Oh What Fun It Is To… Make Memories!

Today I’m linking up with AP from I Love You More Than Carrots to talk about making memories during the holidays.

This is Cooper’s second Christmas. Last year he was less than a year old, and he didn’t really get it. This year he is very into the idea of Christmas and he loves Santa!

I want to create/introduce so many traditions to my family, but I know I need to tweak everything so that Cooper can understand and participate in each activity. This year I was very excited to introduce Cooper to Elf on the Shelf, and it has been a huge hit with C!

An Elf’s Story aired on CBS the Friday after Thanksgiving (and again last week, I believe) and I give this movie 2 thumbs up. It is a great way to introduce the idea and purpose of EOTS to your child. The movie is sold at Barnes and Noble, but I believe it is out of stock right now. I had Cooper watch the movie several times prior to the appearance of our elf

Another tradition we started this year was the book advent calendar. After Christmas last year, I went and purchased 25 children’s Christmas books while they were on clearance. I won’t lie – it was a big purchase, even with the books being on sale. However, now that we have all 25 books, I can reuse the books year after year. (If you aren’t able to purchase 25 books, you can get out library books for this purpose – just keep a record of when they need to be returned.). I wrapped the books and numbered them for Cooper to open each day.

I decided that this year I wanted to tie the book advent calendar and the EOTS together. I thought that getting a present from Ollie (our elf’s name) would get Cooper really excited about EOTS. I had planned on having him open the book on December 1st, but the night before Cooper found my hiding place for the book, so Ollie came to our house early.

Jason and I explained the concept of the elf to Cooper, and we read the book together. The next day, Ollie was waiting downstairs with a book. We built up his appearance and let him run around downstairs searching for Ollie. When he found him, we stressed how important it was not to touch Ollie. He’s only touched him once, and when he did we explained how he looses his magic if touched. He hasn’t touched him since.

Cooper does not get the concept of his behavior being reported to Santa. Honestly, I think he’s too young for that. However, he finds Ollie very exciting and he loves opening and reading his books. Ollie has helped enforce the idea of manners for Cooper. I used to have to remind Cooper to say “thank you” but every since Ollie arrived he is saying thank you whenever someone does something for him or gives him a present.

Next year I will separate the EOTS and the book advent calendar and they will be separate activities. I think we’ll push the idea of Ollie reporting his behavior and will have him be more mischievous next year.

I know a lot of you already have an elf, but for those of you that don’t, I wanted to share how wonderful Ollie has been for our family. I hope this helps some of you with younger child get ideas on how to introduce the elf to your child.

I’ve shared this already on the blog, but here are a few of our other traditions:

1. Make a special evening of putting up the tree and decorating.
2. Go get Cooper’s picture taken with Santa.
3. Do several local Christmas events around town (Lights of the South, Lights Before Christmas at the zoo, holiday parties).
4. Listen to Christmas music.
5. Drive around and look at Christmas lights.
6. Watch Christmas movies.
7. Bake cookies.
8. Decorate a gingerbread house.
9. Make a Christmas craft.
10. Purchase Christmas pajamas for each member of the family – open on Christmas Eve.
11. Purchase Christmas ornaments for each member of the family.
12. Display a nativity.
13. Make treats for Santa.
14. Make a birthday cake for Jesus.
15. Read Luke 2 on Christmas Eve. Celebrate Jesus’s birthday!
16. Make a special Christmas morning breakfast.

How do you make memories at Christmas time?