- Put on as background music, A Chipmunk Christmas.
- Put out a plate of cookies in the middle of the day.
- Make up at least one gag gift.
- Invite dogs and cats into the gift-wrapping process.
- Invite toddlers into the gift-wrapping process.
- Go for a drive at night and look at Christmas lights.
- Keep a pot of apple cider simmering, all day long.
- Let the six-year-old help decorate—cookies, the tree, the packages.
- Take the crankiest child on a little excursion, just the two of you, and ask for help picking out a present or ornament or book.
- Dance around the house to “Jingle Bell Rock” and other oldies.
- Go to the skating rink.
- Help a neighbor put up lights or shovel snow.
- Take Christmas cards, ornaments, or goodies to senior citizens you know.
- Choose one day to sleep late and follow absolutely no agenda.
- Make a date with a good friend (that may be your significant other)—just the two of you to have coffee or window shop or walk in the forest preserve.
- Watch at least three Christmas movies.
How do you have fun during this season? Share your insights in the comments section.
{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
I turn off all but Christmas lights, light candles, turn on Christmas music and just sit and remember when I was a child at Christmas.
I do the same! I remember getting up in the middle of the night when I was a kid and going to the living room and just looking at the lit-up Christmas tree.
Its funny rading the post but I have done this every Christmas ..this year i am getting tickets for A Christmas Carol ….
That’s a great idea–I did that a couple years ago and took the 12-yr-old along, just the two of us–great fun.
That dancing stuff works especially when you do it backwards around the living room. I found to my eternal amazement that it put me into such a good mood, my writer hormones got stirred up and I did more work that day than I had in the previous month.
Yayyy for stirred-up writer hormones!
Thanks for list, Vinita.
I have added a few things for myself and my own situation and will print it for the fridge.
If the men are grouchy and they really want to watch Bad Santa, I say let ‘em. Not in my presence of course, but perhaps without my usual lecture about brain rot from horribly bad movies.
I’ll be off cross-country skiing on the nature trails, and will have my revenge by hogging the screen to watch Little Women later on.
Cheryl, you have the right approach! Blessings on the ski trail . . .
Our Parish Priest reminds us that Christmas starts only on the 24th and should go on until Epiphany. Our decorations and lights should come on at that time. And if we want to leave the decorations and lights on, to go until the Presentation of our Lord on February 2. In Advent, he says, is a time for waiting. The anticipation should be spent in prayer and other good deeds…which also means being in a good mood for everyone.
Thanks for your post, Jasmine. It’s unfortunate that the cultural calendar is so out-of-sync with the Christian one. We do leave our tree up at least until Epiphany. Figuring out how to do all this well is an ongoing process. Peace to you–Vinita
This advent my two daughters and myself will take a Sunday to attend the Nutcracker performance and then enjoy the rest the evening together with dinner, just MOM and her girls.
sounds wonderful!
Well — my tree has been up for a few days. How and when did the Christmas tree become symbolic for that Christian celebration? I understood the first Christmas tree to have happened in the 1800′s by an aspiring American who decided to set candles into a tree in his town, and light those. I thought it was only since then that the tree became reflective of our Christian celebrations? As well, Christ was not born on Dec. 25 but in the autumn. Early Christians used the latter date to celebrate as the pagans were having their own festival on that date and had no time to persecute Christ’s disciples.