Community caroling

We went carolling again this year, which we're making a family tradition.

We keep it simple.  We invite people to come and bring a snack to share.  We sing popular songs that the kids know.  We have egg nog, hot chocolate, and mulled cider (with a shot of apricot brandy for the adults).  We try to keep it as relaxed and laid back as we can.

Most of all, we try to make it inclusive.  After all, the point of carolling is to connect with our neighbours in a way that isn't always possible, to offer them the gift of our time and our voices, to remind them that they are a valued part of our community.  In a culture where people are too often quite isolated from their neighbours, carolling becomes an opportunity to make connections.

So I was thrilled when we sang to one of our neighbours, somebody I knew only from handing out free dill from our garden one day this past fall, and he asked whether he could come with us to finish up our carolling. The kids only lasted another house or two, but he came by our house for snacks afterwards, and we had a great conversation that lasted well after most of my other guests had already gone home.

This is the kind of home and community that I want for my kids.  I want them to live a life that actually engages with the people around them so that they can build strong families and communities of their own. There are other ways to do this besides carolling, of course, but in one way or another our children need to know that they don't have to be isolated and alone, that there are people as close as the house next door, and that a friendship might be discovered in the simple act of sharing a song.

Luke Hill is a stay-at-home father of three boys, aged nine, seven, and three.  He has fathered, fostered, adopted, or provided a temporary home for kids anywhere between birth and university.  He has taught college courses, adoption seminars, camp groups, Sunday School classes, rugby teams, not to mention his own homeschooled kids.