Where Christmas Traditions Come From & How to Talk With Children

When you go to a restaurant, there are some things you may not want to touch. Why? Well, because they are crawling with germs and just kinda gross. This episode begins with a look at the germiest things in restaurants. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/19/germ-infested-areas-restaurants_n_2159281.html Christmas is chock full of traditions. We wrap Christmas gifts and put them under a tree, we eat Christmas foods, we sing Christmas songs, we send Christmas cards and on and on. Where did these traditions come from? Here with the backstories of some of your favorite holiday traditions is Brian Earl. He is host of the Christmas Past podcast https://christmaspastpodcast.com/podcast/ and author of the book Christmas Past: The Fascinating Stories Behind Our Favorite Holiday’s Traditions (https://amzn.to/3FoB3bt). If you love Christmas, you will want to hear this conversation. Talking with children is different than talking to other adults – or at least it should be. That’s the message from my guest Rebecca Rolland, a speech pathologist, Harvard lecturer, and author of the book The Art of Talking with Children (https://amzn.to/3Y2nYgd). Since there is a good chance you’ll spending time with children during the holidays (yours or someone else’s) this discussion will come in very handy and give you some insight into how to have great conversations with kids that benefits them and you.  Ever see that sign in the store that says, “Buy one, get one free”? Sounds tempting but is it really a good deal or could it be a trap? Listen as I explain some retail psychology at work that you should be aware of. http://www.businessinsider.com/7-way-stores-trick-you-into-making-impulse-purchases-2012-5?op=1 PLEASE SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS! Go to https://CozyEarth.com/SOMETHING to SAVE 40% now!  All backed by a 100-Night Sleep Guarantee. Tune in to Planet Money every week for entertaining stories and insights about how money shapes our world! Listen now to Planet Money from NPR -- wherever you get your podcasts.https://www.npr.org/section