Celebrations, Routines, & Traditions

This is one of my favorite, favorite, favorite things to do at Christmastime. I remember going to the Festival of Lights in my hometown with my family. We drove through the park and saw all of the beautiful light displays. We would also drive around local neighborhoods to see the lights. Take your family on … Read more

Start doing a puzzle tonight and work on it until Christmas. Set it up in the family room where you can all be together while doing it and also where people can work on it and still be involved with other things that are going on. Buy a new Christmas puzzle each year the day … Read more

Sometime during the day hide some candy or a small gift in each of your children’s shoes. At some point in the day, perhaps after dinner or right before bed, give one person a little package to open that will have a note inside saying something like: “For a bit of Christmas news, hurry and … Read more

Get lots of different kinds of candy in different colors and shapes, graham crackers, and frosting to make gingerbread houses. Let each member of the family make his or her own house and put them all together at the end to make a village. Here’s the recipe for the frosting: 2 egg whites 1 t. … Read more

Think of all your neighbors and acquaintances and invite someone to dinner. Try to think of someone who lives alone and who may not have family around during the holidays. Open up your home to this person and invite them to have dinner and share part of this Christmas season with your family. After dinner … Read more

If it has snowed recently where you live, build a snowman or go sledding. Sliding down a snowy hill on rubber inner-tubes is a fun activity we used to do in my family when I was a kid…just be careful because it can be dangerous! My sister broke her arm doing this (although we weren’t … Read more

…or pull up Pandora on your computer and listen to Christmas music from your favorite artist. If feasible for your family, go together to pick out a new Christmas CD. An old favorite of mine is called “A Jazzy Christmas in Dixie,” and a semi-new favorite is “Noel” by Josh Groban. Music does wonders for … Read more

Read Dickens’ A Christmas Carol together as a family. There are only 143 pages in the book so if you read about 7.5 pages a day, you’ll finish on Christmas Eve! OR read a children’s book together. Be sure to let everyone see all the pictures! One of my favorites is Jingle Bells by Iza … Read more