Christmas Traditions: 12 Days of Christmas

Looking to start some traditions for your family during the Christmas season?  I have always “tried” to adopt a tradition that we call the “12 days of Christmas” in our house.  It started as a fun little process where we would pick 12 Christmas activities and scatter them throughout the month of December.  I tried to make the activities not based around presents.  After numerous years of doing this, we’ve grown a little bored (and I’ve grown a little lazy, to be honest).  Also, now that the kids are slightly older, it’s hard to find 12 nights that are open in December.  The last couple years started to feel like “work” when trying to fit things in and I’m sure at the end of it all, we ended up having 8 or 9 days of Christmas with an event or two consisting of me throwing a spoon in their hand and saying:  “Here!  Slap some of this cookie dough on a cookie sheet and let’s consider this our baking night.”  In our prime, the usual list included: Baking, random act of kindness, picking out new ornaments, car rides to see Christmas lights (one year it included tons of vomit as the flu hit Faith in the middle of the trip), movie nights, Polar Express hot chocolate nights, an evening at Crossroads Village, surprise breakfasts with pancakes shaped like snowmen, etc...  

This year, I’ve brainstormed ways to still keep this tradition alive, yet simplify the whole process, in attempt to bring the fun and joy back to the whole tradition.  We’ve never done a 12 Days of Christmas based on the actual song, so we’re going to go along with that idea.  Here’s a list of ideas that we’ve come up with and feel free to do them all or adopt a few that fit best with your clan! 

1st Day (Partridge in pear tree): As a family, go and pick out your tree (or get it out of storage, and set it up) decide together what “look” or “theme” you want this year and make it happen!

2nd Day (Two turtle doves): Exchange a “pair” of something (socks, gloves, earrings, whatever!).

3rd Day (Three French hens): Make it a three movie weekend—discuss and reach a consensus on your family’s three favorite holiday movies and go and rent them on a Friday night and watch them throughout the weekend together.

4th Day (Four calling birds): Use your phone to place a call or a text to four people that you miss and tell them so.  Tell them what you appreciate about them. Everyone who has a phone has to pick four people, so everyone can participate.    

5th Day (Five golden rings): In honor of circles and rings:  Donuts for breakfast (or dinner!)!!!!!

6th Day (Six laying geese): Game night! Pull out your favorite board games (no electronics) and play for prizes of holiday cookies or candy!  If you have to do this after Christmas and during Christmas break, that’s ok too!  Remember—you can make up your own rules.  

7th Day (Seven swimming swans): Everyone writes a list of their seven favorite memories in 2016, with details.   

8th Day (Eight milking maids): In honor of MILK and dairy farmers across America- take a road trip for MILKSHAKES (in our case that would be about a mile, preferably when no one feels a flu-bug coming on).  

9th Day (Nine dancing ladies): Two words: dance party! For extra fun, film it so you can watch it next year!

10th Day (Ten leaping lords): Get off your duff and leap outside and take a family walk together on the trails.  Hopefully you can time it when the snow starts to fall.  Heck, if you don’t have time to drive to a trail, walking around the block will do just fine, especially when it’s snowing!

11th Day (Eleven piping pipers): Take a poll on everyone’s favorite hot chocolate toppings (be creative) and have a hot chocolate buffet, complete with piping hot homemade hot chocolate! 

12th Day (Twelve drumming drummers): Drum up 12 new goals for 2017 and share them with your family!  Commit to helping each other stick to them.    

