B2—Lancaster Farming, Thursday, December 24,1981
Do you look forward to the week
after Christmas when the last gift
is unwrapped, the final Christmas
cookie baked and the last turkey
casserole is securely in the freezer.
Or is it a time of unhappiness, with
moments of friction due to your
home-from-school children?
If the week after Christmas finds
you on edge with children who
appear ungrateful for the abun
dance of new things they received,
you may be interested m knowing
you’re not alone.
Lancaster County Extension
Home Economist Michelle
Rodgers says that “post holiday
blues” can easily creep Into any
home, and that it is natural for
children to have feelings of being
letdown after having been en
tertained by the family.
This simple bird feeder can be made by cutting openings in
the sides of a gallon milk container. Commercial or
homemade bird feed is placed in the bottom as a sure treat
for winter friends.
The roof piece is made from three quarters
of a graham cracker, with the fourth quarter
being used to make the peak in the house. A
Conquer children's
post-holiday "blues"
Michelle says, “If the post
holiday blues do hit your household
don’t deny them. This is a normal
feeling of unwinding. All the ex
citement and activities associated
with preparing for Christmas can
make getting back to a normal
schedule a little disappointing.”
She suggests planning some
activities for after Christmas to
wind down the children gently.
Family outings could be saved to
take place the week after
Chnstmas or a gift could be held
back. She adds, “An unexpected
present can raise anyone’s
spirits.”
Michelle states that holidays
may be happier if preparations are
made more sensibly and if a family
celebrates with simple and
sigmficant rituals. She notes that
r
** ' - ", -
serrated knife is necessary to cut the cracker
into a triangle for that purpose.
traditions associated with the
holidays are important because
they add to the security of the child
and give them lifelong memones.
If you are reading this just prior
to the arrival of Santa Claus, and
you’re dreading Christmas
morning and the chaos that
sometimes accompanies gift
giving, Michelle makes, a
suggestion to make things move
more smoothly. In her family gifts
are opened one at a time, begin
ning with the youngest and
proceeding to the eldest. (The
eldest may be miffed at waiting,
but usually is willing to wait his
turn patiently.)
It is sometimes difficult for
children to watch their parents
going to parties when they are left
behind. Michelle suggests that
parents plan something specific
for children to do while they’re out.
Also, she advises telling children in
advance, so it is not a surprise for
them. While parents need ac
tivities just for themselves,
Michelle says they should also plan
activities which include the
children.
As an answer to the tune when
children come to you and say, “I
don’t have anything to do” (even
with all those shiny new, things
under the tree), Michelle suggests „
a “surprise jar.” In the jar give
ideas for things to do. Children can
choose a piece of paper with a
suggestion, and this can also be
used to assign jobs to be done. It
will be especially interesting if fun
things are included along with
more responsibleitems. ; , _ ,
Since children'will 'not bp; seeing
their school friends, it . may be a
good time to plan a tea.party for
the children and their friends. This
is a great way to eat up leftover
Christmas cookies, and there are
some special “festive frosty
flumes” listed at the conclusion of
this article which children could
make themselves.
Another fun activity for children
when they need a lift is preparing
cheese fondue. They can watch the
cheese melt and then cook their
own food.
Drawing from her own ex
perience, Michelle recalls that
there were some important
traditions in her family. When it
snowed, her family always made
doughnuts and invited their closest
neighbor to share in the eating.
"When we had to stay home
because of snow we made
doughnuts and it gave us all a big
boost. It took all day, and
These graham cracker houses can bring your child hours of
happy entertainment as they plan their decorations. Easy to
assemble, children of all ages will find this activity a neat one
to chase the post holiday blues:
Vumesfead
c H/oies
everybody loved it,” she
remembers.
Michelle is a firm believer in
sharing kitchen time with children,
observing that the kitchen offers a
multitude of learning op
portunities. While the fancy
Christmas baking may be over, a
fresh cookie is always appreciated
and time may be less hectic in the
, week following Christmas.
“Cooking is a life skill and children
can leam a lot of basic knowledge
in the kitchen,” Michelle states.
While admitting that a little
✓ patience, isrequired,; .Michelle
’ stresses the importance of letting
' children try things by themselves,
and when they make suggestions
allow them to experiment. She
- says children should be included in
the clean-up so they learn to take
.. that responsibility.
An important aid in getting
children through the post holiday
blues is spending time with them.
Michelle says, “Plan to spend
' more time with your children and
enjoy beauty and the specialties
of the season that nature brings to
us.” With school children home it
is a perfect time for togetherness
on projects which can be
educational as well as fun.
t A temperature study can be fun
" and informative. Michelle says a
large and accurate thermometer
which measures indoor and out
door temperatures will offer
children the opportunity to keep a
record of temperatures over a
period of time.
' A small carton of juice could be
placed outside to freeze and
children could be allowed to taste it
after re-melting it.
A bird feeder is not only a good
family project but also helpful to
our feathered friends. Children can
get joy from stringing cereals and
cranberries on shoelaces and
placing them at a spot where they
can be observed from a window.
The popcorn on the Christmas tree
can also be used to feed the birds.
A simple bird feeder can be
constructed from a gallon milk jug
and attached to a tree branch.
Children can mix bird seed with
peanut butter and put it in
margarine tubs or spread it on pine
cones. One caution however - never
feed birds just peanut butter or
their beaks will stick together. - -
Snow brmgs its own pleasures, ot
course, but remember that
children can make snowmen and
angels in the show when the fun of
sledding fades.
An easily-made treat is to create
snowcones by packing clean
crushed ice in paper cups with an
ice cream scoop and pouring fruit
flavored gelatin, powder or syn
over the ice.
And what child doesn’t enj
homemade ice cream? Invite
some tnends and use your favoru
recipe or the one at the end of,
article which does not require
freezer. It will be soft ice cream;
for firmer texture freeze nflxture.
This is guaranteed to chef
anyone’s spirits!
Another fun activity for ctuldn
of all ages is making small grab
cracker houses. This is somethi
they can decorate entirely on thi
own, spending many hours on 11
It’s perfect for anyone who ter
they could not undertake
gingerbread house.
it takes four complete gratis
crackers to make one house, but
remember that there is bound to be
some breakage. Two are broken m
half for the sides, and two aretised
for the roof, cutting off one quarter
of the roof cracker. The quarter
piece- is then cut with a serrated
knife to form a triangle and this is
the peak of the house.
A cardboard base covered with
foil will allow a nice yard on which
additional decorations can be
placed.
Assemble the house using royal
icing. Begin with the four walls,
then add the peaks at either end
and put the roof pieces on last.
Spread icing on exposed side edges
and triangles to hold the crackers
together. There will be a slight
overhang on the roof. It’s-best to
wait a short time before adding the
candy decorations.
Remember that a large in
vestment in candy is not
necessary. Look around your
kitchen and use cereals, nuts,
baking chips, mints and other
edibles you already have.
Children will become totally
absorbed in decorating their
house, and will be thrilled when it
is completed.
The royal icing is used to
assemble the house and to add the
decorations. It may be made from
scratch or from purchased
meringue powder.
The recipe follows:
2 egg whites
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
2 teaspoons water
2W-i cups'sifted powdered sugar
Beat eggs white, cream of tartar
and water until frothy; gradually
add powdered sugar. Beat until
mixture holds soft peaks. Flam
white icing is used to put together
the house, and some may be tinted
for added trim. This is also used to
"glue” on the decorative candies.
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