Clockwise from top left: Brenda Hackbarth, Scott Hackbarth, Phillip Hackbarth (7)
Brenda Hackbarth is a teacher at Yew Chung International School (YCIS) Beijing. Together with husband Scott she has five sons, two daughters-in-law, a granddaughter, and a grandson on the way! The grown up children though have been left back home in Minnesota, and only seven-year-old Philip is with them in Beijing.
Do you celebrate Christmas?
My husband and I have each celebrated Christmas with our respective families our entire lives, and we have also celebrated with our own children and grandchild their entire lives.
What do you tell your children about Santa Claus?
We don’t really make a big deal about Santa Claus, because the culture and television do a good job of promoting him! When our children have asked about Santa Claus, we have always told them that he is an example of what we should all be, not just during Christmas time, but all year long…selfless. We try to stress the GIVING of gifts at Christmas and not the GETTING.
When do you start preparing for Christmas?
I’ve always liked to have the house decorated for Christmas after the beginning of December. I enjoy Thanksgiving, so I like keeping those decorations around for a while. I have become a minimalist through the years; we used to spend many days, hours, or weeks on preparation, but then realized that the day comes and goes and the children focus on the little things and not the big things. Having them give input into what they enjoyed for traditions really helped us to make the holiday season meaningful for them. One of the traditions I took from my family was making special breads for Christmas morning. My mother always did it, and so did I, until one year I assumed it was not that important to our children and chose not to incorporate it into our year. The children voiced their unhappiness about this and I’ve continued the tradition since then.
Do you stay in Beijing, or visit family?
This is our first experience of being expats, and we’ve never in our lives spent a Christmas season without our children. It will be a different experience, but we hope that it will encourage them to start their own traditions with their families. Because of the cost and time, we felt that we would wait until summer to go back to the US to visit. We will, indeed, be spending Christmas in Beijing or somewhere in Asia.
What sort of presents do your children get?
Presents are very minimal. The children draw names and get one or two gifts for each other, and we give them a few. We usually try to focus on things that have some comical meaning or something they really want. We have tried to do silly things, too, like have clues hidden around the house to help them find their gifts. Or follow the string to their gift. We hope that the children enjoy the fun of being together more than the THINGS themselves.
Left to right: Steve yin, Anna Yin (4), Jenny Tu
Beijingers Jenny Tu and Steve Yin are busy people. Yin works for a Chinese corporation, in charge of overseas energy investment, while Tu is employed by a British transnational company, and in her spare time organizes all kinds of child-friendly events for families. Their daughter Anna is four years old.
Do you celebrate Christmas?
We regard Christmas more for kids. It’s a good occasion to introduce western culture. Last year, my daughter couldn’t relate Christmas to the birth of Jesus Christ. Her favorite part was Santa Claus and all the gifts. Most of her Christmas ideas come from the cartoons she watches, like Peppa Pig. Last year, I organized a Christmas family party for her playmates. Santa came, and all the kids got a present. The children gave presents to each other and they were all very happy.
What do you tell her about Santa Claus?
For my daughter, Santa Claus is a lovely old man. All the good kids will get a present from him.
But she also has doubts: how can Santa know I was being naughty or good? Does he have a telescope? Santa is also magical; he can fly on a sleigh with his reindeer. A few days ago, my daughter said that she wanted to see Santa right away. She said she can make this come true by waving her magic wand.
When do you start preparing for Christmas?
Last year, I started preparing for Christmas two weeks before Christmas, since we were having a party. This year, she is old enough to know that Santa comes at night, and she wants to stay up all night waiting for Santa and her present. So we will hang up a stocking by her bed, and she will have a surprise on Christmas morning.
Do you stay in Beijing, or visit family?
Most Chinese parents have to work on Christmas Day, so we usually celebrate Christmas in Beijing. When our daughter grows older, we might want to take her abroad to celebrate Christmas.
What sort of presents does your child get?
Last year, my kid was 3 and her present was a Christmas-themed toy box. This year, I will ask her what she wants. If she has no clear idea, we will give her toys or picture books as gifts.
What family traditions do you have?
My husband and I are both Chinese, so we celebrate Chinese Spring Festival, and other Chinese traditional festivals like QingMing Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, Mid-Autumn Day, Children’s Day, and National Holiday. At Chinese Spring Festival, we make dumplings and stay up late waiting for the first day of the Lunar New Year. Since we live in Beijing, and we are far away from our parents and relatives, we don’t do much visiting during the holiday.
We go out to eat at restaurants on holidays. If the weather is good, we will play outside but we enjoy indoor activities when the weather is bad.
This article originally appeared on page 39 of the November/ December issue of beijingkids magazine. Click here for your free online copy. To find out how you can obtain a hard copy, contact distribution@truerun.com.
PHOTOS: COURTESY OF BRENDA HACKBARTH, JENNY TU
