This Is This Week

This week, I am finishing up preparations for our annual Christmas tradition: 12 Days of Christmas.

Originally, this started as a full advent countdown, but it has morphed into 12 days of Christmas. Given my schedule with my kids, this works perfectly for us to allow plenty of activities in the weeks leading up to Christmas. You could add extra activities or spread out the 12 different days (every other day, etc.) based on what works best for your family.

When I first thought about doing advent when my kids were little, I didn’t want to buy a cardboard tree or display with chocolates or other goodies inside. Having multiple kids, this just seemed like an argument waiting to happen every night, and we definitely already have enough sweets and treats around the holidays.

Instead, I decided to do a DIY “advent calendar of books.” I picked 25-ish books (I doubled and tripled up books some nights because there are so many amazing holiday stories!), stuck each one in a large manila envelope, and labeled each envelope with a number counting down to Christmas.

I also wrote a fun activity or Christmas tradition we could do along with the book reading each day.

Well, I have scrapped the envelopes and switched to 12 days, but the concept remains the same. 

This year, I upped our game by adding in a service-oriented component as well; my kids are old enough now to begin to develop empathy and understand more the meaning of the season, so this seemed like the perfect opportunity to refocus our attention in December. We’ll still do loads of fun family activities and read Christmas and other holiday stories, but we’ll also serve those in the community around us.

I am also mindful to introduce my children to the other wintertime holidays when I can, so we read a book about Kwanzaa each year, learn about Lucia Day in Sweden, and make some Hannukah dishes like latkes!

12-ish Days of Christmas in 2022

So this is technically more than 12 days, but there are just so many things I love to do around the holidays…

Friday, November 25

Activity: Decorate the house!

Service: Make candy goodie bags for people who serve us (mailmen, garbage collectors, cashiers, babysitters, etc!)

Book(s): Kids’ choice (ended up being  Merry Christmas, Mom and Dad by Mercer Meyer, select stories from the Elf on the Shelf Christmas Storybook Collection and Ollie the Other Reindeer by Vivian Walsh)

Wednesday, November 30

Activity: Make gingerbread houses

Service: Make bags for homeless (gallon zipper-top bags with toiletry items, snack foods, etc.)

Book(s): The Legend of the Candy Cane

Thursday, December 1

Activity: Watch a Christmas movie! 

Service: Bring flowers to someone (we chose an older woman from our church who is pretty homebound)

Book(s): Christmas Farm, Pick a Pine Tree

Friday, December 2

Activity: family board game time; decorating and movie night at the church

Service: Make a meal for a family in our community (through an initiative like Lasagna Love or by asking around to find a neighbor, church member, etc.)

Book(s): Why Christmas Trees Aren’t Perfect, The Littlest Christmas Tree

Saturday, December 3

Activity: Christmas Saturdays (an annual tradition Joy, Robyn, and I started a few years back where we gather the kids together for a Christmas movie, craft, and/or snack)

Service: Leave a treat for the mailman (using one of our goodie bags)

Book(s): The Grinch

Thursday, December 8

Activity: Christmas cookie baking (we will be baking on many occasions this week, but this will be our major day for bulk cookie baking)

Service: Choose something to donate (a toy, an outgrown clothing item, a book – individuals’ choice)

Book(s): A World of Cookies for Santa (we usually make at least one recipe from the book too)

Friday, December 9

Activity: family board game time and paper snowflake making

Service: Serve in an unexpected way at home (i.e. pick up someone else’s clothes, vacuum or sweep without being told, etc.)

Book(s): Snowflake Bentley

Saturday, December 10

Activity: Christmas Saturday

Service: Paint kindness rocks

Book(s): The Christmas Crocodile

Thursday, December 15

Activity: see Christmas lights! (you can travel around and see which of your neighbors have elaborate light displays or search for a bigger drive-thru light show in your area)

Service: Make cards or pictures of encouragement for others (you could pick grandparents, folks you know who are sick or in the hospital, friends far away, etc)

Book(s): The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey

Friday, December 16

Activity: family board game and craft time; make popcorn garland and pinecone birdfeeders

Service: hang the birdfeeders and popcorn for the local wildlife

Book(s): Red and Lulu, The Night Tree

Saturday, December 17

Activity: Christmas Saturday (including party/gift exchange) AND Hannukah meal (to recognize the start of the Hannukah season on 12/18)

Service: Pay for someone else’s items (coffee, groceries, etc)

Book(s): Sadie’s Almost Marvelous Menorah, Light the Menorah!

Thursday, December 22

Activity: Indoor camping! (we pitch a tent in our living room and the kids sleep beneath the lights of the Christmas tree); make s’mores!

Service: Shop for (or deliver, if already purchased) a gift for another child (many schools and churches do a giving tree or “adopt a kid” events to help children in need have a wonderful holiday too)

Book(s): The Bear Who Didn’t Want to Miss Christmas

Friday, December 23

Activity: family board game and craft time; make Lucia crowns (Lucia Day is actually on December 13, but we opted to recognize the holiday later this year because of our schedules)

Service: Pay a compliment to a stranger

Book(s): Lucia Morning in Sweden

Saturday, December 24

Activity: Christmas brunch

Book(s): ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas

Sunday, December 25

Activity: Christmas dinner and watch a movie as a family

Book(s): The Polar Express

Monday, December 26

Activity: Make a Kwanzaa-inspired meal

Book(s): Seven Spools of Thread

There are a ton more books that we will likely read, and sometimes we deviate from the schedule. But regardless, the month is always full of fun, family time, and holiday cheer!

You can make your gingerbread houses using graham crackers if you make your own royal icing and get an assortment of candies!