Cute Last-Minute Christmas Gift Idea

Running low on time and ideas for that last gift? Time to confess what we all are thinking. We all hate crap! Spare yourself the trouble of giving a knee-jerk purchase just to cross another one off your giving list. Instead, give a gift that says "I respect you enough not to fill your house with junk". Here's a solution. Consumables. I have written blog posts on the magic of giving consumables in the past and have thought of a cute new idea for this year.

Here's what you'll need...

Supplies:
Jar of consumable good (hot cocoa powder, hot fudge sauce, etc.)
Brown foam (enough for two antlers)
Googly eyes
Red paper or red craft ball (for nose)
Hot glue gun

Method:
Draw and cut antler shapes out of foam
Glue antlers to either side of your jar
Glue googly eyes to front of jar to make a face
Cut nose from red paper (or use other nose item) and glue to the jar to complete the face

And there you have it! A cute consumable any teacher/co-worker/coach, etc. would love.

Happy Giving!

Your One Stop Shop for Holiday Activity Ideas!

From my home to yours, Merry Christmas

It’s Christmastime! While it may only be December first, if you’re like me, you might already feel behind when faced with the daunting tasks this season brings. Confession time. I don’t merely want to “get through” the holidays. Instead I want to actually enjoy all the magic and splendor this season has to offer. Why should kids have all the fun?

To include all the fun and exclude the crazy, I find it best to schedule in some holiday activities. Planning ahead takes a little of the hysteria out of what should be memorable family time. To get your wheels spinning, I’ve packed this post with some fun ideas your family might enjoy.

Baking Cookies

The old standby. One thing my family and I will be doing this year is baking sugar cookies in the shape of the characters from the Nativity. We will then give these out to friends and neighbors. Here is a good recipe…

Ingredients:

1 c. butter, softened

1 ½ c. powdered sugar

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla

2 ½ c. flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. cream of tartar

¼ tsp. salt

¼ tsp. nutmeg

¼ tsp. cinnamon

Method:

          Preheat oven to 400 degrees

      Cream butter and sugar  

     Add egg and vanilla. Mix well.

     Sift dry ingredients and add them to the mixture

     Chill dough for three to five hours 

     Roll onto floured board

     Cut out cookies to desired shapes

      Cool before decorating

Christmas Caroling

An old classic that, sadly, nobody does anymore. I try to incorporate a little party with this fun activity. I have a manned fire in the front yard accompanied with appetizers and spirits indoors. After singing our merry way through our neighborhood, we return home for Christmas cookies and hot cocoa. For the adults, I will be trying my hand at hot-buttered rum this year!

Here are a few ground rules for making this a successful activity…

1) Have plenty of gloves, flashlights and glow sticks to share.

2) Have kiddies take a bathroom break BEFORE venturing out!

3) Plan which song you are going to sing before you approach each house.

4) After you have sung your selected song, start moving on to the next house while singing the chorus  

of “We Wish You a Merry Christmas”. This keeps things moving.

5) Avoid chatting too much with your neighbors, leaving guests to their own devices. (Number three from this list will help with that).

Here are a few classic tunes that usually work well for this activity…   

1) Jingle Bells

2) Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

3) Silent Night

Christmas Lights Tour

Kids love to look at Christmas lights! My kids always look forward to this fun tradition. We pack up some cookies, turn on the Christmas music, grab a fresh cup of hot cocoa and drive around looking for our favorite light displays!

Here are some ways to enhance the fun with this activity…

1)    Wear PJ’s

2)    Bring cozy blankets (Sorry drivers. None for you.)

3)    Pack Christmas light glasses (found at most toy stores)

4)    Create a bingo game (include Santa’s, Nativity scenes, reindeer, etc.)

5)    Play “I Spy”

You may want to take your tour one step further by booking a tour bus with your friends and family. Many of these bus companies allow cookies and cocoa on board. If you plan such a tour, I recommend scheduled bathroom breaks and bringing extra activities for the kids, including coloring sheets, a playlist of Christmas sing-a-long music, stickers and blank paper that they can use with crayons to create their own Christmas scene. 

