Candle Pass & Little Easter

 

Our family has moved several times across multiple states over the last seven years and I’ve been blessed to meet mothers of all walks of life with great advice to give.

I thought maybe it would be helpful to share a few of the tips I’ve learned along the way.

In my last post, I talked about the meal matrix our family uses. Along a similar line of thought is our weekly “fancy feast.”

Growing up, Sunday dinners were always a special occasion. Usually, my grandparents would join us for a delicious home-cooked meal followed by some sort of dessert. 

We’ve continued the tradition of Sunday being a day for a good home-cooked meal, and we’ve added setting the table to make it a “fancy” feast. Most days, this simply means we throw down a tablecloth before setting down our normal dishes. We always light candles to set the mood (but you could use plastic light-up candles!), and we use the meal as a chance to practice etiquette rules and table setting!

I learned recently that every Sunday is a chance to celebrate a "Little Easter," which made me love our "fancy feast" even more. There have been weeks where our fancy feast is our brunch instead of dinner. This works just as well! 

(You can download this free table setting activity here. If you laminate it and use Velcro dots, your child can match the table setting over and over again. Or simply cut out the pieces and ask the child to practice placing the items in the correct places!)

At the end of our meal, before dessert (which is usually either a fruit crisp or a bowl of ice cream), we say our nighttime prayer which includes prayer intentions. My children love using a candle snuffer to put out the flames with each intention they share (I put out five or six votives on a small tray). The kids like to watch their intentions rise to Heaven! 

When the kids are older, I hope to start "candle pass" prayer, just as I experienced with the group I traveled to Africa with. Each person takes turns sharing words of gratitude and prayer intentions before passing the candle to the next person. Super simple, but something about passing a candle is so powerful!

We’ve really enjoyed making Sunday family dinners so special even though clean up is a little more than a typical night! 

What special traditions does your family have? I always love getting new ideas! Consider sending me your favorite one at catholiccoffeeshop@gmail.com