Believe in the Magic of Christmas is my all-time favorite saying about the holiday season.
The saying has graced my annual Christmas card for more than 20 years and probably will forever…it just makes me so happy!
It’s the magical feeling that surrounds Christmas…when people are a little bit friendlier, a little more giving, a little more willing to make the time to spend with their families and even people they work with, and all-around a little more of just being a little more.
All of you have your own magical things about the holidays, but here is my Top Ten(ish) list of what makes the holidays so awesome:
1. Christmas Music – I want to play it all the time. Seriously, it’s a problem. Old songs and new songs, classic voices and pop stars all singing songs of the season. I realize that what makes it most desirable is that I am deprived of the tunes for 10.5 months of the year (yes I play Christmas music into January – don’t judge) But it’s the happiest, most upbeat music that puts a positive spin on so many things that could be negative – the cold, the snow, ice, crowds, shopping, and so on. It’s the best!
2. Christmas Presents – Not the ones that you receive. The ones you give. It doesn’t happen every year, or with every person – but when you get a gift so right that there are happy tears or screams of excitement that makes all of the searching, shopping, second guessing, and wrapping all worth it! Giving the perfect gift is the perfect gift.
3. Christmas Colors – Red and Green make Christmas (they should be on the color wheel together!) Sure there are other colors that symbolize a holiday – just not quite like red and green. Orange? Could be Halloween or Thanksgiving or just fall. Red and white? Could be Valentines, or 4th of July or probably just an extension of Christmas!
3.5 Christmas Lights – I mean, lights that you are willing to drive around and look at with the kids? The perfect white lights that are perfectly spaced vs that mess of colored amazingness timed to music – outstanding!
4. Christmas Jammies – Because why not? Matching Pj’s for the whole family? Even better.
5. Snow – An excuse to stay home by the fire, to make soup and hot chocolate, cuddle up with a book or take a nap. Snow ice cream. Snow angels. Snowball fights. They write Christmas songs about White Christmases – it’s all part of the holidays!
6. Christmas Cookies – The best reason ever for a disaster in the kitchen. All of the sprinkles, frosting, holiday cheer and neighborly love that goes into making Christmas cookies. The kids deciding which masterpiece should be shared with each special person is just a rite of passage for little people. Red and green sparkly-gingerbread-house-fun.
7. Christmas Break – time to see family. To let the kids sleep in and recoup from all of the learning and growing they are doing every day. They are only little with a Christmas break once.
8. Christmas Cards – I LOVE Christmas cards! I keep them all – from every year – watching distant friends kids grow up year after year, I just can’t get enough – please don’t stop sending them!
9. Christmas morning with little kids. I can’t think of anything else that could replace the sheer joy that Christmas morning provides for the littles…and the family that gets to watch it. #priceless
10. Holiday Spirit(s) – I mean really both – I love myself a Christmas cocktail but the delightful feeling of the season is the perfect way to end a year. The community coming together to decorate or carol. Christmas concerts, parties, and decorating. It’s all such a magical blend of tradition and community, it’s fantastic!
What from this list would you change? What would you keep the same?
What are your favorite things about the holiday season? That you think really makes it all the most wonderful time of the year?
Because all of ours together – mine and yours – make the spirit of Christmas magical.
Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas!
