Happy New Year!!!

Yes, I know that it’s technically still 2010, but we’re close enough to start thinking about how to celebrate. If you are a parent, grandparent, aunt or uncle, you might be wondering about how to make this holiday meaningful and fun to children. I recently came up with one idea I’m going to try with Finian and Olivia (now ages 9 and 6): Create a New Year’s Time Capsule. In fact, I just wrote about this for my latest (and very last) Sesame Family Newsletter, published by Sesame Workshop.

Since 2003, I’ve shared my parenting adventures online via Sesame Workshop. (If you’re curious to browse my past columns, you can visit my archive of Sesame Workshop Columns (2003-2010).

One of the best parts about Chanukah (besides the fact that it gives me an excuse to sing Tom Lehrer’s great song I’m Spending Hanukkah in Santa Monica) is reliving happy memories of celebrating this holiday as a child.

No, that’s not a photo of me and my family. But this scene from a Sesame Street episode is here because I just wrote another edition of the Sesame Family Newsletter which was published online a few days ago. The topic is “Celebrating Chanukah…Even If You’re Not Jewish”

Wishing you all a wonderful December!

JDB

Happy December! And Happy Chanukkah to those out there who celebrate this holiday!

As many of you know, since 2003, I’ve been writing a monthly parenting column for Sesame Workshop. The latest one was recently published and thought you’d enjoy it. The topic, about which I consider myself one of the foremost authorities, is PARENTING MISTAKES. Hope you find it entertaining and reassuring. I’d love to hear your reactions, especially any stories you care to share. (You can start your embarrassing story by saying, “A friend of mine …” and I promise to be totally fooled.)