All My Children

There is a reason why the myth of Santa Claus was so readily accepted when it became attached to Christmas, which was originally a universal religious and not a special children’s holiday. Only with Santa did Christmas become truly a children’s holiday, because believing in him is the only way some children can permit themselves to enjoy their presents. There are many children who feel that they don’t deserve to receive gifts from their parents, because of the way they have behaved, or because of negative thoughts they have had about their parents. Continue Reading »

The permanent underlying positive ties between parents and children were strengthened at Halloween—after all, adults made this outburst of naughtiness possible and encouraged it, with their merriment barely hidden behind their pretense of being scared. This holiday told children that deep down, despite adult demands to socialize the child, their parents did not totally reject the negative side of the child’s feelings toward them. Continue Reading »

Christmas is not the only children’s holiday which symbolically celebrates childbirth, fertility, and the rebirth of nature; May Day, which is hardly celebrated anymore in the United States, with its dance around the Maypole also used to be an occasion for festivities enjoyed particularly by children and youth, although with the active participation of the entire community. It was truly a day when “young and old came forth to play.” Continue Reading »