Making Special Holiday Traditions

 MAKING SPECIAL HOLIDAY TRADITIONS

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Let me start by saying there is no such thing as having a perfect Christmas holiday. If you worry about making everything perfect, then expect to be burned out really fast. It is all about what works for you and your family at the time. Traditions are nice yet I find it interesting to change things up some every year or so.

Some of the holiday traditions my family chooses work for us most of the time. And sometimes, we make them up as we go. In other words, no one gets bent out of shape if some things change. Change is good.

The ideas that we work with are some that you and your family may have for your own... 

It is fun for some of us to make our own Christmas cards, bake Christmas cookies and make Gingerbread houses. And it can be fun to load up the car to see the Christmas lights or go to a Christmas Eve service.

 

On Christmas Eve, before we all gather for a Christmas movie to watch together (we all agree on one but many times it is The Polar Express) we enjoy a take out dinner from our favorite Chinese restaurant.

We can write a note to Santa and leave out him some cookies and of course, some reindeer food.

Then it is time to end the exciting fun-filled evening with a book to help us try to get some sleep on this special night.

We all wake up to the chatter of the children and find out what Santa surprised all of us with. Quite a long and fun drawn out affair. We actually take a little break to get our matching shirts on and have our special French Toast casserole that was made the night before and popped into the oven to cook, along with fresh croissants and fruit. YUM!

It always is a special day and no matter what is going on or NOT going on that is the usual tradition...it is just a wonderful family time.

This year we were breaking tradition a bit in that after this main event, four family members were headed to another set of grandparents for Christmas there. I was invited, however, I was also invited out with friends who have been celebrating Christmas at a movie and then out to dinner. I thought that this was a perfect time to try a new tradition. It worked for all. Even when the love of my life was celebrating Christmas with me, the two of us mixed things up at times. At times we had none of our children with us on the actual day, we changed things up and made reservations for a late afternoon lunch and thoroughly enjoyed the change. Attitudes...they matter. Go with the flow...

So my advice is to never discount the opportunities to make special holiday traditions of your own. It is a good thing!