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what are you doing with your Christmas Break this year?
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So…I’m guessing this has come up before, and maybe it’s in with the recent discussions about Christmas – but I’m wondering, anyone want to share what they plan to do with their Christmas Break this year? Seems most families take one, varies in length of course.
I’ll go first: I realized today that most of our holiday activies (baking, gift-making, church program) will be done prior to our scheduled break and with the exception of out of state family visiting and Christmas Eve/Day, I have NOTHING PLANNED. Nothing. Nada. Zlich. Zip. No school. No traveling. No extra cleaning or odd household jobs, no appointments, no work (I usually help with our business). This is really weird! I know, I know, houseguests will give me something to do (but the last 3 times we’ve hosted family guests, I’ve not had a choice about my work schedule)….but our break actually goes longer than their stay. This means – it is possible my family will have no planned activies whatsoever. Who woulda ever thought?! Now, if I can just get my brain to wrap around the idea! Somebody please send permission that this is perfectly fine and I promise I won’t run around planning extra things to do when I hear others plans…I’ll tuck those fabulous ideas away for next year of course!
We are taking two weeks to relax a little and spend time with dad/hubby and really enjoy the time he is home…he is not able to take the two weeks, but when he is off we want to have quiet family time really reflecting on the season and the joy it always brings. We are going to listen to Christmas carols, watch seasonal videos, bake and cook, volunteer a little and keep it simple. Because of the 18 month old pup we are having a smaller tree this year, less for him to get into, we are making presents and giving one small store bought one each and that is about it. Hubby has had to work really hard this year, and there is a real chance he will lose his job in January, so we are already being a lot more frugal than normal, and want to take the burden off him this Christmas and let him know how precious he is to us all. I love Christmas but not so miuch the commercial stuff, I prefer quiet and peace and enjoing walks and together time. We get precious little of that as a family throughout the year, and it is important to make the most of that time. We also enjoy watching the videos we have collected from Germany of Christmas at my relatives farm there and also Christmas in the mountains…so we are looking forward to it. I don’t think having less planned is a bad thing, it is a good way to recharge and remember what the season really means. So from my point of view it is fine and you don’t need to run around silly planning extras:)))
Agree with Linda. Take that time and enjoy! Read some Christmas stories and sit by a fire with a hot drink. It’s such a blessing to have what we have and it’s nice to actually take time to relish it. 🙂
This year we are starting out giving of the Crhistmas season by 1st the Saturday after Thanksgiving going to Feed My Starving Children for a meal packing session. Then in December we will be ringing the bells for the Red Kettle Salvation Army drive here. We will bake cookies and learn some carols and if time allows go visit our local senior housing and play some games. I want this year to be about giving back. These last 4 years have been tough for us. But I want to remind the kids that though they “seem” tough we have it really good still. And don’t want them to loose site of that. We will do an Advent devotion starting Dec. 1st and hopefully make some decoration we always liek the coffee filter snow flakes hanging all over the house!
What a fun thread. Hubby isn’t getting any time off this year, so things won’t be much different during the holidays than any other time, in that regard. He will be working Christmas Eve, but we will have Christmas together. We are going to take a break from regular school, but I am working on putting together a Christmas circle time/booklist/craft block so that DS and I can keep our regular rhythm/schedule. He needs it and it helps bring order to the household.
Because of Hubby’s schedule and some financial constraints, we aren’t going to be able to go anywhere this year, so we will be doing all our celebrating at home. I am working on making a list of fun, GAPS-friendly holiday recipes so it will still feel festive and exciting. DS is a lot more aware this year, so I want to make it extra special for him. We will be doing a simple Advent celebration and participating in a lot of church Advent activities. We won’t be doing a lot of gifts this year; for the baby, I am making a familiy of crocheted animals, and we will probably wrap up some of DS’s toddler toys that we have been saving and let her open them. (I feel a little embarassed saying that, but times are really tight for us this year, mostly due to multiple exorbitant car repairs, and we really don’t have a Christmas budget. The little we have we’d like to focus on DS since he’s older and more aware.) DS will probably get some books, new art supplies, and a toy. Hubby and I aren’t planning on giving each other gifts this year. But that’s okay.
