Adventure, Tradition, and 3D Glasses: Holiday Essentials

My family and every other soul in the tri-state area recently survived two consecutive snow days filled with cancellations, delays, and postponements. Periods like this give everyone cabin fever, and they had me looking ahead to the holidays occurring at the end of the month.

Here are a few of my essentials for the season of cheer.

3D Christmas Glasses

My mom handed these out to all of her grandchildren at Thanksgiving and they were a huge hit. These paper spectacles will add a fun illumination to any string of lights or bright decoration. My family, sans the driver (of course), put these on while driving home one evening and saw a spectacular show of headlights outlined by gingerbread men, elves, and candy canes. They are goofy and fun. Plus they would turn a traditional night of perusing one’s neighborhood for beautiful Christmas lights into an epic tale of fun. Buy them to enjoy now or else save them for a perfect stocking-stuffer option. These 3D Christmas glasses would also make for nice white elephant gifts.

Adventure

I am at the point in my life where I feel like my family has way too much stuff. So much in fact that there are days that I undergo a bit claustrophobia. I am not sure exactly when sentimentality died for me, but lately I have been a reverse hoarder. This condition can be a problem when shopping for holiday gifts. Do not get me wrong, I love shopping and gifting things to the people I love. It is just the struggle of finding room for it all. Enter the idea of giving the gift of adventure, or to tone it down a bit…the gift of experiences.

My older brother was a hard sell on the “no more gifts because we have too much” argument. In fact, I am pretty sure he is ignoring me completely. This means that I will look like the Scrooge on Christmas Day when he and my sister-in-law shower my husband and me with thoughtful presents and in return they receive only a thumbs-up. As a foreshadowing measure I have already coordinated a mini-vacation with my brothers and extended family for New Year’s Eve. We are getting a large suite at a fun hotel with promises of swimming, happy hour, plastic noisemakers, and unlimited snacking on cheddar goldfish. It will be an adventure of kids and grown-ups ringing in 2019. Will we survive? Stay tuned for a future blog post!

Tradition

My number one “must have” for the holidays is sticking with tradition whenever possible. My family will definitely do its annual homemade pizza making night. My spouse and I will also coordinate a lazy and low-key Christmas morning with just our kids. My household’s Elf on the Shelf (aka: Elfie) will fly around each night and hide in a new spot from December 1st to December 24th. I will send out Christmas cards and hope to get an abundance in return. My mom will make crab legs, my sister-in-law will make pecan tarts, my aunt will bring over a tray of chocolate goodies, and my in-laws will plan a feast that requires three tables and two rooms in order to hold all of the different dishes of meat, salads, and desserts.

My family will attend mass and be moved by the choir’s rendition of Silent Night or Away in a Manger. We will hopefully be thankful for all that we have and take a moment to remember those we have lost over the years. And at the end of the day, week, or month…we will remember the reason for the season.

What are some of your best holiday traditions? Share them on our website or Facebook page.