Spreading Christmas Cheer

Disclaimer:  This is written only to share what we do, in the hopes it will encourage others.  It is NOT intended to make anyone feel guilty about what they do or don’t do to celebrate Christmas.  Some years, I do these things well, and some years, I fail miserably.  So, if you are going to read this, you have to promise not to judge – including yourself.  If you like an idea, steal it.   Maybe there is just ONE thing that you take from this.  Enjoy it.  Do it well, and don’t stress about the rest of it. 

How does your family countdown to Christmas?   Our family has two ways we count down the days until Christmas, starting on December 1st.  But, before that, we have 2 traditions that kick off our Christmas season.

First of all, the day after Thanksgiving is our day to get out our Christmas decorations.  We usually have a movie on in the background – our two favorites are “Elf” and “A Christmas Story”.  The girls particularly LOVE the time we spend going through ornaments.  Each girl has a box of her own ornaments that have been collected over the years.  In their early years, when they were too little to choose their own, I tried to select something that represented what they were in to that year.  When they were old enough to select an ornament, I tried to steer them in a similar way, but yes, we have ended up with some cheesy ones – Santa Elmo, Disney Princesses (which is actually fitting for our Disney-crazed family), and even a Barbie and Twelve Dancing Princesses one (shudder!!)  This is one of their favorite parts of the holidays, as they reminisce about previous years;  my sister, their Aunt Elaine, is notorious for giving ornaments as well.  Each girl already has quite the collection, and they know that when they grow up and move out on their own, they will take their box of ornaments with them…they will use them on their own Christmas trees, and have a piece of their childhood with them. 

But backing up just a little…the very first decoration we get out is the Nativity.  This actually will come out the weekend BEFORE Thanksgiving.  We use this as a reminder for why we are even celebrating in the first place.  And as we enter the holiday season of thanks and then of giving, we keep in the forefront of our minds that we have been given the greatest gift of all in Christ, and we are eternally thankful.  Everything else we do is should be in response to that.

 The first way we count down to Christmas is using an advent calendar of sorts. It’s called a Jesse Tree.  A Jesse Tree can be made of various materials – an actual tree, a wall hanging, a metal tree display.  The idea is that you have an ornament for each day, Dec. 1-25, even if you just hang them at the bottom of your own Christmas tree.  The ornaments each day tell a story.  We use a book, “The Advent Jess Tree” by Dean Lambert, to read about each day’s ornament/ symbol.  The Jesse Tree got its name from scripture which says that “out of the tree of Jesse will come Christ the Lord;” from the lineage of Jesse, father of David, there will be one who comes who saves.  And so the symbols each day tell the story of that Savior, how He was with God from the beginning of the world, and how our need for Him was evident from the first sin.

 Our Jesse tree was made from my husband’s advent calendar, used when he and his sister were kids.  My mother-in-law made it, and sewed Velcro ornaments to go in each pocket.  Her ornaments were not the Jesse tree symbols, although some of them translated to that – candle, angel, lamb.  I sewed the other symbols to complete the set.  So this tree is very special as it was made by the girls’ grandmother and their mother, representing both sides of their lineage. 

 The other way we count down to Christmas is by using a paper chain – tearing off a link every day; however, unlike the paper chains of my youth, these links have an activity written on them.  A daily surprise for the girls of something we will do to celebrate Christmas.  Now, some of these are more involved than others, and completing the chain links prior to Dec. 1 requires A LOT of planning.  It can be overwhelming, I admit.  BUT, one of the things I like most about this is that it spreads out the Christmas activities, the giving, the sharing with friends, throughout the month, rather than focusing on one single day.  Which, if we are honest, that day can be anti-climatic.  Let’s admit it…we often spend so much time seeking the perfect gift(s), spending more money than is necessary, and those presents under the tree are torn through and opened within an hour (or less!) and many of those shiny toys are soon forgotten.  Even by us adults. 

After doing these chain activities for a few years now, I have such joy (not stress) about the Christmas season, because my girls are not focused on what they are getting on Christmas morning, but their excitement is about doing these traditions – some old, some new – but all focused on spending time with loved ones, building relationships, and giving. 

Without further ado, here is a list of our favorite activities.

1.       Select a new ornament for the year.  As previously mentioned, the girls LOVE their ornaments.  The last few years, we have been collecting the Hallmark flower fairy series.  It started with Ella getting the “Rose Fairy” since her middle name is Rose, and then Lily got the “Tiger Lily fairy”. These are gorgeous little fairies we hope to complete the collection between the four of us.

2.       Appetizer dinner and watch “Elf” as a family.  The girls love it when I make appetizer dinner, which truly is about the presentation.  I serve everything  (cut fruit and veggies, cheese & crackers, chicken nuggets, etc.) from a large platter that we put in the middle of the coffee table; we share from this and watch our favorite family Christmas movie.

3.       Shopping for “Caring and Sharing” gifts – we sponsor three kids from the girls’ elementary school and buy them 3 things for Christmas (a shirt, a book, and a toy).  There are many places you can sponsor a child in need – Angel Trees, Toys for Tots.  If possible, I try to sponsor a child that is the same age as each of our girls.  It makes the connection for them as they shop for someone their own age, who may not have the things we have.

4.       Bake Cookies.  We make sugar cookies from scratch, roll out the dough, cut into shapes – angels, snowmen, bells, candy canes, Christmas trees, doves. Truth be told, the girls help through the first batch or two, then I roll out the rest of the dough throughout the evening.  In the end we usually make 10 dozen or so cookies!