Christmas Cards

This year, my kids will be making Christmas cards for teachers, coaches, our mail carrier, and others who help our family in special ways. I recommend doing this as a fun way of teaching kids how to get some of the warm fuzzies of good cheer.

Here are a few ideas…

      1) Snap and print some pics ahead of time

      2) Write out some “cheery message” ideas like “Seasons Greetings”, etc.

      3) Lay out a variety of craft supplies including markers, glue, crayons, ribbon, paint, cotton balls,

          stickers, etc.    

      4) Make it a party by putting out some snacks and a fun punch

      5) Include envelopes for after the cards dry

Give Back

For me, having theatre kids means that our family is always SUPER busy during the holidays. This makes it hard to make time for volunteering. If you’re low on time, consider giving back by purchasing some necessities and giving them to those less fortunate.

Here are some ideas…

Give your child a gift card to use in purchasing a special toy for a child in need

Have your family go food shopping for a local food bank

If you live in an area with cold weather, purchase scarves, gloves and hats and tie them to trees in areas where the homeless can find them. Attach a simple note saying “If you are in need of this item, please take it as our gift to you. With love, Merry Christmas”.

Have your family purchase and fill freezer bags with other essentials including beef jerky, wipes, bottled water, clean socks, feminine hygiene products and deliver them to shelters who can get them to the homeless (skip the hand sanitizer and mouthwash, please).

While the list of potential holiday fun can go on and on, I am hopeful that I have included some fun ideas that can be made to fit easily into your schedule. Happy planning happy holidays and MERRY CHRISTMAS

A Little Holiday Humor

Since my last post, I have been told by some readers that they still have difficulty getting out of the hustle and bustle and into the true spirit of this holiday season. After telling them that it isn’t too late to find some holiday cheer, these holiday hold-outs ask me how I do it. Because I am a realist, I begin every holiday season with a quick self reminder (my own holiday chill-pill, if you will) that I have a houseful of small children (three under the age of five) and that mishaps will happen. Past experiences from parenting my biological children and also our foster children has taught me that… a) the gingerbread house will be torn to smithereens by Christmas Eve, b) the stockings that I have hung by the chimney with care will be yanked down repeatedly for the sole purpose of “just checking”, c) wrapping paper and tape will be used to make forts throughout the house and d) artfully coordinated ornaments will be used as toys. The most important lesson that I gained from repeated experiences much like those listed above is to ALWAYS expect ANYTHING to go wrong at ANY time throughout this season of joy and togetherness.

How do I get through the season while remaining sane and my house in one piece? By taking my own advice from my previous post and “enjoying the magic of the season through the eyes of a child”. By so doing, I am able to embrace the spirit by which my children dismantle my carefully arranged Nativity scene or unwrap presents once so ornately decorated that even Martha Stewart would be envious. Don’t be mistaken, however. I am not condoning a holiday free-for-all. I am simply recommending that parents give up the need for controlled perfection and accept the reality of mistakes and messes brought on by the curiosity that the holidays inspire.

The above statement again begs the question… How do I do it? By savoring the humor that accompanies these unfortunate and unforeseen moments. Instead of getting upset that “someone” broke all of the candy canes, I choose to laugh at the fact that that same “someone” tried to jam three of them up my two-year-olds nose. It’s surprising how quickly vacuuming up peppermint bits goes when done with a chuckle. Rather than waste my time and energy insisting that home videos be cinematic masterpieces, I allow my children to be themselves and I try not to crack up when the little one picks her nose while her sister sings an energetic rendition of “Rudolph the Red- Nosed Reindeer”. I don’t even bother getting grinchy and grumpy when "somehow" all of the chocolate from the advent calendar finds its way up the stairs and melts itself to my child’s bedspread. I find that stain lifter always works better when applied with a grin.

