Do you have a Christmas Eve tradition? I love our Christmas eve boxes – they just add such a touch of magic to our night together!
I LOVE doing Christmas Eve boxes – I know some people think that it is a bit too much, especially when children get so much over Christmas, but I just think it is the perfect way to build the (already tangible) excitement and to add a bit of magic to the lives of our kids.
Everyone does Christmas Eve boxes differently, but I thought I’d share what goes in ours and why I do them… this year I have been toying with the idea of doing grown up Christmas Eve boxes (complete with a little tipple, a chosen DVD and some new pjs!), after all we deserve a bit of Christmas magic too! We always do our Christmas Eve boxes about 4.30/5pm so before bedtime and before dinner, otherwise the excitement can be too much!
So for the boy’s Christmas Eve boxes I do:
- A Christmas sticker book – it’s something fun and easy to play with! I always try to make sure that it is something Christmassy so we can build excitement!
- A new Christmas story – This is the perfect thing for bedtime reading and is a must for us. I read to the boys every night as part of our bedtime routine, it helps them get into a peaceful sleep and they enjoy hearing a story as they drift off. I like to add a Christmas story to their box because their is nothing better than slipping into a peaceful sleep with the anticipation of the morning!
- New Pajamas – An absolute must! I love a new pair of pjs for Christmas eve, though I will say I usually avoid the traditional ‘Christmas’ themed pjs because I want something that will last and last. We have our dinner and bath a little bit early and get snuggly on the sofa in our new pjs early!
- A DVD – Some people may not do this, in fact most don’t, but I always have a DVD each for the boys. It’s always something that I know they love – this year it will be Planes: Fire and Rescue for Reuben as it was the film we went to see at the cinema earlier in the year (his first cinema trip!) and every time he sees a picture or advert of it he gets so excited. We still haven’t made our minds up for Toby! One of my favourite memories of Christmas is curling up and watching movies as a family, so that’s what I want to achieve with the boys – we all sit together and watch one (or both) of the movies while using the rest of our box!
- A packet of Christmas themed chocolates – We don’t eat these all in one sitting! Last year Toby got a packet of Letters to Santa (white chocolate) and Reuben got a packet of Reindeer dropping (ew… milk chocolate!). These make lovely nibbles while enjoying a cuddle on the sofa and watching a movie. If you didn’t want to do chocolate there are so many chocolate free fruit based Christmas themed options out there, most of which you can find in the supermarkets.
- A packet of reindeer dust – this was something a friend of mine taught me to do and I think it is awesome. You just need a little bit of chiffon or a food bag and all you do is add a little bit of glitter to a tablespoon or so of porridge oats (or crushed up cereal!) then add it to the bag of choice or make a bag from the chiffon – tie with a bit of ribbon and add a little tag telling your child how to use their ‘reindeer dust’ – my favourite little poem is this : “Sprinkle on your lawn at night, the moon will make it shine so bright. As Santa’s reindeer fly and roam, this will bring them to your home!” There are a thousand and one rhymes though try googling ‘Reindeer dust poem’. We put our coats on after we have brushed our teeth and go outside to sprinkle the dust, then it’s straight to bed to make sure Santa won’t miss us!
So that’s it! We also make it a tradition that once we have had bath time and got comfy in our new pjs with a movie we break out the Christmas mugs and have some warm milk or hot chocolate! Yum!
What do you include in your Christmas Eve Box?
Harriet x