5.       Cookie Party!!  This has become a Chapman tradition, going on our 9^th year.  So, what do we do with all of those cookies??  Invite our friends over to decorate (then eat) them!  We make homemade icing then color it green, red, blue, and yellow; we get all kinds of sprinkles, chocolate chips, red hots, etc.  We love opening our home each year to host friends, neighbors, classmates.  Last year, we decided to add a twist…many parents would ask “what can I bring?”  After the year where we ended up with 100 bottles of sprinkles, I decided to answer that question differently.  We request that each kid bring an item to donate to our homeless community.  Some bring gloves or a blanket, some bring toothpaste or deodorant.  This, in turn, leads to another activity…

6.       Deliver items to homeless.  One of my favorite organizations in Raleigh is “Love Wins”. They are doing so much good work for the homeless in our community. 

7.       “Elf” people.  We fill Dollar Store stockings with small gifts – candy, cards, toys – and secretly deliver to friends and/or classmates. The girls usually pick a mixture of friends as well as those who could use a little cheering to surprise in this way.  To add to the fun, the girls ring the doorbell and run off...hoping they jump back in the van before they are seen.

8.       Starbucks Hot Chocolate is a special treat.  Pay it forward (or backward) by buying the next person’s coffee.  Last year, when we went in to Starbucks, we caused quite a disruption – not only do my girls have their own way of ordering their hot chocolate (yes, there are options!) but Ella knocked over as basket of snacks, spilling to the floor, while another girl bumped into CDs on display.  I could tell the lady behind us was a bit irritated.  She even rolled her eyes at the girls.  But, we stuck with our plan, and bought a $15 gift card.  I told the barista to keep it and use it on the next customers until it ran out.  So, when the next lady got her drink for free, she was shocked!  We were still waiting for our hot chocolates when she came over to thank us.  She didn’t seem to comprehend why we would do this but it made her day.  My girls learned that sometimes it’s the people who are having a rough day, who are not acting nice, who need kindness the most.

9.       Have a Hot Chocolate Stand.  Last year, we decided to try this one – my 8 year old’s idea. The plan was to give out FREE hot chocolate in the neighborhood, on a cold day. Oddly enough, people had a hard time receiving a FREE gift.  So, we decided to collect donations, if people insisted on giving.  The donations went to my favorite global charity – Help One Now.  We raised enough money to buy a backpack and school supplies for a child in Haiti, where Help One Now had recently completed building a school for a community still struggling, years after the earthquakes.

10.   Assemble gifts for teachers and make cards.  I save Christmas cards from previous years, and the girls cut out words, phrases, pictures to make new cards. These add a nice touch to the gifts we put together as a thank you to their teachers.

11.   Go ice skating. Outside.  Downtown. It just seems more magical this way. And we found that going on Tuesday nights not only means less of a crowd, but it is buy one-get one free.

12.   Ride around looking at Christmas lights, while dressed in PJs. This one started more than 10 years ago, when my oldest one would have a hard time going to sleep. I dressed her in PJs, and would drive around looking at lights.  She was mesmerized and it quickly became one of our favorite traditions.  We now have our favorite houses, including ones that synchronize lights to music. In which case, we must get out of the car and dance!

13.   Christmas sleepover.  Each girl has one friend over for a special sleepover.  We do a Christmas themed craft, watch Christmas shows or movie, and have a special pancake breakfast. One year, our sleepover coincided with a neighbor dressed as Santa going around to visit children.  It was perfect to have a surprise visit from Santa and his elves.

14.   Make Gingerbread House with neighbor.  For years, our older neighbor, Ms. Jan has the girls over to decorate some sort of gingerbread treat.  Some years she has a house, one year it was a train.  They have decorated individual houses to create a village, and gingerbread men on a stick.  My girls LOVE this tradition, and it is one of the things they miss the most about our old house.  Even though we moved, we still promised we could go back to Ms. Jan’s for this special treat.

15.   Nutcracker ballet.  My in-laws are season ticket holders for the Carolina Ballet.  Every other year, they purchase tickets to take the girls to see a performance of the Nutcracker. The girls get all dressed up and love their time with grandparents for this special occasion.

16.   Put on a show for neighbors.  My girls love to perform.  So this led to them creating a Christmas performance/show to put on for neighbors and family.  Some years they make invitations and programs.  Sometimes the show incudes choreographed dances to the Nutcracker Suite; some times it includes elf karaoke. This is a fun time to be with neighbors and share some holiday cheer.


Other thing to do:
17.   Watch Holiday classics – Rudolph, Frosty, etc.
18.   Eat ice cream for breakfast
19.   Go downtown for a treat at Krispy Kreme
20.   Check out the decorations at the Governor’s Mansion or attend a tree lighting ceremony
21.   Make paper snowflakes with fancy paper
22.   Attend a Christmas pageant or see a live Nativity
23.   Have a family game night or invite a family over to join you
24.   Go on a sleigh ride
25.   Attend a middle/high school band or choral performance (often free or inexpensive)

 I would love to hear (or read) your ideas.  I have been surprised at some of the things my girls have come up with when I asked them how we could show someone kindness and spread cheer.  My hope is that these are the things they remember when they are older; these experiences of how it feels to give to others, and of spending time with loved ones.  These are things we cannot buy and cannot be lost nor broken. 

Cheers!!