnue Been bia star in tbe East anb
baue come tn uinrabip bim ‘y...Anb bebnlb,
tbe star that tbeg bab aeen in tbe Kant
rnent before tbee, until it came anb atnnb
nuer tbe place uibere tbe cbilb uiaa. Anb
mben tbeg aam tbe star tbeg rejnieeb exceebinglg.
America Has Much For Which To Give Thanks
When America s families sit
down at the dinner table this holi
day season to reflect on the year's
blessings and look forward to the
challenges of the new year, they
might take some time to consider
how fortunate they really are.
“Even in difficult and uncertain
times, we Americans enjoy many
advantages that allow us to help
the poor overseas,” says Philip
Johnston, executive director of
CARE, the international relief and
development organisation.
“If you ever doubt that, all you
have to do is compare what is on
the table around which your family
will gather this holiday season with
the rood on the plates of families in
the Third World,” he says.
The typical American fkmily will
feast on a holiday turkey or roast,
complete with Mom’s fhvorite stuff
ing or gravy, sweet potatoes, cran
berry sauce, fresh bread, salads,
and desserts. They will quench
their thirst with milk, juice, coffee,
tea, or other beverages
In flood-ravaged Bangladesh,
lucky families will share a CARE
package that contains some rice
and lentils, a handflil of biscuits,
and molasses. They will drink pol
luted river water treated with
purification tablets. Many families
will have even leas.
In war-tom Mozambique, refugees
driven ofT their farmland by ter
rorist attacks will eat leaves and
roots while they wait for relief ship
ments to reach them.
“According to government statis
tics, the average American fkmily
living in an urban area can expect
to spend about $100 a week for it*
groceries,” Johnston explains.
“That’s what many Third World
families earn in an entire year,” he
skys. “For $100, CARE can provide
enough food to keep 100 families in
Bangladesh from starving.”
Relief officials aay 1088 was an
especially tough year on the poor
overseas. Record floods, drought,
earthquakes, hurricanes, infesta
tions of locusts and a variety of
other natural and man-made disas
ters in dosena of countries through
His stomach swollen from lack of food, a Motamblcan child cats a meal
provided by CABE
out Asia, Africa and Latin America
have left nearly 60 million people
homeleaa, sick or hungry. Many mil
lions more are refugee* fleeing civil
wars, tribal conflicts or terrorists.
“As they have during many other
emergencies in the past, the Amer
ican people have opened their hearts
and are sharing some of their bounty
with poor people overseas,” Johnston
says.
“Hie holiday period is When CARE
receives so much of that support,” he
says. “This year, it's more impor
tant than ever before. So many
people are depending on us.”
For more information about crisis
gripping families around the world,
contact: CARE, Dept. M, 660 First
Avenue, New York, N Y. 10016.
Traditions behind the
very firs* Christmas gifts
The Beloved tradition of gift-giving at
Christmastime began, as we all know,
just after the birth of Christ, when the
Three Wise Men. following their guiding
star from the East, arrived to adore the
infant Jesus, and each brought with him a
valuable tribute.
Gold, according to tradition (not the
Bible, which neither names nor numbers
the Magi), In the form of a box contain
ing a shrine, was brought by Melchior,
the King of Arabia.
Frankincense, contained in a jar, was
brought by the youngest of the Magi,
Caspar, the King of Tarsus, and myrrh,
carried in a golden horn, was brought by
Balthazar, the King of Ethiopia.
We all know what gold is, but frankin
cense and myrrh—both out of common
use in this century—may mystify many
people.
Both are aromatic substances, which
had great value in the ancient world.
Frankincense is the gum of a tree native
to India and the northern reaches of
Arabia.
An essential ingredient in the holy
anointing oil used by the officiators at the
Temple in Jerusalem, it was a substance
whose use was familiar only to the privi
leged. It was burned also as incense;
therefore, its sweet fragrance was famil
iar to worshiDoers.
Myrrh, the gum of a bush or small tree
which, in antiquity, edged the shores of
the Red Sea, and grew in southern
Arabia, was also an ingredient in the
anointing oil, a blend of rare and pre
cious substances, to be sure.
Credited with the virtue of easing suf
fering, myrrh was mixed with wine to
make a soothing drink offered to Christ
while He was on the cross—a drink He
refused, choosing to remain conscious
and keenly aware of the suffering He was
undergoing.
Myrrh often was used to ready the
dead for burial; it was one of the spices
brought by Nicodemus for Christ, after
the crucifixion. Thus Christ received the
same gift after death which He was given
at birth.
In addition to its intrinsic value, each
of the gifts brought by the Wise Men to
the Christ Child had a symbolic value, as
pertinent today as it was in Biblical
times.
