Mommy Blog, Tips & Ideas
Posts tagged Ideas
Fun Family Christmas Activities
Nov 24th
Christmas is a wonderful time to bring your family together. Many families establish certain rituals that are attached to specific holidays. This year, spice up your holidays with some fun family Christmas activities.
Christmas Carolling – Christmas carollers are almost a thing of the past. This year, gather your family, bundle up to keep warm, and go Christmas carolling through your local community. Be sure to visit your local nursing home, as they love these types of holiday celebrations.
Make a Gingerbread House – A gingerbread house is a very fun way to involve your family in a long-loved Christmas tradition. Bake the pieces to your gingerbread house, then let the entire family construct and decorate the house.
Make Handmade Christmas Cards – Instead of buying your Christmas cards, make your own this year. You can purchase all the materials you’ll need at your local scrapbook shop or craft store. Buy blank note cards then decorate them. Insert your family’s Christmas photo inside each card before you mail them out to family and friends.
Lighting of the Tree – A fun family Christmas activity is to make it a special occasion to erect and light your family’s Christmas tree. Plan a special day of family fun. At the end of the day, gather your family to decorate and light the Christmas tree. Then, sit around your beautifully decorated tree and read the Christmas story while you sip on eggnog or hot cocoa.
Keep Smiling!
Kerry
Teach your Kids the Meaning of Giving this Holiday Season
Nov 23rd
Christmas makes kids wide-eyed, with thoughts of a ton of presents under the Christmas tree. Some kids even like to count their presents under the tree. This holiday season, teach your kids the true meaning of Christmas — giving to others.
Give to Others – One simple way to teach your children the value of giving is to have them donate to a local shelter. Have your children go through their toys and clothes. Make sure they give away one really nice thing that they don’t really need or play with. Place an emphasis on the fact that there are many children who have no home or parents.
Another way your children can learn about the gift of giving is to donate canned goods to a local food drive service. These services provide food to families in need. The holidays are often a difficult time for those in need. Take your children to the grocery store and have them choose a nice variety of canned foods to donate.
One more way your children can learn a lesson in giving is to buy gifts for others. Choose a needy family in your church or community. If you don’t know of anyone in need, ask around. Officials at your city’s municipal building or local pastors will be able to make recommendations to you.
Take your children shopping and help them pick out age-appropriate toys and gifts. Let them wrap the gifts, too. Finally, drive your family to your “adopted” family’s home and let your kids hand out their gifts. You can also give a gift to a local gift drive for children in need, most of these will advertise in stores and the local community during the holidays.
Kerry
Holiday Organization Tips
Nov 20th
Don’t let this holiday season be stressful. Simply organize yourself to get it all done with little to no hassle. Get started early with these easy holiday organization tips.
Be a List Writer – Writing lists is an excellent way to keep yourself organized and on track. Write your list by hand then type them into a computer and print a neat copy to keep handy. Some list ideas for you: Christmas gift shopping list, spending budget, holiday cards list, meal planning, etc. Be sure to keep each list separate and mark off every task as it is completed.
Learn to Delegate – When it’s time to decorate for the holidays, get your family involved. Delegate specific tasks to each person. This will help you by reducing decorating time. Your family will also have fun decorating the house for Christmas. Your family members can also help get the house ready for Christmas by doing laundry, dusting, clearing snow and shopping.
Order Online – You can cut your shopping time in half (or more!) just by ordering online. After your shopping list is complete, sit down and shop online. You will most likely be able to find the majority of your gift list online. What’s even better is that you can save time and money by having some gifts automatically shipped to friends and family afar. You can even order your groceries online.
Think Ahead – Christmas happens every year and every year you swear you will put those decorations back in the right place. This is a good time to think about what you can do this year to make next year easier on yourself next Christmas. Organize your Christmas decorations before storing them in the attic. Jot down any ideas you might have for next year in a special holiday journal. Collect those favourite family recipes you requested this year and save them in your holiday journal for next year’s family dinner. And remember to untangle the Christmas lights before putting them away!
Share the Love – Plan your holiday dinner early and share the love (or food). If you’re hosting the Christmas dinner ask family and friends to each bring a dish, make sure you ask what everyone is bringing so you don’t end up with ten desserts and no main courses. This will take a huge amount of stress of you and your family members can show off their favourite recipes. If you’re going to someone else’s house for dinner offer to bring a dish along, your offer may be greatly appreciated.
By starting early, doing some online shopping and learning to delegate you can dramatically reduce your Christmas stress this year. Christmas shouldn’t be a time of stress and worry, try to slow down so that you can enjoy the sites and festivities around you and more importantly share it with your family.
Merry Christmas!
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