Christmas Memories

Last year, DH lost his job not too long before Christmas time, so money was really tight.  The kids weren't going to get much for Christmas, but I was determined that it was still going to be a great Christmas for them.  One thing I always have in the house is ingredients for baking.  So I set everything out, then the kids and I got to work.  We made several different kinds of homemade cookies, homemade caramels, homemade hard candy, homemade truffles, etc.  We even got my youngest involoved, and he was 2.5 at the time.  We spent the whole week before Christmas baking.  Sure, it made a mess, but we had some great fun.  And what was even better was seeing the joy on the kids faces when they would pass out their goodies to other family members while telling them about making them.  And you know what?  Here we are a year later, and my kids don't remember a single gift they did get for Christmas last year.  But they sure remember making all those goodies.

So this Christmas, make some memories with your kids.  Get in the kitchen and bake some cookies together.  Or do holiday crafts, go caroling, or whatever.  It doesn't matter what you do, as long as you do it together.  You can even invite other family members over to join in on the fun (we had my brother come help last year).