How to make Christmas special with just us
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Anonymous
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Balloon PP back. Assume you know about NORAD tracking Santa? My kids have been obsessed with this for years and it is a huge tradition on Christmas Eve for the kids to keep track of Santa as he travels around the world. They also check the games each day and spend a few minutes playing them on the computer, though I generally limit computer use.
https://www.noradsanta.org/ |
Anonymous
| Buy and/or make whatever you want for Christmas Eve/Christmas Day meals. No overcooked dry turkey or store brand ham! (Or maybe that’s just my family?) Walks outside, parks, playgrounds if it’s nice. Looks like it will be decent here Monday-Thursday at least. Buy or rent a new family movie and make popcorn with different types of toppings. Maybe an easy craft project? |
Anonymous
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“OP, get 1 package each: red, white and green balloons (or whatever colors - but I use Christmas colors). After the kids go to bed on Christmas Eve, blow up ALL the balloons and tuck them between the gifts underneath the tree and around the tree, in general. Be sure to turn on the tree lights before the kids see the tree and their gifts in the morning. The lights will reflect off the balloons, creating a much more inviting and full display. Plus, I promise, those kids will play with the blasted balloons for the next 48-hours, non-stop.
So yes, eventually you will hate me for this suggestion but I promise on Christmas Day you will be grateful for it.“ Yikes! 1. Won’t they pop from the tree needles? 2. Tons of extra work on Xmas eve. If it is a hit they will want it repeated. |
Anonymous
All the judgy responses from those who never celebrated Christmas outside of their nuclear family makes me think they WERE traumatized. So mean! |
Anonymous
NP here. Then don't do it yourself! I personally think it's a cute idea and this poster was simply sharing another idea that OP asked for. |
Anonymous
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If you have kids that believe- mix glitter and oats and sprinkle it on the grass. It’s magic reindeer food!
We also got a bag of nuts and a nutcracker. It’s something I remembered from childhood and I know my kids haven’t ever seen. They think walnuts come cracked! Have an activity or craft for in the afternoon of Christmas. Making a big dessert, some arts project, gingerbread house decorating, just something in between putting together presents and movies at night. We like handprint art on canvases a lot! There are some really cute ones! Run the fireplace! We have a fireplace that we hardly ever use but my toddlers think it’s magic when we light it. If you don’t have one, Netflix has the fireplace show you can put on your tv. |
Anonymous
| I’m just going to say it, this is an awesome time to go to the trampoline park and stuff. Barely anyone is there and they require masks. I took my kids to an indoor playroom twice in November and they loved it and both times the place had maybe 15 people there total (including kids and adults), all adults masked and all but the littlest kids. Feels safer to go now than it did last year! |
Anonymous
You suck the fun out of life. Kids are 4 and 6, not 14 and 16. |
Anonymous
| We play an at-home version of "Chopped" every year. The kids look forward to it all year long. |
Anonymous
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We just did Hanukkah just our nuclear family and Thanksgiving too. We did it up at home with decorations and the festiveness we usually have with others. My oldest daughter told me the other night that this was one of her favorite and most memorable holiday seasons because we spent so much quality time just our close family.
Not worrying about going somewhere or having people over let us really just focus on each other. We still dressed up, put on music, and had decorations. I had extra Hanukkah activities (for Christmas I would do the extra things others are suggesting- gingerbread house making, etc). We played board games and had fun with each other. It was a different holiday season this year, but it was special in its own way. For New Years, I'm planning the same- decorations, dressing up, hats, tiaras, noise makers, fun food, game night- but just us and maybe a quick Zoom with family. The kids will have fun if you make it fun- mine are a little older than yours, but they have loved it like this. |
Anonymous
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Balloon PP back. YES, it’s a lot of work! But DH is in charge of the balloon-blowing and he actually gets a kick out of it. We have done it for years (4 kids, including a Bonus Baby).
If Santa didn’t bring those balloons, it wouldn’t be Christmas! As far as the balloons popping, I was downstairs wrapping gifts today and - swear to God - one of those balloons is STILL down there, floating around from last year. They seem to be magic! (They are also totally annoying, but even our grown adult son loves them.) We have all kinds of Christmas traditions here, including reindeer food, cutting down a tree, reading ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas and the story of Christmas from Luke before bed on Christmas Eve...the list is long and probably too much for some. But DH & I enjoy making the holidays memorable for our kids. I grew up an only-child, low-income household, with a widowed mother who still managed to make Christmas special for just the two of us. She passed away last month, in her 90s. On Nov. 1, I put up a little Christmas tree in her hospital room - just in case she didn’t make it to Dec. 25. It was the last thing she saw, which I’m glad of. Christmas is what you make of it, OP. |
Anonymous
The real meaning of Christmas is love what more is there to say. |
Anonymous
| OP here and thank you for so many great fun ideas! My kids looooove balloons and will flip out when they see presents and balloons! And SPRINKLES! It’s going to be sprinkled on breakfast lunch and dinner! Happy holidays to all! |
Anonymous
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Try Google Santa Tracker.
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Anonymous
Google Santa tracker is much more fun than NORAD. https://santatracker.google.com |