Oddly enough, despite our tight circumstances this year, I think I may be more excited about the holidays than ever before! Maybe it’s because the lack of money is helping me think more creatively and focus on tradition, Advent, Christ, family, and all the things that REALLY matter about the season!
We are going to be finished with our regular school plan for the semester in early December (around the 3rd) so that I can focus on Advent with my children. Last year we didn’t do as many Advent things as I had wanted b/c regular school took up so much time, and it was hard to do it in the evenings. I want to focus on Christ during December, bake cookies, and do some fun things that we normally wouldn’t get to do during the busyness of the season.
I am involved in the worship ministry at our church with the choir and teaching music to the children, so I will be doing lots of singing! There is a ministry that is supported by our church that is for poor, single moms. Our children’s ministry will be re-enacting the story of the birth of Christ with a walk-through for the children of these moms. They will be singing a song as well as leading in worship that morning in church. We will go caroling one evening early in December as well. With the adult worship ministry I am participating in a Christmas musical (broadway style). My daughter is also in it. In addition, my daughter and I are singing with the adult and children’s choirs in the Christmas Eve service.
We are taking a 3-day visit to Dollywood the week before Christmas, and sometime after Christmas we will travel to visit DH’s family to celebrate with them.
Questa, I think many of us have been there at some point or another. I remember that for DD’s first Christmas, we had no extra money. The only thing we got her was a “Baby’s First Christmas” ornament. Nothing else. Between gifts from the grandparents and the hand-me-downs, we were more than set, and I figured she was too young to understand any of it anyways. Your toddler will be thrilled just to have something to rip the paper off of, as she sees her big brother getting to do the same. 😉 The fact that the toys are new to her will make it a suprise for her, regardless as to whether they came from the store or the back of the closet.
Misty, what a wonderful way to spend the season serving! I should look into whether there is a FMSC event close by.
Re: holiday plans, DH and I still have our regular work schedules all the way through the holidays, so we will have school as usual, other than Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Eve, and Christmas day. But we read one chapter of The Jesse Tree at night, along with choosing from another one of our Christmas book selections. We talk about the events leading up to Christ’s birth. We also usually bake some goodies to give away to friends and neighbors.
In addition, we have always picked off a tag from the Angel Tree and let DD pick out a toy for a young boy or girl in need. This is how I started explaining the real St. Nicholas to her, that he loved Jesus and wanted to obey God’s Word about doing good works in secret, rather than before men, so only our Heavenly Father knows and will be pleased. We’ve done this since she was 2, and when friends were old enough to start talking about/asking her what she was getting from Santa, we explained the “Santa game” as a way that parents choose to remember St. Nicholas. This year she is 6, and is eager to take part in things which honor the memory of St. Nicholas and bring glory to God. (Thankfully, she is also old enough to respect that parents choose to play this “Santa game” with their kids and we should not ruin the surprise.)
For the past 3 years, we’ve given her three gifts and then stuffed her stocking. I spend a little extra on the stocking than most people might, and stuff it with things that add to collections she already has/plays with, like a few Schleich animals, a new piece for her wooden dollhouse, or handmade clothes for her dolls. These selections always seems to regenerate new interest in an old stand-by we already have at home.
DH and I don’t get gifts for each other. Our parents are usually generous with that sort of thing, and we live in a small apartment, so we don’t need any more “stuff” than we already have.
April
We are thinking creatively also, and we are putting together a puzzle for my sons room which we’ll frame in some simple frame. I hope at 14 he’ll see the love we put into it. My daughters are getting a dress up box. I went to our local thrift shop and found some dress up clothes for them that were in great shape. Washed them up and bough them each a pair of fairy wings and wands. They will love it.
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