Christmas Season!

Thanksgiving just ended. That can only mean one thing: CHRISTMAS TIME! It is now socially acceptable to put out the Christmas decorations and blast the Christmas music! But let’s face it, most of us started doing that weeks ago because you know, the Year of Covid. We’re all over it and need some good cheer.

Fun fact: We had a station that started playing Christmas music about 2 weeks ago! And it was glorious! My son, who has developed my “affinity for elf culture” (quote from Buddy the Elf in Elf), yelled at me the other day because I wasn’t playing Christmas music. His exact words were “Mama! I don’t like that music! Put the Christmas music on!” I ain’t made about it.

So this family put out the Christmas decorations (including our 3 inflatables) and have been enjoying Christmas music and Christmas movies unashamedly. This got me to reflect on this past year, and it’s been a rough one. But Christmas is the season of joy, and we all need to find that joy again. So here is a list of a few of my favorite, relatively cheap, activities to get me in the Christmas spirit…

1. Load up the car. Fill the travel mugs with hot chocolate. Blast the Christmas music. Drive around finding all the Christmas decorations. (Bonus – you can map out your route and do this each week to see if there are any changes. Literally never gets old.)
2. Plan a Christmas movie marathon. Rearrange the furniture. Make stovetop popcorn. Load up on your favorite candies. Let each family member pick their favorite Christmas movie. (Bonus – you can make snack boxes where everyone gets popcorn, a candy, and soda to give it that movie theater feel. Extra bonus if you have a projector and pull this off outside!)
3. Be an elf. Put together a treat box and deliver them to your friends around town. Make sure to practice good hygiene and use prepackaged items, because, you know, covid. (Bonus – leave a secret note with the package and try not to get caught! Have the note encourage your friends to pay it forward.)
4. Host a family Christmas cookie bake-off. Everyone selects a Christmas cookie recipe. Bake it. Then let everyone sample each cookie to vote on their favorite.

I hope this list helps you get in the spirit and to come up with your own list! It’s never too late to start a tradition. Let’s work together to make the rest of 2020 amazing!