I read somewhere from a list of things families should do with their kids before the kids grow up that you should try celebrating a holiday that you don't normally celebrate. I couldn't have read this suggestion at a better time because last year's Disney movie, Coco, was such a beautiful movie that it made me want to do Day of the Dead with my family.
There's the fun of the face paint, the decorations, and those skull cookies, but really the day was to be a day of remembrance of family no longer with us. I feel Coco did such a wonderful job showing this and was extremely heart-warming, if not occasionally heart-breaking. How better to tell your kids about your grandparents, your aunts and uncles, maybe even your parents. Everybody they never got a chance to meet. Long ago, histories and tales were passed through generations by storytelling, word of mouth recollections. Today's world is so busy with smart phones, Internet, and video games that this tradition seems to be dying a bit. Going the way of the love letter. I'm sure you occasionally tell a story of that one time that one relative did that one thing as something reminds you about that story.
However, to sit down and look at pictures, telling stories about each person is more meaningful, more impactful. It's special. It gives a place of meaning to those who have passed and, in a small way, lets the next generation know about the people of their lineage. That way, those people can be more than a photo in a book to them. Plus, if you do it as a celebration with decoration and food and face paint, your kids are definitely going to take notice and remember that day!
We painted up the kids...well, just one. The other one didn't want to get his face painted again so quickly after Halloween. I will have to call foul on the realism in Coco though. They painted the kid's face to look like a skeleton, then pulled on the red hoodie...without getting the white makeup on the hood. After doing this in real life, I call that impossible!
Then, we went to the grandparents houses with pictures in hand and asked them to tell us stories. You may face a bit of sadness as people try to remember their lost loved ones, but in our case, the grandparents appreciated us wanting to pass the stories to our children, to show them their roots. We heard tales of great grandparents, great uncles, great aunts. We heard sad stories and hilarious ones. The storytelling grandparents laughed and teared up during the reminiscing. Tears may have been shed, but we and they loved the whole experience.
So, trying a new holiday was a big win. My kids loved it and didn't want the stories to end. They have a new appreciation for people they barely met or never met at all. Day of the Dead may not be the holiday you choose when trying something new, but that doesn't matter. Stepping outside of your comfort zone, out of what you know, will give you an understanding of other cultures, other traditions, and will likely leave you wanting to try even more traditions and holidays. You may even find a new favorite family tradition to add to your yearly list. I know we did!
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