ONLY TWO MONTHS TILL CHRISTMAS!

It’s never too early to start thinking about how to spend holiday time with kids and families. Military families often start preparing for Christmas at least two months before Christmas – or more – if they are going to get just the right cards and pictures and gifts into the hands of their faraway loved ones.

Military families are not the only ones who start getting ready for the holidays early! Christmas and all the good things that lead up to it have been known to sprinkle a little magic on everyone, especially those who have memories to share with little ones.

Grandparents who want to share stories with their grandchildren have choices that never existed when they were raising their own children. Zoom and FaceTime can fill in the gaps when little ones are far away and hungry to talk to grandparents. Even if it’s babbling toddlers, grandparents will love every babbled word. And even the toddlers who can’t quite reach grandmother’s lap will lap up every word as if it were a sugary Christmas cookie.

And speaking of cookies! Is it too early to start baking together? Some families enjoy using the time – when it’s still two months before Christmas – to help small hands learn to stir batter and drop cookies onto a sheet. And if a few hit the floor, that’s what learning time is for!

Many parents no longer have room for the huge stand mixers that our own parents had, but you can still share family cookie recipes that may be your own. Or maybe you are lucky and have recipes from your own grandmother! If not, there are some great cookie recipes on the web, and guess what? The kids don’t care. They just want to lick the beaters!! (They also don’t care about raw egg in the batter, so maybe you let them lick before you put the eggs in, just in case.)

Some families also like to use September and the beginning of October to start thinking about books you want to read together. Some families have favorites that they read year after year. Everyone knows about the famous ‘Visit From Saint Nicholas,’ but there are so many other books! If you can take your little ones to the library, they may love to wander among the shelves in the Children’s Library!

While I have a book of my own that I hope you’ll consider, one of my personal favorites is Rupert’s Snowman by Philippa Warden. I love the story and the pictures and wish I could draw as well as Ms. Warden! Her book is under my tree every year. Like my own book, I consider it a classic.

Hope you are excited about all the things you can do in the two months you have left to get ready for Christmas! (I’ve noticed that even a teddy bear, a tiger, and an adorable puppy are ready and waiting!)