Every year since Cameron has been born we have done a Christmas box for her. I’ve toyed between giving it to her on December 1st it December 24th. For the time being, I have been doing it on the 1st, and as she gets older I plan on giving it to her on Christmas Eve.
Here’s what I have been putting in her box the past few years, and what I plan to give her in years to come which is why I will shift from the 1st to the 24th.
And yes I realize there is frozen theme to the box this year. What can I say, girl is obsessed.
First off we start with pajamas. Normally they are festive and holiday day themed. These past two years I’ve done a few pairs in her box. Mostly because she’s at the age where she tends to get things dirty, so I give her options to wear throughout the month of December, and then there are her actual Christmas pajamas which I normally don’t let her wear until Christmas Eve so that they stay night and clean. I know, she’s a kid and should be able to have fun and make a mess, but when you have matching family pajamas you want to make sure everyone is wearing them on Christmas. As she gets older, and can be trusted a bit more with messes, I’m sure I will go down to only one pair. This may be when I switch the box to Christmas Eve, because then there would be a lesser chance of them getting dirty. Because we are still moving around and not quite settled, I have only one pair in her box this year, because the other pair which she will wear Christmas Day is packed away waiting for us to move.
Next up, a Christmas ornament. This may be her actual Christmas ornament for the year, or just something that I thought she would like. I love our Christmas tree to have ornaments that show our passions, and personality, so when Cameron is interested in a topic, or a movie, or character, or hobby, I like to be able to show that with an ornament. Right now she is very much into anything frozen and Olaf, so her ornament this year was an Olaf ornament.
Next, a Christmas book or two. I like to try and find books that have some sort of holiday meaning or message, or would just be fun to read. And this way as she gets older she will have a whole collection of holiday books so that we can take picks of what we want to read each night before bed. We have been into reading the llama llama books, so this year I got her the llama llama holiday book. As well as one other Christmas board book.
New to the box this year is some sort of activity/craft. Not sure if I will continue this tradition, but she’s at the age where she’s getting into doing activities and coloring and doing arts so I wanted to include something of that nature for her to do. I found the play pack in the dollar section at target so you really can’t beat the price.
A Christmas or holiday movie. This is something that I have added in the last two years. And while streaming services are making DVDs a little more obsolete, I still like the fact of giving a dvd to watch in the future. Especially because sometimes, no matter how many services you may stream, they may not have the one you want to watch. And my hope in the future, when she gets a bit older to not only stay up later, but sit still through a whole movie, is that I’ll give her the box on Christmas Eve with the movie we will watch that evening. And that would pair with the last and final thing for the box. Which would be,
Snacks. Some sort of holiday snacks. Be it popcorn for the movie, or a holiday snack of some sort. Along with hot chocolate, or apple cider, or egg nog (virgin of course), maybe with a fun mug as well. This once again will need to be for when she gets a little older and can handle more types of foods.
I’ve also thought about putting socks/slippers in her box as well, that may be another thing for another year.
The box may change from year to year, but I’m hoping she still gets excited about it since I’m hoping to establish it as a way we can have family time during the crazy month of December. I think that is another reason as to why I am thinking of switching it from the first to Christmas Eve, so it can become a tradition where she know on Christmas Eve, she will put on her new pajamas, and we will watch a movie with snacks, then read a bedtime story, put her ornament on the tree, then off to bed to wait for Santa. That is until she feels she is to cool for her parents.
Do you do Christmas boxes for your children? If so, what do you put in them?
