Minimalist Christmas

When the kids were small, we began a tradition we call the Days of Christmas, based loosely on this post. The idea is to do family things together so kids realize what is BEST about Christmas is not an onslaught of new stuff, but being together and having fun. I mean, we're together all year long, but with days off and a little thought, these days can be epic examples to your kids of how people are the biggest reason to be happy.

We started in 2011, so what the kids enjoy has changed quite a bit. This year with all our extra going towards health stuff, we were pretty interested in keeping it free. And it was with the exception of two days. :)

We're doing seven days this year and aren't done yet, but here's what we've been up to. For parents who this sounds exhausting to, I hear you, but I seriously look forward to this (personally/selfishly) for the fun I will have. It's pretty amazing considering how lots of times, we cast spending time with our family as a duty that good people do. Am I right? We often forget that it's fun too. So this has been so ridiculously fun that I REMEMBER for a whole year that it was fun and look forward to it. Here's what we've been doing...

The first day of Christmas was a sleepover with Grandma while Brian and I projected on the kids bathroom. It had been finished when we first renovated with no idea what the kids liked and I wasn't super happy with it. So I got excited about brightening it up and adding elements that the kids love. Here are a couple shots of it in progress and I'll post the reveal after Christmas.

The second day of Christmas was the reveal, which went well. They were a little apprehensive about the change, but ended up really liking it.

On the third day, we made the most magnificent tent ever. Brian and I ended up taking over and masterminding it, but the kids didn't complain. Guess we needed a little play as much as the next grown up. This tent serves a dual purpose, coming in handy for day five.

This day was a first because we split up and did boy/girl dates. Cadence has wanted to get her nails done with me FOREVER and I was so good with that. (It's been years!) Chandler has just recently taken an interest in sports unlike any I've ever seen, with the exception of his father. So Brian took him to a Nebraska Huskers basketball game. You can see, Chandler was thrilled.

On day five we loaded the tent with pillows and watched White Christmas. That movie never gets old!

Today and tomorrow we'll spend time with family (which count as our activities) and for our last day, we're planning to go to the Haymarket and explore a shop called Ten Thousand Villages before getting ice cream at an old-fashioned ice cream parlor. It'll be grand. To see what we did when our kids were younger, check out these links: 2011 and 2012. If you'd like to do this still this year, you can start the days with Christmas day and do as many or as few as you want. 

Wishing you all lots of fun in whatever Christmas plans you have!