Lunar New Year

It’s the Year of the Tiger! 

But why am I posting today instead of February 1st? Well, the celebration is for 15 days, and when I was a Cub Scout Leader, I would celebrate with my boys on the first Monday after the Lunar New Year started.

I started doing a Chinese New Year Celebration 10 years ago. At the time there was a Language and Culture Belt Loop and Pin that they could earn. We lived in a predominantly Spanish-speaking area, so most of the boys either knew Spanish or Latin American cultures and I thought it would be interesting for them to learn some things about a completely different culture. 

 The first year, 2012 was the Year of the Dragon, and that first year I only had a den of six boys. They colored dragon masks and we put streamers on them plus, I read the Story of the Zodiac and worked through the requirements which included teaching them some words.

Through the years, it evolved. The belt loop and pin were discontinued however, I always read the Zodiac Story, and they always made a dragon mask. I also included coloring pages with that year’s Zodiac animal, and the last few years my husband either made plain chow mein noodles, potstickers, or we brought some in. Of course, the boys had fortune cookies, too.

I updated the “calendar” so the boys knew what animal they were (caution for late January and early February birthdays, the New Year is based on the Lunar year, so it rotates around, just like Easter, so you need to actually look it up, to see what year/animal you fall under). 

The boys always looked forward to the night and enjoyed making the masks since it was one of our “fun” nights where we all hung out together. Of course, all the siblings could participate, too. 

Since I started in 2012, and there are twelve animals in the Zodiac, and I am no longer a Cub Scout Leader, we didn’t get through all twelve~ 🐭 🐮 🐯 🐰🐲🐍🐎🐑🐒🐔 🐶 & 🐷. 

This year we would have celebrated my husband since those born in 1974 are Tigers! Which has always been one of my favorite animals😁

According to Chinese lore, Tigers are, “Brave, competitive, unpredictable, and confident. They are very charming and well-liked by others. But sometimes they are likely to be impetuous, irritable, and overindulgent. They have stubborn personalities and tough judgment, Tigers work actively and express themselves boldly, doing things in a high-handed manner. They are authoritative and never go back on what they have said.” 

My husband in a nutshell! Do you know what Year you were born under?

 FYI, I'm a 🐴