Some Last-Minute Substitutes for Christmas Ideals

traditions are great, but...what's doable?

Hello! It’s the week before Christmas! Whew. I hope you’re feeling well. As you dream of making a special Christmas for your kids, remember that the best Christmas tradition is a not-stressed parent. Your personal well-being matters a lot to your kids!

If you find yourself with a huge to-do list and need someone to give you a permission slip to skip some stuff, here it is. You don’t have to do all the things. For example, Christmas cards bring smiles to the recipients, sure, but if you don’t get around to sending them out this year….most people aren’t keeping track 😉

However, if you want some shortcuts that might work as substitutes for holiday traditions, here ya go!

Pillowcases (sub for wrapped presents)

There’s a special joy to unwrapping a gift, but there are lots of reasons you might want to simplify your life (and Christmas cleanup) by putting presents in pillowcases. You can also use scarves; look up furoshiki!)

(Last week I spilled water on ALL my kraft-paper-wrapped packages as I was watering the tree, so I had to quickly rescue the presents and all my wrapping efforts were completely wasted. True story. So we did pillowcases again this year.)

There are ways you can customize the pillowcases by using stamps, felt, tie-dye, pretty bows, etc…but your kids will most likely forgive you if you just take borrow their pillowcases for the day 😉

Canned-Biscuit Monkey Bread (sub for homemade cinnamon rolls)

If you feel like Christmas morning should smell like cinnamon rolls but you’re not going to wake up early or worry about dough rises, monkey bread is an activity that can involve your kids. I actually use it to kill time with the early risers while we wait for the family members who like to sleep in.

Simply use a can of biscuit dough and cut it up into small chunks using kitchen shears or a chef’s knife. Provide a bowl of cinnamon-sugar and a bowl of melted butter. Grease a small pan or loaf pan. Invite the kids to dip the chunks of biscuit into the butter, then the cinnamon-sugar, then place them in the pan.

I recommend drizzling some honey over the whole thing to help it stick together. Bake according to the label’s instructions until it’s brown and sticky, then plop it out. Let cool a little, then let everyone dig in and pull it apart!

Photo Texts (sub for Christmas cards)

Though we spent a lot of months talking about letter-writing and card-making, it turns out that the busy-ness of December might allow you much time to do so. No worries. If you send a picture of your family with a little personalized message to different people who would like to see your faces, you’ll still help them feel loved.

Candlelit Dinner (sub for Christmas Eve feast)

You know what’s a super-memorable tradition that doesn’t take a lot of dishes? Eating in darkness! Some families (like my friend Sarah) do a solstice dinner with all the lights turned off except candles at the table. In our family, we have a “Shepherd’s Dinner,” where we eat foods that the shepherds might’ve been snacking on when the angels arrived to announce the birth of Jesus. We turn off all the lights, light some candles, sit on the floor, and eat something like brie bread bowls.

For individual portions, cut a “lid” off the top of ciabatta bread, scoop out some bread, put in a piece of brie, replace lid, put a pat of butter on top, and bake at 350 for about 10-15 min, until the cheese is melted. I added an apple and wrapped them up in napkins as little to-go packages. The kids loved it!

I hope some of these ideas make your holiday season feel a little more doable…and hopefully none of them are too tacky 😜

You probably don’t want extra emails in your inbox this week, so I’ll see you next week as we cast vision for the New Year! 🎊

Warmly,

Hope from Family Scripts