This time of year is tailor-made for creating some amazing scenes with loved ones. Unfortunately, it’s also the most common time to let busyness drive us into “doing-what-we’ve-always-done” mode.
Hello, Rutville.
Here are four fun but simple tips to make sure Adultitis gets nothing but coal in its stocking this year.
Minivan Express
It’s kind of like Pajama Run meets The Polar Express, and you don’t even need a minivan to play. First, print up some golden tickets (templates here) and hide them under your kids’ pillows. While the normal bedtime routine is underway, prep some popcorn and hot chocolate in coffee mugs (with lids). When the kids discover the golden tickets under their pillows, it’s time to grab some slippers and head for the family vehicle to get their ticket punched. Then, with a soundtrack of Christmas music playing in the background, go for a ride around town looking at neighborhood light displays. You could also plan on stopping by the mall to get pictures taken with Santa or go ice skating if you have a rink nearby.
Ugly Wrap
You’ve heard of Ugly Cookies, right? If you’ve got any kind of a gift exchange planned with the family or at work, stipulate that the gifts be “Ugly Wrapped.” The organization that inspired this idea reported gifts that showed up wrapped with a collection of scrap paper, bubble wrap, and my favorite, a coffee container with small deer antlers on the top as a bow with dryer sheets tied to it. Believe it.
Name That Tree
One of our friends gets a real Christmas tree every year and they always name it. One year it was “Bruce the Spruce,” another year “Ralph” took up residence in their family room. One time they named their tree “Leviathan.” They have fun recalling all of the different trees that have come and gone over the years. I’m not sure why, but naming things that normally don’t have names is a super fun way to escape adulthood.
Christmas Vandalism
A reader once told us about a tradition in her small town to sneak out in the middle of the night and decorate a random bush, shrub, or tree by the side of the road. Part of the fun is to pick a really busy street and not get “caught” by passing cars. She reported that by Christmas, it’s not uncommon to see dozens — if not hundreds! — of decorated trees by the highways. Our world needs more joy, more whimsy, more silliness. This activity begs an important question: If an act of vandalism is done in a spirit of cheerfulness and actually adds or enhances beauty, is it still called vandalism?
What is your favorite way to have fun at Christmastime?
The last one reminds me of something we do in our condo building. Quite randomly, there’s an artificial white Christmas tree on our floor next to the elevator. We’ve started decorating it when no one is around. We did Easter eggs on it, ghoulish stuff at Halloween (the best part of that one was reading the receipt from the Dollar Tree: Severed Body Parts 5 pack), and of course Christmas right now. Lots of fun and haven’t been caught yet :)
Merry Christmas, guys!
How fun!
We drive around looking at all the lights, then it is time to head back home to popcorn and hot chocolate and opening the gifts to each other on Christmas Eve. I used to do this with my kids and now do it with my grandkids.
What a great tradition, Anne!