Advent Adventure: An Orange for Frankie
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An Orange for Frankie is probably one of my very favorite Christmas stories. I hope you fall in love with the Stowell family like we did. Enjoy (and have tissues ready)!
An Orange for Frankie
Another delightful tale from Patricia Polacco’s family! This one takes place during the Great Depression and recounts the generosity of Patricia’s grandmother, Stella’s younger brother, Frankie. This story of generosity, family and tradition is exactly what I want to instill in my children. We have loved this story for a long time, but we do brace ourselves as we always cry at the end (I did, just now, re-reading it). But these are good tears of gratitude for a beautiful life, a real life. Oranges will be on the menu for sure.
Giving away something you love
Frankie’s lesson in gift giving is immeasurable. One tradition I grew up with but have let go of was to give away one thing I loved. I think it is time to reinstate this tradition. Similar to a white elephant, each member of the household would give Mom a cherished possession and Mom would redistribute them. Unless the giver had a specific recipient in mind, of course. This is hard. It really is but it teaches us generosity and observation. Often it was so touching to receive something that I had wished for from one of my sisters. This exercise in generosity will strengthen not only our generosity but also our family bond.
Even the poor has something to give
You are never too poor that you do not have anything to give. It might not be a physical object but we all have talents that we can volunteer, time to give, or even simply a prayer to pray. As a family, brainstorm what you could give, no matter what it will cost you something, but you will also bless someone else in ways that you could not with just money. Generosity, and I am not talking about financial generosity only, is a gift that keeps giving. It really gives twice: once to the recipient but also to the giver. Seeing the joy or relief of the recipient gives the giver a tremendous present.
Traditions
Family traditions are so lovely, wonderful and important. Children thrive with traditions, they know what to expect and are awaiting it with eagerness. Traditions are what binds a family together. No matter how beautiful, quirky or silly the tradition, that is what families are made of. What is your dearest family tradition during this season? If you do not have one, what could become a tradition? (See the Advent Calendar for ideas).
Bake and decorate cookies
A craft and a recipe all in one for this picture book! Create your own Christmas decorations! Jan Brett’s Gingerbread Baby recipe is very yummy! And the dough can be made into any shape or form you could wish for! We love this icing for decorating alongside these markers. These pinecone shaped gingerbread cookies would be so fun in a tree too.
You could also strand together garlands of popcorn and berries. These are so easy to make!
Popcorn: Pop some corn, let cool down. With needle and thread string the popcorn together to the desired length.
Berry (and other delicacies) garland: This requires a little more preparation as the berries or slices of oranges or lemon have to be dried first, but it is still one of my favorite Christmas tree decorations!
Let your imagination run wild, enjoy a quiet and simple family evening decorating cookies and stringing popcorn. Put them directly on the tree, unless you are being very good and waiting for the right time to decorate. If that’s the case, you should probably eat the cookies sooner rather than later or they’ll be stale. (And there you go, a new family tradition.)
Very blessed Advent!
Love,
Mattie
