In some ways, it is very hard to believe that Christmas is only a couple days away. It feels like December has flown by. We have had lots of great times baking cookies, reading Christmas books, enjoying hot cider and cocoa, and doing ‘Christmas School’. This week we enjoyed some beautiful Christmas lights. Our town has a street that goes all out with Christmas balls and other decorations. Luckily for us, our friends live on that street, so we parked in their yard and took a walk to enjoy the Christmas lights.
*Some of the links in my posts may be affiliate links; see below for more information. *
Our Activities
We have also enjoyed giving back a little this year. We participated in Wreaths Across America with our AHG and Trail Life Troops, we did some fun things with Lightem’ Up, volunteered with our local historical site, and the kids did the Detective Givemore Freebie and enjoyed implementing those ideas as well.
We bought and wrapped Christmas gifts, we have participated in various church services (including the 3-year-old singing ‘Away in a Manger’ with his class), mailed the Christmas cards, and decorated the tree. We even made a bit of Christmas art, including painting poinsettias and some fun Christmas-themed chalk pastels.
However, like many years before this, there are other things I meant to get done. The kids really wanted to do a gingerbread house; there are some Christmas movies we have not yet watched and some other fun bucket list activities that we have not yet completed.
I doubt I am the only one in this situation. If you find yourself stressed because you have not checked off everything you wanted to accomplish, I want to remind you to relax and enjoy Christmas.
The Real Meaning
First, Christmas is about the birth of Christ and not all the other fun and busy stuff. This doesn’t mean those other things are bad, but if you find yourself overwhelmed, let them go and focus on Jesus and your family.
As a mom, it is so easy to let myself get wrapped up in the preparations and details. I forget to focus on the worship and wonder. Let go of the added expectations and the stress over what didn’t get done.
Spending time worshiping HIM this season is more important than those little details.
The Twelve Days
Secondly, we always hear the ‘Twelve Days of Christmas,’ and we tend to think about the days before Christmas. In our culture today, Christmas is often considered ‘over’ on December 26th. However, traditionally the twelve days started on Christmas and ended with another celebration on Twelfth Night or Three Kings Day.
I don’t say that to imply that you need to spend those twelve days frantically filled with Christmas activities, but if you haven’t done some of the things you planned to do, simply enjoy Christmas and then do some of those activities in the days after Christmas.
For our family this year, that will involve a gingerbread house, a trip to a Christmas light show (which thankfully is open until New Year’s Day), and some Christmas movies. If you had great intentions for getting that craft done but never had the time or baking those cookies, use those days after Christmas to continue enjoying the season and celebration.
I pray that you have an enjoyable Christmas and that you are able to take the time to truly relax and enjoy it. I’ll be taking a few days off of the blog to focus on my family. When I return, I’ll tell you more about our New Years’ traditions, Three Kings Day/ Twelfth Night, and our plans for the rest of the school year.
Merry Christmas from our family to yours!
Deals and Freebies
All About Learning has released the best deal of the day: A FREE Christmas Pack with reading and spelling activities for a variety of ages.
Apologia has a new FREE Christmas/Advent E-book!
Free Makeover Your Morning 5 Day Challenge! This is a great way to help re-focus and get your day off on the right foot.
Harry The Happy Mouse (Free on Kindle)
Illustrated Would You Rather Book (Free on Kindle)
Free Help Your Child’s Memory Book from All About Learning Press!
Also check our free resource library with history freebies, recipes, and four Christmas freebies!
When you sign up for our free resource library you will get a link and password to the library, we are adding to the library each month with new items. You will also get a bi-weekly newsletter email to keep you up to date on what we have going on.
This post may contain affiliate or referral links. As always I will never recommend a product that I don’t believe in and you will never be charged more for purchasing through our links. It does help pay for the costs associated with the blog.
The Schoolin' Swag Blog 
One thought on “12 Days of Christmas or Relax and Enjoy!”