ok, so this christmas is particularly exciting this year (at least in my opinion)for our family. every year since troy and i have been married we have to pack up everything and head over to family's houses...depending on the year. don't get me wrong- i LOVE spending time with family especially during the holidays! i just have never enjoyed the whole prospect of having to pack kids, clothes, bedding and other travel essentials ALONG with presents especially ones that have to stay hidden...making sure certain things don't get squished or damaged in some way. and then UNpacking once we are at our destination and trying to keep things hidden in small quarters away from a bunch of eager and curious children's eyes. so THIS year we are actually staying home until christmas morning! it is time that we get to start our own traditions and such for our own growing family. i can't wait to have the kids wake up in their own beds and head out to the tree to see what santa had left! ahhhh...memories of childhood!
so...my question to you all is: what are some of your christmas traditions??
i want this time of the year to be enjoyable for our family and i want my kids to be able to look forward to more than just presents, music and decorations!
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
tis the season!
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The pj's that are left on the front porch by the elves on Christmas eve! Even the older kids were stumped last year.
There's the new ornament for each family member each year...I prefer to do homemade ones cuz then they're more sentimental.
You could do the 12 days of Christmas for a family--there are MANY variations of this. (I have a pretty cool one that has to do with the Nativity.) But it's a good way for your kids to learn that Christmas isn't about "me-me-me!"
You could do some sort of cookie exchange with people in your neighborhood/ward. Everyone bakes one kind of cookie and brings a batch and the recipe to your house--then you end up with 10 different kinds of cookies and recipes. Make it a fun Christmas party while you're at it--sings songs, play games, etc.
Or you could have the girls (especially as they get older, but it'd work now) each pick some Christmas treat they want to bake/make and really involve them in making it. Then they could have that to look forward to. You could take little plates of this stuff to kids in their primary classes or other families around you.
Or you could do "Christmas Saturdays". For each Saturday )or Friday) in Dec., leading up to Christmas, you could have each girl pick a Christmas treat to make and movie to watch that evening (before bedtime, obviously).
Since you live further away from the Temple, you could plan a day you go see the lights...including hot chocolate "at Gramma's"...maybe this could be the day when you take the girls to get little cheap gifts for each other or someone in need--like the Angel Trees at the mall.
There are really all sorts of things you could do. Just try to think of what you want your family to get out of Christmas--what you want them to grow up thinking Christmas is about and what you want them looking forward to in the Christmas season.
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