Preserve the values ​​of the old Tet with your children

As someone who loves Tet (Vietnamese Lunar New Year) and always wants her children to understand its values ​​and meaning, Ms. Le Van Anh ( Hanoi ) always tries to preserve a bit of the traditional Tet atmosphere for her children by making banh chung (traditional rice cakes), lighting incense on New Year's Eve, performing the first-footing ritual, and visiting relatives and friends to wish them a Happy New Year…

Ms. Van Anh's eldest daughter taught me how to wrap banh chung (Vietnamese rice cakes).

From the beginning of the twelfth lunar month, Van Anh's family home has been bustling with preparations for Tet (Lunar New Year). She and her children clean and decorate the house, arranging vases of dahlias, peonies, peach blossoms, and apricot blossoms, and placing pots of chrysanthemums and poinsettias in front of the house, filling the space with the colors of spring.

Ms. Van Anh hopes to bring the atmosphere of Tet (Vietnamese Lunar New Year) from the past to her children.

"I always remember the Tet holidays when I was a child. Life was very difficult back then, so Tet was the most anticipated time. I got to make banh chung (traditional rice cakes), pound gio (pork sausage) with my grandparents and parents, go to the flower market, and especially wear my best clothes of the year to visit relatives and neighbors to wish them a Happy New Year. So when I got married and had children, I still wanted to preserve a little bit of the Tet atmosphere for my children by doing the old things I used to do, such as cleaning and decorating the house, making banh chung, lighting incense on New Year's Eve, first-footing, and visiting relatives and neighbors to wish them a Happy New Year...", Ms. Van Anh shared.

This Tet holiday, Ms. Van Anh boiled banh chung (traditional Vietnamese rice cakes) at night so that her children would have an unforgettable experience.

Even though she lives in Hanoi, every Tet holiday, the yard of Ms. Van Anh's house is ablaze with the fire of pots of banh chung (traditional Vietnamese rice cakes). This year, on the 24th day of the 12th lunar month, Ms. Van Anh and her children wrapped the cakes. "The children are usually given tasks like washing the banana leaves, rinsing the rice, cutting the leaves according to the shape, then watching the adults wrap the cakes and learning by pouring the rice, adding the beans… Gradually, in recent years, the older children have been able to wrap a complete banh chung on their own. The children also always help their parents prepare firewood for boiling the banh chung," Ms. Van Anh recounted.

Ms. Van Anh lets her children experience "the Lunar New Year".

Ms. Van Anh said that every year her family usually boils banh chung (traditional Vietnamese rice cakes) during the day so as not to disturb the children's sleep. But this year, her children had a truly memorable experience. "Because I remembered the feeling of sitting and watching the pot of banh chung on the cold and sleepy New Year's Eve with my grandfather and father, this year I also lit the fire as soon as it got dark. I wanted my children and the whole family to experience an unforgettable atmosphere."

Ms. Van Anh always wants her children to have meaningful and memorable Tet experiences with their family.

As someone who never teaches her children dogmatically, Ms. Van Anh lets her children experience the essence of Tet (Vietnamese New Year) and its values ​​through concrete actions. "Because Tet is about family reunion, every year, the whole family goes back to their paternal and maternal grandparents' homes. Tet is a time to connect with our roots, strengthen family bonds, and foster community spirit, so the children get to visit ancestral graves and wish relatives and neighbors a happy New Year. This helps them see that during Tet, people become closer, and everyone wants to share good wishes, joy, and happiness," Ms. Van Anh shared.

Source: https://phunuvietnam.vn/cung-con-gin-giu-nhung-gia-tri-cua-tet-xua-20250124090438327.htm