Some years, today is swapped with the 22nd and this would be the Winter Solstice (or “Yule”).  But this year the Solstice falls on the 22nd and so today is Children’s Day.  This is really more a Shambala Buddhist custom that often includes giving gifts to children.  After all, Christmas Day is not a holiday for them.  Here is a good account of how one American Buddhist parent recalls Children’s Day growing up.

In our house… it is just a day that we give a great deal more freedom to our kids.  They don’t have to do their chores (we don’t stop them–but we don’t remind them, either) and we leave our own chores aside to participate more in what the kids want to do more often than we would.  The point is to make them the focus of the day.  We don’t really offer our kids up carte blanche, we just don’t bug them about their responsibilities and we leave ours alone to create more time than usual to play or do what THEY want to do.

We actually do this a little bit each day; but this is a full day of that.  Try it!  And let me know what your day looks like, what kinds of feelings you felt, what challenges you faced in this attempt, and what your takeaways are from the experience!