While it may take practice, choosing to pick out funny moments among the chaos is a prescription anyone can follow. To help out, the following are a few fun memories from my family’s 2010 Christmas season…

Our family embraces “the Elf on the Shelf” tradition. For those who don’t know, this elf visits children in their homes each day throughout the Christmas season. He then flies back to the North Pole each night to report their actions to Santa. Many parents appreciate having an extra set of eyes around the house to ensure that everyone is acting "nice" and not "naughty". Because the elf leaves each night, he returns each morning to a different location in the house. This adds to the fun as many children look forward to finding where their elf has hidden each new day. One day, our family’s elf had run out of places to hide, so, for some reason, rather than hiding in a previous location, he opted to hide in our bathroom. This unfortunately was the same day our children were writing their Christmas letters to Santa. Had I known our elf’s current location having run out of options, I never would have suggested that our children give their letters to the elf to deliver to Santa. When I did make the suggestion, my four-year-old let me know just how ridiculous and inappropriate that idea was. Wow. What were we thinking? I am glad that she made this so clear. Now I am sure that neither the elf nor I will ever make a mistake like that again!

It was neat to learn that our daughter’s preschool teacher still believes in Santa too. Santa thinks that she is so special, in fact, that this year, she even received a letter from the big guy. Included in this letter were the names of each of her students who would be receiving a special gift under the tree. Our daughter was thrilled to hear the names of each of her classmates as her teacher read them off of Santa’s list. That was until the teacher finished reading the list, not realizing that Santa had left out the name of one classmate who was presently on vacation. Our little one came home distraught that her classmate would not receive a Santa gift because he wouldn’t be home in time for Christmas. Despite our attempts to reassure her, our daughter was so concerned for little Daniel that this became the main topic of our dinner discussion during that and the next couple of nights. Everyone was relieved when we attended the school’s Christmas program and saw for ourselves that Daniel had returned from vacation and therefore would be receiving a gift from Santa. Phew! Talk about a close one!

Another holiday tradition that our family has is a special Christmas Eve bedtime recitation of Clement Clarke Moore’s “The Night Before Christmas”. One would think that I would have this rhyme well rehearsed by now, being that I began this tradition during my own childhood. Alas, this is not the case, but I have a compelling reason as to why! Each year we opt to have my father continue the tradition in his beautiful baritone voice. When it came to be bedtime this Christmas Eve we unfortunately were unable to reach him by phone. Rather than keep our children up too late my husband and I attempted to recite the poem ourselves. With even our best tag-team efforts, we were only able to get to the point of “hearing such a clatter” and then “running” to the “window to see what was the matter”. We were at a loss for where to go after “flying” to the window like a “flash”, tearing open the shutters and throwing up the “sash”. Rather than making up a happy ending, the thoughtful parents that we are, my husband and I unwittingly struck fear into the hearts of our small children by abruptly ending the story with “Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night”. This incident would soon become known among our friends and extended family as the Crandall family “Nightmare before Christmas”. No relation to the movie, of course, but with an experience like that, what small child needs a movie to scare the wits out of them?

This list of humorous Christmas stories can go on and on, but my point is to help each reader identify those funny experiences that make each family’s holiday season uniquely memorable and special. As each household concludes the holiday season by preparing for New Year’s celebrations it is my hope that this post has done just that.

Who Stole Christmas?

Now that the presents have been opened and Santa has made his yearly debut, it is my hope that everyone can reflect on the Christmas season with fond memories of merry celebrations and all of the joy that the season creates. For all of those who worry that they didn’t jam their schedules full of enough Christmas activities or fear they may have hurt junior’s feelings by having not purchased all fifty items on his “wish” list, allow me to officially let you off the hook! Too often parents get so caught up in providing a “perfect Christmas” and spend the new year with feelings of buyer’s remorse for having splurged on the “must have toy” –remember the Tickle-Me-Elmo doll from the nineties? Others are overwhelmed with feelings of grief from having spent too much time working to make the perfect memory and not enough time being a part of it. It is often these same individuals who get angry at their spouses for not sharing a zeal for going (dare I say) “over-the-top” with festive flare. For these reasons and more, many parents put so much pressure on themselves this time of year it is easy to see how many forget to enjoy the true meaning of the season.

