Creating Holiday Memories That Last

As Charlie Brown and his friend say, ‘Christmas time is here, families drawing near.’ The holidays are the perfect time to spend time together as a family. Lasting memories can be made, allowing for children to carry those moments with them into adulthood. However, the holidays are often the busiest time of year as well.  This can lead to many missed moments with family. It is essential for us, as parents for us to create lasting moments for our children.

Here are three simple and fun holiday family night ideas that you can do to help build an impactful relationship with your children during this special holiday season. The first is baking holiday treats with you and your children. Setting aside a family night to decorate a gingerbread house or cookies can allow for your child to grow in not only their creative thinking but their team-building skills as well. One child might decorate one side of the roof and another the other side. Asking them questions about their process will allow for dialogue to develop more between you and your children and asking them about their creative process will allow them to feel heard and validated in their decisions.

The second is going outside in the snow with your children. Playing outside is an excellent way for your child to learn new things while staying active at the same time. Maybe putting aside, a skating night or going sledding with the family will create other memories during this holiday season. These special memories of playing with their parents can go with them into adulthood and spend time with their children.

Finally, a holiday movie night is a great way to spend time together. This particular moment can allow you and your children to bond over a fun holiday-themed movie. After the movie, you can talk about it and ask them questions about it, like “What was your favorite part?” An extra step you can take to make the night truly special would be to put all the extra electronic devices away, this way, everyone can focus on the movie, and the time is spent well with each other.

The holidays are a special time to grow together and create joyful memories with one’s family. I want to share a fun holiday memory with you all from my childhood. When I was a child, my parents would throw a big Christmas party with all our young and old friends. Getting to play the famous Bing Crosby Christmas album as everyone stood mingling, eating, and catching up with one another is a memory I hold dear in my heart. We would decorate the house and have lots of food for everyone to eat. Snow would be falling softly outside, and people would stay late just enjoying being with one another after a long busy year. Sometimes the holidays can throw us curveballs that fill up our already busy schedule but taking the time to indeed draw near one another and appreciate the time we have is so important.

Holidays only last so long, and if these past couple of years has taught us anything, time is valuable, and family is even more precious. Make family time a priority this upcoming holiday season and create lasting memories with your children as they discover the magic of the holidays and how unique their family truly is. Those moments and memories will genuinely stay with them for the rest of their lives.