With the holidays (sadly) coming to a close, there's a few things that come to mind.
My family is rather large, the extended at least, and so the holidays are sort of a toss up on what we're really doing or where we're going to end up. People are always coming and going and with the once young "kids table" starting to grow up, the family is constantly growing! You can imagine how difficult it is to keep up with everything when the pressure of the winter months are fast approaching.
Anywho.
Maybe it was a lack of time or how mixed our family really is, but only a few traditions stand out every holiday season; opening one gift on Christmas Eve, having my Mom's side over that night, and my father's huge extended family on the day of! The Day of Christmas is full of traditions that are sort of stuck to, like getting all dressed up and having one big well-prepared Christmas dinner, having a glass of wine with the family as we do our white elephant Christmas exchange and (now that we're all of age) playing Cards Against Humanity.
But, something was most certainly missing. After the days passed, I came to the sad conclusion that I have completely lost the Christmas Spirit. I'm not yet the Grinch or a Scrooge, but I'm just not feeling the holiday cheer. It seems to be that once the youngest kids are all grown up, the holidays seem just a little bit....dull. But why are those only left for kids?
Next holiday season, I encourage you all to try a few things out.
1. Elf on the Shelf: When my youngest brother was the last one to still believe in Santa Claus, my parents TP'd our family room, which has a super high ceiling, so that he was dangling from a long string of toilet paper on the ceiling fan just above the center of the room, watching us decorate the tree. Not only was it impressive, but it also got my older brother and I big into the holiday season.
2. Decorate and set out cookies, milk and carrots: Don't you remember how excited little you was when Mom called you out to put out the cookies and milk? I know you all tried to stay up and on the lookout for the chubby, white-haired man to slip on down the chimney with a bag full of presents. Try to get yourself back into that childhood excitement. Tune into ABC Family's 25 Days of Christmas while your busy putting sprinkles on the cookies for Santa.
3. Drive around and look at neighborhood Christmas lights on top of your local zoo lights: Go pick up some of your favorite hot cocoa and get on the road! If you're anything like my Mom, you make sure those lights come down right after New Years so take advantage of the time that you have!
