Creating Memorable Holiday Traditions

When I was a kid, Christmas was a magical time. I loved the lights and the excitement of waiting for Santa to come. To me, during this time of year, anything was possible.

The winter snow brought a peaceful calm and a feeling of newness to everything around me.

Because of these memories, it is important to me to try to insure that my own kids have wonderful holiday memories. As I shared in my last post, I enjoy decorating but not the stress it creates, and this year has been amazing. Since I had all of my Christmas decorations up before Thanksgiving, I have been able to relax more and enjoy the season.

This year, I am trying to focus more on creating memories spent on time we spend together. I am planning a pajama movie marathon Sunday and have asked the kids what traditions we have had that matter the most to them. They love getting their Christmas pajamas, making cookies, and having a Christmas breakfast, so we will continue to do those things. This year, we have added holiday crafts, and because I am not the most Pinteresty person (I’m more of a Pinterest fail kind of lady), we are keeping the crafts low key and fun.

It is no surprise, that as a librarian, my favorite tradition centers around holiday books. Over the years, I have acquired quite a few children’s Christmas books, and we read one or two every night. On Christmas Eve, we read “The Night Before Christmas” and get ready for Santa to surprise us. This year, I found a book that I wanted to share entitled “How Winston Delivered Christmas” by Alex T. Smith. This story is meant to be read throughout the month of December, a chapter a night. The chapters are interspersed with craft ideas that have to do with Winston, the mouse. What I am enjoying is that we stop and recap the story from the night before and predict where we are heading next. These are skills that our children need as readers, and we are able to share this heart-warming story, while strengthening their literacy skills.

Whatever traditions you have, I hope you will choose the ones that bring you the most joy this season, and give yourself permission to stop those that you “should” do and bring you stress. Find the magic and joy in the season you had as a child and slow down long enough to soak it in and share it with your kids.