I love family traditions. LOVE LOVE LOVE them. We shared earlier that one thing we are currently working on with our family relationship is establishing and creating family traditions. The holidays are a magical time to continue family traditions, grow closer as a family, and form connections that the kids can remember as they grow.
Again, in review, all our traditions follow a few ground rules:
- They need to be something we (the parents) find enjoyable too, not just the kids
- The tradition needs to fit within our current budget and current schedule
- Brownie points if the tradition can double as a learning or service experience
One thing we’ve started doing the past few years is create a family Christmas bucket list. We all sit down together and have a little family meeting where we decide what activities we want to do for Christmas and kind of come up with a plan on how we want to spend our Christmas holiday.
Here are Some Tips That Help Us:
1. Pick Your Top 3
A few weeks before Thanksgiving we sit down together as a family. I hand the kids a questionnaire to fill out (you can find our version of questions HERE), and we take a few minutes writing down our thoughts. Before everyone gets up and leaves we review everyone’s top 3 Christmas traditions. Three out of the four kids stick to traditions they’ve loved from the past, and one of ours, without fails, always has a new idea to try. It’s very cute to see their creativity and see what they enjoy doing.
Stick to your top 3 things. Why? If you have too many listed you can get overwhelmed and not accomplish it. Ask family members to only list their absolute top 3 favorite things. As a parent, you can fill in more fun things you’d like to do if your schedule allows for it, but getting a few options from the kids will ensure there are a few things on the bucket list that everyone will enjoy. If you have an extremely busy schedule, where you only have a few nights off to do something together, then maybe you ask what their number 1 holiday tradition is. Adapt it to fit the needs and schedule of your family!
2. Be Open to New Traditions
3 out of our 4 kids all list traditions we’ve done before that they like, but it never fails that our one daughter lists new traditions that she wants to try. Welcome those new traditions that your family members want to try. As long as they fit within the established tradition rules, go for it!
3. Look For Ways to Serve
Kids learn best through example, and Christmas is the season of giving. When coming up with your bucket list items, make sure to include an act of service on your list. Find a way to show your children the importance of grace and giving. Maybe it’s delivering treats to a friend you know is having a hard month. Or calling a grandparent who is far away. Or choosing a family in need and playing Secret Santa with them. Or going out to eat and anonymously paying for the meal of the couple next to you. I’d highly recommend, as a parent, to add one thing on your bucket list that shows kindness to someone else around you. Not only will it help bring in the spirit of Christmas, but it’s an awesome service opportunity to do together as a family.
We recently found an app called “Just serve” that actually has a list of service projects going on in your community. We haven’t used it yet, but already found several surprising opportunities that our kids were excited to try out.
4. Simplify
Keep your list simple. Write down things that you would normally be doing anyway. Are you planning on visiting Grandparents? Add it to the list. Do you always decorate the Christmas tree together? Write it down. The goal for your bucket list should be easy, fun activities and traditions that are free, affordable, and
Another way to simplify your list is see if there are any activities that can be combined together? For example if one kid wants to go caroling, and another wants to deliver treats, maybe you can combine those items together so you don’t have to spend two nights doing each of them. Keep your bucket list low. If you have 50 things you want to accomplish and only 15 days to do them in, it just isn’t going to happen. The goal is to spend time together but not overwhelm yourself.
I cannot stress this enough. Keep your activities simple. Please, please, please don’t go elaborate unless that is something that brings you joy. Our kids don’t want things perfect. They just want us.
5. Print Out A Christmas Bucket List
We love printing out our family tradition holiday bucket list and sticking it on our fridge so the kids can mark off when we get things accomplished. The goal for your bucket list is to do things you’re already doing. Please, again, don’t add things that you know don’t fit within your budget, schedule, or sanity. We generally laminate ours or put it in a plastic sleeve, and use dry-erase markers to check off when we do them. It keeps things fun for the kids and reminds us of fun things we can do if we are bored that night.
You can download your own free holiday bucketlist printable HERE.
6. Schedule It On The Calendar
Put it on your calendar. We all have busy schedules. I feel like December especially is filled with school activities, work parties, holiday get-togethers, and recitals. There are some items that flow with spontaneity, such as baking Christmas cookies or watching a holiday movie together. There are other times, however, where you will actually need to find time to accomplish the activity and schedule it in to make sure it’s not forgotten.
I also like to schedule in days I need free for baking things ahead of time, such as delivering a variety of treats to neighbors, or prepping for Christmas dinner.
Here’s a FREE Calendar printable of November and December 2019 that we’re using this year to write out all our holiday planning together. We make sure to add it to our phone calendar as well and set up reminders, especially on things we have to do any type of preparation.
7. Look For Ways to Delegate
Look for ways to delegate and include others. Do you have older kids who could be in charge of any of the activities? A partner who could lead one of the activities? Look for ways where others can take off some of the load from you.
Do you have a tradition of hosting a Christmas party? Ask your guests to each bring an appetizer to share. Do you want to string popcorn while watching a Christmas movie? Ask your older kids to cut the string. Find a way to streamline the process and make it run faster and smoother than last time.
8. ENJOY YOURSELF
The whole purpose of a bucket list is to have fun as a family. Keep things simple, relax, and enjoy the magic that this season brings.
Being on a debt-free journey, we can easily get wrapped up in all the “things” we can’t give our kids. But the truth is, what makes Christmas so magical is the time we spend together, the memories we make, and the traditions we hold. Make your family a priority this year. That’s what matters most – not the amount of Christmas presents you have under your Christmas tree.
