Creating Traditions

Jingle bells, a little red nose and an elf named “goofball.”  The girls don’t fully understand Christmas.  But, they can feel something in the air and they like it.

Graham and I are at the helm of creating our own little family traditions: fun games, silly moments, special deliveries, all that may one day be passed on to our grandchildren and beyond.

We have woven together each other’s traditions from our individual upbringings and it’s now time to sprinkle in our own unique creations.

Enter the new twist on the advent calendar.

I swiped the idea from the ever inspiring Reading My Tea Leaves blog.  The idea?  Simply think of 24 activities you’d like to do as a family – from simple to adventurous – write them down on cards, slip the cards into 24 envelopes and open an envelope a day.

The girls are still too young to fully understand but within a few years, I hope this is a tradition that they love.  Tomorrow’s card is to drink a hot chocolate so I have a feeling this could be a tradition that actually sticks around.

This mornings card was to decorate a spot in the home.  I got a few bits of greenery at our grocery store and I let Josie pick out some festive red candles.

The candles were way too round for our dainty brass candlesticks but those are the ones that Josie picked out and I wanted to give her a sense of ownership.  So I jammed those suckers in there like a pig in a mini skirt (just made that saying up – ha!).

Our halls are not completely decked but we are getting there one glorious December day at a time.

For curiosity or inspiration sake, here are my 24 days…

1. Cut down Christmas tree or if it’s already cut down go sit in the room and smell it.
2.  Decorate a portion of the home with holiday cheer.
3.  Drink a hot chocolate.
4.  Have champagne; girls can have sparkling apple juice.
5.  Give a gift to someone who has been on your mind but isn’t on your Christmas shopping list.
6.  Decorate the Christmas tree.
7.  Go to the library and check out Christmas books.
8. Do a random act of kindness
9. Craft project
10. Eat a cookie or if up to it bake some
11. Go to Union Square
12. Write Santa a letter
13. Give a toy to a toy drive
14. Sing Christmas Carols
15. Have a family cuddle session
16. Dance your heart out to a song
17. Go to Filoli
18. Give food to a food bank
19. Visit Santa
20. Give a hug to the person standing next to you
21. Visit a neighborhood with great Christmas lights
22. Give a book to a book drive
23. Family day
24. Open a present chosen by Mom and Dad  (hint, hint – they are matching pajamas…that’s one of my family Christmas traditions woven in).