No action is devoid of motivation. Your motivation can be intrinsic, that comes from within or it can be extrinsic, that is, emerging from external factors. If you do something to make yourself happy and not for seeking validation from others, that’s the most satisfying thing ever. When it comes to festivals and holidays, we don’t even realise when we end up crossing that line of control.
Between using festivals to flaunt our lives to the world and celebrating those in a way that feels warm to us, the latter has a guilt-free ring to it. When it comes to our children, they learn what we teach or so is the hope, isn’t it? This means that we should help our children see festivals (and happiness) from a more meaningful perspective.
Commercialisation of holidays
Be it Diwali, Christmas, or New Year, these festivals and holidays are the ideal time for people to indulge themselves. Consumerism blurs the line between dissipation of our money in frivolous expenses and wise expenditures. Between wanting to ship an overpriced box of holiday goodies to our loved one in another country and saving that money, so we don’t end up broke later, the former almost always wins.
And then there are Ad hoc holidays such as Valentine’s Day, that will make you feel like you’re choking on flowers and heart-shaped everything. Your love is often measured by the prodigiousness of your materialistic expression. ‘
While we continue to adhere to such materialism, what are we teaching our children about holidays? They are learning that happiness is materialistic, that love is quantifiable, that wastage is acceptable, and that financial security is inconsequential.
This calls for a need to re-imagine holidays and festivals, ensuring our children develop perspective and do not get trapped in the commercialisation of human emotions.
How to ensure your child sees holidays in a meaningful light
1) Inform them about the history of a holiday
How many children know the real significance of festivals and holidays, except the décor and the culinary pleasures that come along? Make it a habit to tell your children the story of the festival you are celebrating, and help them extract lessons from it. You can help your child with access to additional research, if they wish to know more, thereby fuelling their curiosity. To stir things up a bit, you may ask your child or children to prepare an act on the theme of the holiday.
2) Help them celebrate consciously
Consumerism generates a colossal amount of waste, every year. Teach your child minimalism. It is not about making your home look like a set from Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s movies. Teach them conscious, minimal living and proper disposal of waste, post-celebrations.
Teach your child about the consequences of their actions, on living beings and the earth. It will make them grow into empathetic individuals with a strong sense of responsibility. Conscious celebrations also include giving back and sharing their blessings with those in need. You can help them make little signboards encouraging people to be gentle to animals, and donate to causes.
3) Encourage the exchange of handmade/sustainable gifts
When I see someone cribbing because they didn’t get an expensive gift from a loved one, it leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Doesn’t it count that they thought of you? Instead of the value of the gift, train your child to focus on the thoughtfulness behind it.
Help them choose gifts that focus on thoughtfulness. It’s even better if it’s something they made themselves. They will learn that it’s the effort that is more valuable than the amount of money spent on gifting.
4) Make holidays about spending time together, not about buying things
We start to wishlist products we want to buy, way before the holiday even arrives. And there are plenty of discounts and sales that tempt us with special offers that aim to make you buy things you don’t even need. Instead of buying things, focus on non-materialistic aspects of celebrations such as get-togethers and games.
Your child’s favourite moments of a holiday will be the burst of laughter and silly moments with their loved ones and not selfies clicked while flaunting the elaborate décor items you bought.
5) Reuse/recycle
As part of your pre-holiday activities, involve your child in restoring and recycling items that can be used. It will be a fun outlet for their creativity, while also teaching them a lesson or two on sustainability. Let them select old sarees to be turned into cushion covers, renew old diyas by painting them with acrylic colours, use the previous year’s Christmas tree and decorate it together. Whatever activity you choose, it will help you bond, engage your child and help them see festivals in a more meaningful light. It’s a win-win.