As parents, we understand that the journey from childhood to adolescence seems fleeting—the days are long, yet the years are short. It feels like one moment we are watching our children take their first steps and then we are quickly learning to handle mood swings, friendships, and academic pressure. During their junior and senior years, navigating this transition well means balancing our desire to protect them with their need for increased independence which may mean they fail and then learn.

As our children grow and become teenagers, it can be difficult for parents to accept the changes, especially during the holiday season. We hold on to the traditions we had through their early years and can find it challenging to figure out how to move forward and share similar experiences with our teens. While some of those traditions do not translate into “fun” for teenagers there are plenty of traditions that do! We want to help you engage your teenagers in holiday traditions that can be fun and make for some quality family time.

The holiday season can be such a magical time of year in Birmingham, Alabama. There are trips to the Birmingham Zoo to see the Christmas lights or going to the Alabama Theatre to watch the Nutcracker Ballet. There are plenty of opportunities to see Santa Claus, look at neighborhood Christmas lights, or visit a parade in the areas of Homewood, Vestavia Hills, and Mountain Brook. There are also the traditions at home of putting up the tree and decorations, making gingerbread houses, baking cookies, watching movies, and drinking hot chocolate.