Holidays can be a difficult time for children who have been adopted—especially for those who have experienced profound grief, loss, or trauma. However, for children adopted internationally, holidays can also be a positive time.
Welcoming an internationally adopted child into your family creates a great opportunity to incorporate new traditions into your holiday celebrations—especially traditions that celebrate and reinforce their cultural or ethnic heritage through their home country’s customs and traditions. This could involve broadening your holiday observance with special decorations, music, or foods that represent your child’s culture. These gestures not only communicate your interest in your child’s heritage but can also help your child feel at home.
Here is a sampling of some traditions from around the world that families can incorporate into their own Christmas celebrations:
- Tirana, the capital of Albania, displays a large, decorated Christmas tree, similar to the tree displayed each year in New York City’s Rockefeller Center. Let the children help select their favorite tree, and then help them put on as many decorations as they can fit!
- In Colombia, many of the traditions throughout the Christmas and New Year season are meant to bring good fortune in the new year. Some examples you could try include wearing new clothes on New Year’s Eve; eating 12 grapes during the final 12 seconds of the old year; wearing something yellow (typically underwear); and cleansing your home with eucalyptus leaves.
- On Christmas Eve in Lithuania, children are told old legends and predictions for the new year. A clear and starry sky on Christmas Eve is thought to predict a good year ahead. Talk to your children about their goals for the year ahead. Make predictions and put them in a jar. Read them aloud the next year to see how many of them came true.
- Christmas in South Africa is a summer holiday, so many families spend it at the beach, picnicking, or camping. If it is cold where you live, have an indoor picnic on blankets. “Camp out” overnight in the living room, or travel someplace where it is warm!
- In Uganda, Christmas (Sekukkulu) is celebrated with elaborate feasting and parties into the wee hours of the morning; so much so that everything is closed the day after Christmas. What does this mean for your household? Naps for everyone!
Traditions and customs don’t have to be reserved for the Christmas season. Here are some interesting holidays celebrated around the world that American families can incorporate into their own traditions:
- February: Lantern Festival in China
- March: Carnival in Brazil and Colombia; Human Rights Day in South Africa
- May: Children’s Day in South Korea
- June: Dragon Boat Festival in Taiwan
- August: National Heroes Day in the Philippines
- September: Finding of the True Cross in Ethiopia
Many countries around the world also celebrate international holidays apart from the major religious holidays, such as Christmas and Easter. This is an excellent way to bring cultures together. These days include International Women’s Day (celebrated in March); International Labor Day (in May); Boxing Day (in December); International Youth Day (in December); and the seasonal solstices and equinoxes.
You may wish to choose an unfamiliar holiday and learn about it together as a family. Whatever holidays you choose to honor, this is an excellent opportunity to incorporate your child’s culture into your everyday family life.
