It’s the most wonderful time of the year!! And yet it’s often easy for this time of year to feel more overscheduled and rushed than relaxed and enjoyable. It’s my prayer that as a family we will be intentional about how we use the holiday season. One of the best ways to accomplish this is with some planning on the front end. Here’s a peek at how we keep things simple when it comes to decorating with little ones.
We start early with decorating on purpose. For a week our garage is filled with boxes while we sort through and get everything out and in place. After a few days my type-A self starts getting antsy and is ready to clean up the mess and park my car back in the garage! Usually the days before Thanksgiving we start bringing down the Christmas decorations. The boys have gotten better with knowing ALL the decorating will not happen in one afternoon. There’s always excitement and joy as they peek inside boxes to see things they remember from the previous years, and it’s so sweet to see their faces light up! The decorating is generally a week-long process at this point. We take things one step at a time. Outside lights up one day, mantle one day, tree up and lights strung the next, tree decorated the next, etc. And inevitably there are extra trips to the store for things like more lights. And we were only a few days into getting everything into place when we took our first loss of one of the pewter stocking holders crashing to the concrete floor and breaking.
Our home isn’t extra large or fancy, so we don’t need fancy decorations. We keep it simple but cozy with our main tree in the living room and mantle decorated. I love having a few holiday candles and pillows around. And John Lloyd is especially a fan of the basket of Christmas books set out in the living room.
The boys love having lights outside. Our cul-de-sac is fantastic about everyone putting up lights and inflatables that the kids love. It makes it so special to drive in and it just feels special! The boys have a small tree in their room that they decorate with ornaments that they’ve made over the years and ornaments that accompany our Jesse Tree Advent devotional.
Tonight I walked into the kitchen and was greeted by this lovely art on our chalkboard wall!
I think we’re off to a great start!
