Mid Autumn Festival
Three years ago I made this post with some articles about how China would be celebrating the holiday.
I also talked a bit about how our family celebrates, and talked about how I used this holiday to think about GlitterGirl’s birth family. I wonder if they are looking at the moon and wondering where she is, hoping she is happy. At the time, I looked at the moon and thought about the child we didn’t yet have, as well. Now, I look at the moon and think of both of their birthfamilies. And I’m so thankful that both of these little girls are in my life. I wish there was a way to let their original families know that they are happy and healthy and… wonderful.
I also talked about our tradition of buying Moon Pies for the occasion, since no one really likes the mooncakes. We still buy mooncakes from an Asian bakery, but they don’t get eaten, not more than a couple of bites, anyway. They’re so pretty, everyone seems to need a bite or two in order to remind themselves that they don’t really like them. The Moon Pies, on the other hand, seem to disappear.
Last night as GlitterGirl and I were walking to the car after her extracurricular stuff she looked up and saw the moon, just a few days away from being full. I reminded her this weekend was the Moon Festival and her response was a jump with an arm pump and a cheer about being able to stay up past her bedtime.
But I guess that’s mostly what kids get out of holidays – the food, and the ability to skirt rules that have to be observed the rest of the year. I talk to the girls about the various stories and traditions around the holiday, and eventually I’m sure that will be as important as the fact that they get to stay up past their bedtimes and eat Moon Pies.
October 2nd, 2009 at 8:50 am
RQ-
Any chance you could point us to some sites with information about the various stories and traditions around the holiday?
Thanks,
M2I
http://www.MyChineseShamrock.blogspot.com
October 2nd, 2009 at 9:57 am
Sure, a quick search turned up these sites:
http://www.familyculture.com/holidays/moonlady.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mid-Autumn_Festival
http://chinesefood.about.com/od/mooncake/a/moonfestival.htm
I also recommend Moonbeams, Dumplings & Dragon Boats
October 2nd, 2009 at 11:23 am
Thanks RQ for the links, I look forward to reading through these!
I’d also love to hear any traditions, ideas, crafts that any of you do to celebrate. I’m still a long ways off but if there are things I can do, make, or collect now….might as well use this time.
Also, thanks “theadair6″ for bringing up age and Sophie_Mom (and others that have shared) regarding being older and not giving up…..I needed to hear that as I often wonder if I’m crazy! :)
Another topic suggestion is hearing from those already home or close to it of things they wish they’d done/not done while waiting?
Have a great weekend everyone!
October 2nd, 2009 at 2:00 pm
I think it is great that you have adapted the festival to suit family tastes! I bought “Moonbeams, Dumplings and Dragonboats” and was very impressed by the quality of the information all told in a very approachable manner.
October 2nd, 2009 at 6:07 pm
We don’t like moon pies either, so instead I make small round cakes that we like. The point for us is that we eat “round things”. We also put up Chinese things on the wall, and we look at the moon and think of the childrens’ birth families.
October 2nd, 2009 at 7:40 pm
I remember you writing that post 3 years ago…and we are still waiting for our 1 and probably only child again this year-with several more moon festivals to go with an 08/16/06 LID….
And just because your girls get excited and say it may be because they “stay up late”, don’t think that’s all holidays really mean to them. I remember saying the same thing to my mom at her age, but in my heart-I LOVED the family bonding and how special the traditions and holidays felt. THAT was what really mattered to me-though staying up late was always a plus too!! It’s that togetherness I hope to pass on to my own child once home-the other stuff is just a physical way of showing it!
October 2nd, 2009 at 9:57 pm
Just curious…since your girls are American (or Finnish, or Swedish, or French, or whatever), do you celebrate your own national holidays with just as much vigor? I am a bit conflicted about this matter… Should one double up on holidays, or just do “ours”, or just do “theirs”?
October 2nd, 2009 at 10:00 pm
Just curious…do you celebrate two sets of holidays? Chinese holidays as well as your own national holidays? My grandparents were immigrants from the Ukraine, but my father grew up as an “American”, not a “Ukrainian-American”. Should my daughter grow up the same way?
October 2nd, 2009 at 11:58 pm
I’ve been castigated for substituting Ding Dongs for mooncakes, but my girls love our unique tradition of eating Ding Dongs, lighting red lanterns, and running around the park in the dark with their friends after we look at the moon and talk about people we love not with us.
October 3rd, 2009 at 3:02 pm
We are leaving next month to bring our daughter home. Just curious…do you all celebrate Chinese holidays and your country’s holidays as well? My grandparents emigrated from Ukraine to the United States, and my father was raised as an American (not a Ukrainian-American). They did NOT carry on their “home country” traditions in their new country.
October 3rd, 2009 at 4:02 pm
I’m too much of a mutt to have many traditions from my heritage countries, although I’m sure many of my family traditions originated in Germany or England or wherever. (And we do wear green on St. Patrick’s Day, although I’m not Irish.) So we celebrate our family and American holidays & traditions and also celebrate the Autumn Moon Festival and the Chinese New Year. I know we don’t celebrate the Chinese holidays the same way or as big as they do in China, but we’ve found our own way to mark the days, and we read about what is done in China. I know there are more holidays in China we don’t celebrate, too. Personally, I think that more families who came over should have passed on their traditions and language. Having variety enriches us all and links us to our past.
October 3rd, 2009 at 5:56 pm
We do all our holidays………… American, Irish, Italian, Polish and Chinese. Some unique to a country, like Moon Festival and St Pats Day. Some we incorporate our families beginnings and food into the Day, like Christmas and Easter.
October 5th, 2009 at 10:23 am
this was our first Moon Festival celebration with our baby, home about a month now. So we got some moon pies in London’s Chinatown and I LIKED the Lotus ones!! so did baby! no one else did. And we figure, we’ll celebrate anything, we’ll be citizens of the world, we eat Chinese food and celebrate!! it can be FUN, educational and we all learn something! Enjoy! Would have let fly a chinese lantern but the weather wouldn’t allow it… maybe next celebration? .3