For all those described above (myself included!), I have written the following adaptation from one of my favorite Christmas classics “The Night Before Christmas” by Clement Clarke Moore. This adaptation is a couple of years old and may be recognized by some readers, but I feel it remains relevant for many of us.

(Adapted by Bectoria L. Stafford-Crandall from “The Night Before Christmas” by Clement Clarke Moore)

T’was the night before Christmas and all through the house

Mom’s fed everyone amply so that no one could grouse

The handmade stockings were hung by the chimney with care

So that St. Nick would notice their decorative flare

The In-laws were nestled all snug in their beds

While visions of their return flights home danced in Mom’s head

With Mama in the kitchen

Dad took a nap

When he sees all the gifts he’ll ask “how much was this crap?”

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter

Dad sprang from the couch to see what was the matter

Outside a plastic Santa exploded in a flash

While tearing down shutters and lights with one crash

The torn down ornaments as they rest on the new fallen snow

Made Mom flustered as she looked out the adjacent window

When what to her horrified eyes should appear but a small flaming sleigh and eight incinerated reindeer

With their little old driver now melted to brick,

She knew in a moment they came with the plastic St. Nick

More rapid than eagles Dad extinguished the flames

While Mom bristled and shouted and called Dad some names

That Dasher! That Dancer! That Prancer! That Vixon!

That Comet! That Cupid! That Donder! That Blitzen!

"I didn’t want them on the porch! I told you that at the mall!

Now throw the lawn ornaments away! Melted plastic and all!"

As dry leaves before a wild hurricane fly Dad’s temper met with an obstacle, mount to the sky,

So out of the house as coursers he flew

Throwing out all his burnt toys, and St. Nicholas too.

And then in a twinkling, she heard on the roof

The grunting and struggling from that stubborn old goof

As she drew in her head and was turning around

Down the chimney her Christmas lights came in a bound

This caused her to stir from her head to her foot

As she looked at her once twinkling lights now tarnished with ashes and soot

A bundle of burnt toys Dad had flung on his back

As he came in like a peddler to open his garbage sack

His eyes- how they twinkled! His dimples how merry!

His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!

His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow

And poor Mama’s face was as white as the snow

She stomped to the door and clenched tightly her teeth

She turned around and encircled Dad’s head with the wreath

She pulled it past his broad face and then patted his belly

It shook when he flinched like a bowlful of jelly

He called her chubby and plump, like a jolly old elf

He had to laugh when he said this in spite of himself

A wink of her eye and a twist of her head

Soon gave him to know he had something to dread

She spoke not a word, but went straight to her work

Threw out his golf clubs, then called him a jerk,

He exclaimed “I’m so sorry” as she went for his fishing poles

And then giving a nod, she quickly froze

As he completed her Christmas Eve“honey-do” list, her anger did fizzle

When he was done, to bed he flew like the down of a thistle

And she lovingly whispered as she turned out the light

Happy Christmas to all and y’all better sleep tight!
Sometimes all a well-meaning parent needs is to take a step back and reflect on what is truly important. It is healthy for parents to remind themselves that children probably don’t want their parents to be stressed out and overburdened with details and tasks, especially at such a magical time of year as Christmas. Children who are shuttled all over and forced to partake in every single “Christmassy” activity available by well-meaning but frenzied parents may reflect back and ask “who stole Christmas”? Instead, families just may benefit from parents prescribing themselves a yuletide “chill pill” and putting emphasis on small but special memories rather than jamming as much forced cheer into the holiday season as is humanly possible. Perhaps taking a moment to enjoy the magic of the season through the eyes of a child will spark an appreciation for those simpler things that make the season so great and time with family feel that much more special.