Merry Christmas! I hope this month has been full of joy and wonder for you and your family. I hope you got all your shopping done early and the time from now until Christmas morning is relaxing and stress free…who are we kidding?! No matter how early you got your Christmas shopping done, there are still one million last minute things to do and presents to wrap and Santa footprints to recreate. Okay, maybe not quite on the Santa footprints (you do you), but we are all about to have a busy next couple of days. However, I hope Christmas morning you can take a moment of pause and see those incredibly happy faces running towards the tree and hold on to that for a minute. Keep it close to your heart and tuck it away for a few hours later when the kids are starting to argue about who gets to play with what toy next. The anticipation for present opening and holiday traditions is the best part of the month of December for me. I love all of it! I didn’t think I would be an elf on the shelf mom, but I have made it a mission to add some Christmas cheer to every morning. Whether or not you are an elf house or not, you can’t help but smile thinking about all the simple things kids get excited about!

I’m slightly obsessed with togetherness and tradition making. Part of me thinks coming from divorced parents has made me yearn for stability and holiday traditions, but that therapy style self-conclusion is for another day! There are two traditions my friends and I started a couple years ago and having recently gotten together for them, I thought I would share them with you. Maybe you and your friends would like to start something similar. After all, some friends are more like family! The first annual event I started last year was putting together homeless packs. I make a list of items, and everyone picks something from the list to purchase 10 of. This could be Kleenex, combs, ChapStick, snacks etc. Then we get together and assemble. This is wonderful for two reasons. One, we get to help people in need and two, we can have a little bit of time among friends before the craziness begins. The second event is the holiday pj’s and pancakes breakfast. My friends I grew up with all have kids around the same age and we all get together wearing our Christmas pajamas. Then we have a holiday themed breakfast. Time for the kids to play and moms to have a minute together. It is loud. It is crazy. Most of all, it is full of laughs and love!  

I hope we can all remember the true meaning of Christmas. The other day while taking Tucker to school, I asked him if he knew whose birthday was on Christmas. He said no, who? I reminded him it was Jesus’ birthday and with more excitement than you think one could muster while strapped into a car seat, he asked me if we get to celebrate him and sing happy birthday. Yes, buddy—we absolutely do get to celebrate him and of course we can sing him happy birthday! Children amaze me. If we could stop and just think like these beautiful little people sometimes, the world would be a better place! As we roll into 2023 may we all remember to be kind to one another. Each day with our loved ones is a gift so I hope you can remember that and cherish the simple moments of pure joy and contentment. The simple joys in life with our favorite people will be the ones we miss the most so don’t waste your time with pettiness. Give each other the grace you hope to receive from others.

From my family to yours, Merry Christmas!

I hope you enjoyed this week’s Merry Christmas blog! Have any holiday traditions your family celebrate each year? Share them in the comments below.