Overdoing It?

Remember that year I made almost all of my gifts or bought them second hand?  Some people thought I was overdoing it that year.  They said I was adding undo stress to myself.  That is probably the most talked about Christmas around our house.  The kids have that year cemented in their memories forever.  I am glad I went to all the trouble to put more of myself into their gifts.  In 20 years, who will remember the plastic batcave we bought at WalMart?  Nobody.

As far as I'm concerned, parents have a brief window of time where they can help build a child's favorite memories and traditions.  It starts at about 4 or 5 (when they're old enough to remember) and ends when they're 11 or 12 (when they're old enough to have a bad attitude).  I have four kids who fit in the golden window right now.  This is my moment!  What we do this year and the next few years will be what they remember when they think of Christmas for the rest of their lives!  I'm not about to waste my chance!

So, with the help of Pinterest, I am beginning 4 new traditions this year for Christmas.  Oy!  Honestly, though.  I don't feel overwhelmed, only excited.  Overdoing it at Christmas means eating too much or spending too much.  That's not what I'm doing here.  There's no such thing as too much family time or too many Christ-centered activities.  I think I'm good to go.

Here's what I've got:

1.  The Candy Advent Calendar:

 

I like to call this "the intestines advent calendar".  I know most people have been doing some form of candy advent forever, but this will be our first year.  It is no big deal to make (or buy) and I think the kids will be really excited to have a little treat each night.

 

2.  A Book a Night:                                                                                                                                 

 

I saw this idea on Pinterest with some very cute pillowcase-style bags.  I'm pretty sure my kids would rather open them as presents.  I already had most of these, but I bought a few new ones and now we have 24 Christmas books to read on the 24 days of December before Christmas

 

3.  Scripture Chain: 

I have always wanted to read more Christmas scriptures with the kids.  We usually do a rushed job of reading the story of Christ's birth on Christmas Eve and I ask a lot of "What is Christmas really about?" kinds of questions.  This year we're going to do better. 

 I got our Christmas Scripture chain here.     

 

4. Activities Advent Calendar:

                                                                                                                

Another Pinterest idea, I love that I can schedule all of the things I want to do with the kids and be sure they actually get done!  I made sure to include plenty of service-related activities along with fun and some super easy ones, too.  If you want to see what we do each day, check back here.  I'll be posting each day of our activities on the blog.

 

Merry Christmas!