At this time of year, I’m always reminded of how lucky we are. We’re lucky to have loving family and friends to spend the holidays with. We’re lucky to have food on the table, a roof over our heads and warm clothes to wear. And we’re especially lucky to have beautifully wrapped presents under the tree on Christmas.
It’s not that I’m not tempted.
The holiday season is about carrying on the traditions that are special to you, whatever they may be. It might be anticipating the daily antics of the Elf on a Shelf, curling up to watch a favourite yuletide movie or baking a classic family recipe. For me, it’s sending holiday cards.
I realize that in today’s day and age, sending paper cards by regular mail may seem ridiculous and archaic. It’s more expensive. It’s more time-consuming. It’s slower. It’s (as my son would say) “from the olden times.”
I LOVE traditions! Especially when it comes to Christmas. Most of us already have some sort of Christmas traditions, whether it’s a tradition we grew up with that we continue to do with our own children, or one we recently started. To me, traditions are some of the best things about the holiday season.
Paging Dr. McDreamy.
If seeing the Dr. was as easy as looking into the beautiful blue eyes of Patrick Dempsey, we’d all be taking a sick day to visit the Doc.
If you can already feel the “how the eff am I going to get everything done” anxiety reverberating through your body now is the time to commit to not losing your you-know-what this Christmas; to enjoying the season instead of merely surviving it.
On the 1st of December, a small intruder enters most of our homes. You might find him or her grinning from ear to ear on the fireplace mantle, in the Christmas tree, or sitting atop your fridge. Some mornings he or she might get into mischief in the kitchen or the bathroom, and other mornings…that little smiling creature might forget to move altogether. (Ooops!)
I am of course talking about Elf on the Shelf – returning to households across the nation for another holiday season. For most of us, we love how happy our children get when they see their elf arrive. We love watching them search for their little friend each morning, and we love how much they love the magic of it all. But a couple years ago I thought to myself…
Right now in Canada there are around 30,000 children in need of a permanent home, including more than 5,000 in Ontario alone.
30,000 is the entire population of towns like Stratford, Orillia and Orangeville. It’s everyone in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia.
My kids don’t play with toys.
For the last couple of years, my husband and I have made a conscious effort to give our boys experiences as Christmas gifts instead of toys. We don’t do this to be mean, we do this because we think experiences are much more valuable than a house full of toys. I would MUCH rather give them an experience that we can do together as a family, than bring another action figure or talking dinosaur into the house that they’ll play with for a week…and then toss aside in their bedroom or playroom.