My 12 Days of Christmas Challenge
Today I am blatantly copying Kae and her 12 Days of Christmas Challenge. Starting on Wednesday the 13th, she has a challenge for each of the remaining 12 days until Christmas- read a Christmas book, go for a walk to look at lights, eat a family dinner at the table, etc. I love the idea of assigning an activity to make each day distinctive. The days in December always seem to fly by. This seems like a way to slow it down and feel like each day is important (not just a stepping stone to December 25th.) Here’s my own 12 Days of Christmas list: Wednesday 12/13- I didn’t read about Kae’s challenge until Thursday, but luckily Wednesday WAS a special day anyway- it was my “elfing” day! I opened and organized all the Amazon packages that had been shoved in my closet, and wrapped presents. I really enjoyed it! And I got a lot done. Thursday 12/14- Honestly, this day and Friday were hard to fit into the challenge. There are just so many things I have to get done, and I’m trying to reframe it. We can call this “elfing day junior”- when I got home from work I discovered four more gifts had arrived, so I had a mini-wrapping session (my daughter was at school late for a rehearsal.) I also finished up my Amazon orders. In the last post I asked for stocking stuffer ideas for my son, and I was amused to notice that almost EVERYONE mentioned socks. Okay you guys, socks have been ordered! Friday 12/15- Decorating my son’s room. Finishing the outdoor lights. Once again, these are more “tasks” than fun challenges, but I need one more “Christmas work day” and this is it! Saturday 12/16- Very special day- my son comes home!!! Family dinner at the table with festive decorations and twinkle lights. Sunday 12/17- Cookie baking! I’m thinking of making these rum balls from Sally’s Baking Addiction. These will be part of the gifts to my daughter’s flute and guitar teachers, and I think they’ll appreciate an “adult” cookie. I’ll also make another kind of cookie- not sure what yet, but something my kids will like. Monday 12/18- Starting the family puzzle! Ha ha, we’ll see how this goes. I decided we’re all going to do a puzzle this Christmas, so I ordered this one: My daughter has announced that it’s the “dumbest thing ever” but my son is humoring me so far. I’m looking forward to it! Tuesday 12/19- More cookie baking! I’ll make the dough for gingerbread men and sugar cookies, which we decorate on Christmas Eve. Plus one more cookie- probably biscotti- to add to gifts. Wednesday 12/20- Long run!!! I’m going to make a Christmas playlist for this run. Just for part of it- this is a planned 24 mile run and even I can’t listen to Christmas music for THAT long. Thursday 12/21- Present wrapping and Christmas movies with the kids. They’ll wrap the gifts they got for each other, and the gifts they’re giving us. Also any miscellaneous presents will be wrapped, like my Secret Santa present for work. Friday 12/22- My son will be going out with friends this night, so I’m going to try to watch a Christmas movie I’ve never seen before. Elf? (I know- I’m the only one in the world who hasn’t seen this.) White Christmas? Love Actually? If I can get my husband or daughter interested, it will definitely have a bearing on my choice. Saturday 12/23- Festivus! I’ll work in the morning and then we’ll do our usual Festivus activities, which include going out for bagels, last minute shopping and present wrapping, and watching Polar Express. We’ll do a little airing of the grievances, but otherwise our Festivus doesn’t follow the Costanza’s traditions (the bagel lunch is a nod to Kramer’s job at H&H in that episode, ha ha.) Sunday 12/24- Every year on Christmas Eve we host a cookie decorating party and dinner for my friend and her two daughters. We met when our kids were in preschool together, and we’ve been spending Christmas Even together for eleven years now. There we go! Did anyone else copy Kae? What activities are you doing in the next ten days? Header photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash