Celebrating Your Child’s First Christmas

Christmas is in the air!!  If it’s your child’s first Christmas, then here are just a few tips on how to make it more festive and memorable!

I remember so many things about Christmas Day as a child that meant so much to me that I wanted to make it special for my kids too!  YES, we as parents go through a lot of exhausting and stressful things all for the day, but looking back at all the pictures and videos, it was SO worth it!!

One tip that I will give that I started with my firstborn is that I took a picture with each child with all their opened presents around them so that they can remember what they got each year and also possibly ask themselves, “where the heck did that toy go!” LOL!

Making Memories and Traditions

Try to make great memories and continue with your family traditions.  Your kids may not seem like they appreciate it at the moment, but trust me, it really does mean a lot to them!

• Handcrafted Ornament – make a keepsake ornament out of your baby’s foot or handprint.  This tradition goes WAY back and will always be something you will definitely want to save and bring out every single year, even when your kids become adults!! Here are some great ideas to make from simple to more creative!  Use cardstock, construction paper, or foam paper to make a Santa or reindeer handprint craft.  Handprint ornament made the easy way with clay.  For those who want more of a challenge, Christmas salt dough ornaments.  Of course, you can’t forget gramma and grampa gifts, here are some gift ideas for them!
• Christmas tree – of course, you want to be able to enjoy having the tree up as usual and I say go ahead and be bold parents and just do it!!  BUT of course, you can add a little precaution like a baby gate around the tree…this way you don’t have to stress at all about baby crawling over to it OR kids shaking the presents LOL!  Also, you can let your toddlers and kids have their own tree to decorate!!  Here is a toddler tree that’s SO cute!!  Here is an awesome idea for kids to do with a felt tree that hangs on the wall!
• Christmas books – Here are some great Christmas books you can read with your child.  It’s important that they learn the true meaning of Christmas and not think of it as a time to get “spoiled”, I mean, get gifts!! You don’t have to buy all these books, but maybe get them from the library. One great idea I’ve heard to do with kids is to wrap up 24 books and have them open one up every day until Christmas!! Here are a couple of books for toddlers to hear the Christmas Story, M is For Manger and Christmas in the Manger.  Here are a few books for kids, Christmas Time: It’s All About Jesus!, Jesus Calling, The Story of Christmas, The Beginner’s Bible: The Very First Christmas.

Here are a bunch more other Christmas books that you can have on hand!

Enjoy the day with your family and cherish every moment, as you never know what next year brings!  Merry Christmas Everyone!!

If you want to plan ahead on how to celebrate your Christmas without stress and hassle, schedule a consultation with me!