5 Ways to Slow Down and Enjoy the Holiday Season

Can you believe that Thanksgiving is over and that Christmas is just a few weeks away? Fall has been flying by and it seems like my to-do list for the Holidays is just getting longer. It is easy this time of year to get caught up in all that we have to do but we also have to make sure to take time to savor the holiday and celebrate it for what it really is. I find that by following these tips for less holiday stress it helps me embrace the holiday season and enjoy it more.

Every family has their own traditions to mark the holidays but I wanted to share a few of my family’s with you.

5 Ways to Slow Down and Enjoy the Season

1. During the month of December we like to take time each evening to sit and snuggle up on the couch and watch holiday movies on TV. It is a great way to unwind after a busy day.

Click here for a complete listing of ABC Family Christmas Movies

2.Take the time to bake holiday cookies with your children. Every year my kids and I get together with my mom to bake Christmas cookies. It is three generations of bakers all in the kitchen. It is a great tradition that all of use enjoy. Even better? Making cookies goes faster when there are more adults so you can get lots of cookies made in a day.

Easy Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe

3. Add some significance to the countdown to Christmas by using an Advent calendar.

We love this Wooden Nativity Advent Calendar with 24 Magnetic Figures and my kids look forward to opening our Advent calendar each day. In fact, we have four different Advent Calendars that we open each day–that is how much we enjoy it!

Have you heard of Merryam, Santa’s Secret Elf? Click here for information about this awesome advent calendar!

4. We love to get in our jammies, make some hot chocolate and drive around our town checking out holiday light displays while listening to carols on the radio. We all ooh and ahh over the pretty lights and talk about which ones are our favorites. It is an inexpensive way to enjoy the holiday.

Easy, Hot Chocolate recipe

5. Start a tradition that your kids look forward to– We used to live in Hershey Pa and our kids have fond memories of it so every year we go back at Christmastime and visit Hersheypark and Chocolate World. We typically stay at either the Hotel Hershey or the Hershey Lodge and we make a mini-vacation out of it. It truly is something that all of use look forward to and enjoy.