As the holidays approach, families tend to go back year after year to the traditions they embraced from their parents or those that they have created. Some families choose Christmas Eve to pause in the midst of the excitement and read the traditional holiday tale. Others attend a candlelight service or a midnight service at their church of choice. Here are a few other ideas to consider for a special holiday evening with the family:
Your family can pump up the holiday spirit by going door to door singing carols. It doesn't matter how well you sing as long as you have fun doing it. If you're fortunate, your neighbors will follow invite you in for a hot drink and cookies. You can also take the family to a nearby senior living center and go singing from room to room. You'll make such a difference in the lives of shut-ins plus share a lesson in caring for others with your kids.
When your family lives far from grandparents, spend time after dinner looking at albums. Use these to show the children what it was like at your home as a child. Let the photos remind you of stories to tell them about relatives that they have never met. Then show the photos of your kid's first holidays and tell those endearing yet embarrassing (to the teenagers) stories.
Gather in the kitchen and decorate sugar cookies together. Give everyone six cookies, tubes of icing, sprinkles, shaved coconut and small chocolate chips to create their masterpieces. You can also decorate a gingerbread house that's already constructed and use it for the centerpiece of Christmas dinner table.
After weeks of guessing what's under the tree, you can give each person a chance to choose one gift to open before going to bed. It's always fun to see who chooses the largest box and who chooses the smallest box. As the wrapper, you can make this even more fun by hiding a small one in a large box or wrapping a sweater rolled in a postal tube instead of the predictable size and shape.
To persuade the children to get to sleep at a decent hour, wrap a special present for each child that's tagged "must open that night." That's cozy flannel pajamas and a small toy. The instruction inside the gift reads, "Santa's getting closer! Time to go to bed so he can stop by your house! Love, Santa's Elves." The rule is that every little one has to be in bed before the Elves send the "all clear" signal.
As the kids get older, they enjoy filling stockings for the parents too. Give them a time before bed to fill the parents' stockings and hide them in the living room.
Then after the kids go to bed, the parents start their official holiday duties. When the house is quiet, this is an ideal time to finish the tasks with coffee and quiet time together as a couple.
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