How I Bullet Journal

I am a lover of “The List”.  What I mean is:  I love making LISTS (and I love scratching items off of my list even more).  I’m making them all the time.  During meetings, I’m jotting down information in list formation.  I start my day with a list of what needs to be done at work, at home, and with the kids’ extracurriculars.  When I sit down to my desk at work, I check over the previous day’s priorities and make a new list.  Throughout the day, whether at home or at work, I’m jotting down ideas that come to mind and things to remember to research or do later.  On my breaks and lunch hours, I’m making budgeting plans, grocery lists, bill schedules, fitness and eating logs, Christmas lists for shopping, and meal plans for the week for my family.  Each evening, I journal quotes for inspiration, short term goals, and lists to stay organized and uncluttered.  At times you’ll find me listing home projects, seasonal plans and traditions, recipes, books (both read and to-read), must see-movies, Netflix and Hulu series to watch, and Bucket listing.  As a woman and as a mother, making lists and writing down the thoughts of my constantly multi-tasking mind, is a way to screenshot my ideas and to keep my many roles, responsibilities, and passions straight and orderly.  If not for my constant list-making, I’m certain that I’d have myself continually screened for early onset Alzheimer’s, as I could never freely remember even half of what enters my brain. 

I’ve found that it’s easiest to keep the collection of my many lists in one area and it’s easiest to list out all of the details of my overly-active mind in bullet points, hence the name Bullet Journal.  This is not a new concept.  It’s everywhere if you google it.  And everyone who adopts this style of organization develops a style and method that works for them, so keep that in mind while I tell you how I journal. 

Why a bullet journal?  Why not try a fancy online system or keep it all on a computer or phone?  Because our brains behave differently when we go analog.  “Whether they realize it or not, many people approach computers and tablets with a state of mind less conducive to learning than the one they bring to paper”- Scientific American Online Journal.  Think about it—when we write a paper or a manuscript on the computer we always end up printing the whole thing in order to edit with a pen in hand, right?  The act of writing something down engages our brains and encourages more thorough thought processes.  

So what do you need?  That’s the great thing about using a bullet journal to get organized.  Supply list:  1) A sturdy journal 2) A Pen.  Easy Peasy.  Run to the store and pick up a cute, colorful, durable (moleskin is my favorite), and small enough to fit in your purse journal or planner, as well as, a great pen (a good pen makes all the difference…. It’s no fun to write with a crappy bic).  Another beautiful thing about a bullet journal is that IT CAN BE WHATEVER YOU WANT IT TO BE.  You can dress it up with tabs and stickers and stencils and positive quotes or you can keep it plain-Jane.  I love to make things pretty and unique, but the point of a bullet journal for me is EASE and EFFICIENCY.  I have no time for frills and ruffles when it comes to tasks and schedules and keeping organized.  Set yours up however you’d like—there are millions of ideas on UTube and Instagram on some very cool ways to make it artsy and eye-pleasing. 

Once you have your journal and pen in hand, think about what you want to get out of a bullet journal.   I start with writing in mine every Sunday.  I outline:  1)  Work priorities  2)  Meals  3)  Family schedule for the week 4)  Fitness and workout plans 5)  Errands 6)  Bills 7)  Projects   8)  Brain dump page (this is where I can bullet anything that comes to mind and it doesn’t have to fit in a category).  And then I add and adjust daily throughout the day/week.  Some weeks I also add a section to list goals and another for habits.  It just depends on what I’m focused on.  I may use it to outline Easter dinner 5 months out.  Or I may make a guest-list for a community event that I’m planning next year.  That’s what I love about it… It is the sketch of my mind, plans, and ideas in one place. Also, some add calendars to their journal.  I keep my calendar with all appointments on my phone, mainly because it buzzes and dings as an added reminder, however I add the calendar items to my weekly bullets on Sundays when I am setting up my week.  This works well for me.  If you need to add a written calendar for a visual, print a week-at-a-glance or monthly calendar (whichever you prefer) that fits your journal and glue them in the journal, leaving plenty of blank pages in between each month for weekly and daily journaling. 

In short, if you are like me and if your mind is running 24/7 and you need to capture and retain as much as possible along with saving precious time, adopt my list-loving mentality.  Start small and try it.  Figure out what you need to track and prioritize and start writing it out.  Change the format and ditch what isn’t working—remember, there is no right or wrong way to do this.  If pretty designs and colors motivate you, then spend time accessorizing.  In the end, I think you’ll find that this journal will be as valuable as your phone and your wallet.  Well… maybe not your wallet, but close.  J 

Happy listing!