Gold, one of the purest of all sub
stances, represents virtue. Sweet-smell
ing frankincense, because its burning
frequently accompanied religious cere
monies, came to be a symbol for prayer,
and myrrh, with Its acrid fragrance, both
a balm that eases pain and an anointment
for the dead, represents suffering.
When did the Magi arrive at the Man
ger? While guesses range from 12 days
after Christ’s birth, to two years follow
ing the event, their arrival is celebrated
traditionally on Epiphany, also known as
Twelfth Night, which falls on January'
6th.
In certain countries, such as Spain and
Italy, it is on Epiphany, rather than
Christmas Day itself, that gifts are ex
changed.
A holiday of much merriment, gov
erned by a Lord of Misrule (a holdover
from Saturnalia revels of Roman times).
It was an occasion for practical jokes and
tricks.
It was also the occasion, in parts of
Europe, for ceremonies warding off the
devil, should he roam abroad on that
night.
And it is the final' day of the Twelve
Days of Christmas, originally set out in
the sixth century by the Council of
Tours. _;
As such, the climax of the Christmas
season, it is a time of great joy, depicted
through all eternity by the image of the
Three Magi, on their knees adoring the
Christ Child, and symbolizing their wor
ship with the most precious substances
they knew: Gold, frankincense and
myrrh.
FOLLOWING THEIR GUIDING STAR, the Magi travel toward Bethlehem, to wor
ship the infant Jesus, bringing with them rare and precious gifts of gold, frankin
cense and myrrh. Illustration: New York Public Library Picture Collection.
Green and red holly is an
apt Yuletide symbol
With its green leaves and red berries,
holly is the classic symbol of the Christ
mas season. The brightness of its colors,
especially dramatic against the stark
dead whiteness of winter's snows, was
viewed by primitive people as a sign of
life in a world of death.
Like mistletoe and the evergreen tree,
holly has been intertwined with holidays
marking the winter solstice since Druidic
times, and all three plants were adopted
into Christian tradition many centuries
ago.
In addition, the thorny edges of some
holly leaves recull the crown of thorns
Christ wore, making holly an especially
potent symbol of the Christmas season.
Think of holly's red berries as drops of
blood, and the fact that the holly plant,
too. is an evergreen—therefore a meta
phor for eternal life—and its uptness as u
visual image of Christmas, and the hope
Christ brings to mankind, becomes even
stronger.
Going back to pre-Christian times,
holly boughs were among the evergreen
plants that decked the halls of Teutonic
homes, because it was believed that holly
had the power to protect the inhabitants
from evil spirits, as well as being able to
deter the storms and icy cold weather of
winter which were such a threat to primi
tive societies.
In 15th century England, garlanding
homes and churches with evergreens—
including holly—was an accepted cus
tom.
Washington Irving describes a typical
English Christmas in his Sketchbook, and
among the first elements he mentions are
the evergiv.
Writes Irving. "The great picture of
the crusader and his white horse had
been profusely decorated with greens for
the occasion, and holly and ivy had like
wise been wreathed round the helmet
and weapons on the opposite wall, which
1 understood were the arms of the same
warrior.”
Of particular note was the English
method of adorning church pews with in
numerable branches of holly and yew, a
custom that lasted until the late years of
the 19th century.
As carefully as the work of decorating
buildings with evergreens proceeded,
equally fastidious was the manner in
which they were taken down and dis
posed of. after the holiday season had
passed.
It was considered bad luck to let an
evergreen bough fall to the ground, and
in many British communities they were
not thrown out once the holiday was over
but. rather, ceremoniously burnt.
By this time, from being a plant asso
ciated with the heathen, holly had be
come holy. A series of medieval carols
outlined holly's myriad virtues, and
linked its physical characteristics with
various aspects of Christ's life.
In the traditional carol. “The Holly
and the Ivy." the first stanza ends. "Of
all the trees are in the wood/ The holly
bears the crown."
Subsequent verses compare and con
trast the white flower which holly bears
to Mary's bearing Christ “to be our
sweet Saviour." the prickle holly bears to
Mary's bearing Christ “on Christmas in
the morn,” and. finally, the bitter bark
that holly bears to Mary bearing “sweet
Jesus Christ/ For to redeem us all."
Ibday. whether or not we know the
legends behind it, many of us deck our
halls with holly in boughs and on wreaths
as Christmas approaches.
But. be careful what kind of holly is
the first to be brought through the door.
According to British legend, if a prickly
variety of holly is first, the man of the
house will rule the roost through the
coming year; if non-prickly holly is first,
the woman of the house will nave the
honor of ruling the household in the year
to come. Those holly boughs will never
seem the same again!