Christmas has always been my favorite holiday of the year. I love finding the perfect gift for each kid, doing more charity work, and all of our families little traditions. By far, one of the kids favorites has been the 12 Days Of Christmas Book Countdown.
We love reading at our house and each kid spends a good twenty minutes a day with their heads in a book. Jon and I do our best to read a book a week (often via Audible so we can multi-task.) The act of snuggling up together at the end of the day to reveal the festive book of the day is always a highlight for me. Christmas can get so hectic and the do to lists can be overwhelming, but sitting down with my kids brings everything back into perspective.
To mix it up every year and save a ton on new books, we check out 12 Christmas Books from the library. This does two things for me: It keeps the tradition totally free (assuming I return them on time) and makes it an actual surprise when the kids unwrap a book each night. They take turns unwrapping the night’s book to be sure everything is fair.
When I’m choosing that holiday’s books, I try to get a good mix. I get several variations of poetic books, toddler books, longer books, and books my kindergartner can read. This year I also included one “Record Your Own Story” Book from Hallmark for us to all do together. For more details on that, click here.
Wrapping each book individually can be a little time consuming, but let’s be honest… a big glass of eggnog makes wrapping so much better. I turn on an episode of Modern Family, sip my eggnog, and it can begin to feel like therapy. After each book is wrapped, I used some Avery Labels I had on hand to create the countdown stickers. Their website has so many designs and templates to choose from that no matter what your decorating style, you’ll find something that coordinates.
Year after year, this tradition has been one of my favorites. For the past few days, my son keeps reminding me to get the countdown ready because he was so worried I will forget. Not a chance! I love how much this creates an atmosphere where books are such a big part of our holidays.
What are some of your favorite holiday traditions?
