Christmas is December 25th, but here in Clementine County we celebrate Christmas all month long…actually all season long.
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Tis the season to be jolly, they say. And a season we make it. When I posted my first holiday recipe of the year, my sister jokingly reminded me it was October. Too early? Maybe for some, but not for me.
I celebrate Christmas for an entire season, starting typically as soon as November 1st. What about Thanksgiving? Sure. But my typical celebration pattern is: Halloween, Christmas, break for Thanksgiving, more Christmas.
I grew up in a Christmas-loving household. There was no Elf of the Shelf or Black Friday, but lots of merry preparation. My mom transformed our childhood home into a festive wonderland. Then I married a man who loves the holidays as much as I do. Having a partner in cheer only intensified my love for the season. Add in young kids? Dude.
But why do we deck the halls from November 1st through December 25th?
Why We Celebrate Christmas All Season
Reducing Pressure for Christmas Day to be Perfect
The kids are crazed with all the sugar and new toys. There’s not enough coffee to make up for the fact that I stayed up all night helping Santa. The relatives are running late so the side dishes are cold.
All the anticipation leading up to Christmas put an awful lot of pressure on one day to be magical. By making the whole season filled with fun reduces the pressure to make that one specific day amazing. My family will still get warm fuzzy feelings when thinking about the holidays.
It’s similar to people warn against spending too much time planning a wedding. You plan for your life together, not the party that lasts one day. I’m focusing on making winter memories, not just one day of magic.
Our Holiday Bucket List
We are fortunate and live in an area filled with so many unique entertainment options. At the beginning of the season (i.e. the day after Halloween), we sat down and made a family holiday bucket list.
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Some of our favorites:
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- Knott’s Merry Farm
- Seeing Santa at the Grand Californian Hotel
- Road trip to Solvang
- Christmas caroling with the neighbors
- Baking cookies for Santa
- Watch all the cheesy Christmas movies
- Gingerbread house making with school friends
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Here we are days away from Christmas, and the kids and I are all sick. None of us are moving off the couch. We probably won’t finish our bucket list, but since we started knocking things off the list in advance we made a significant dent early on.
Want to see more of our Holiday Bucket List in action? Follow along on Instagram!
Start Early to Lesson the Drain
Starting to celebrate early means I start filling my head with sugar plum thoughts early on. With a gigantic family, it helps to spread out the spending.
What is harder for me than the draining pocket book is the mental drain. I’m definitely feeling the fatigue from all of the decision making. As we get nearer to the actual holiday, making decisions is getting harder for me. I’m overwhelmed.
Even little things like nuts or no nuts in the fudge are way harder than they should be.
Starting early saved me a ton of stress in all of the decision making.
Let’s Me Be Present
With Christmas falling when it does this week, I’ll be working all the way up to the holiday. The stores are filling up quickly with lots of people who could be cast as angry elves. Because stress makes us less than jolly.
Starting our celebration and preparation meant I could fit in the responsible “Buy extra flour” in November so I didn’t have to miss out on the fun with my family racing from store to store this week.
Reminds Me to Focus
I adore my family, like I’m obsessed with them. But the truth of the matter is, I’m a work horse. I put my head down and plow through to-do lists. If there’s no work to do, I create some.
But the holidays are an amazing reminder to focus on what matters most. I’ve been unplugging in the evenings these past few weeks. That rarely happens. Snuggling with att and Georgia and watching Christmas movies, baking with Harper, caroling with Poppy — I’m loving spending more time with my people. And having the reminder to end the year strengthening our family bond is the best gift I can give myself.
We’ve been rocking around the Christmas tree for weeks now, and I am loving the festive season. But there is still time to make our days merry and bright. I’d love to know what you do to celebrate the season so we can add it to our holiday bucket list. Share your festive favorites in the comments!
Tags:Christmas
