Hi! I'm back from my unintentional blogging break to start catching up and sharing. Thanks to those who "noticed" I was missing!!! I will be posting lots of miscellaneous "stuff" in order to catch up, but the most timely as of now is that tomorrow (ready or not!) is December 1st and for many the official countdown begins!!!
I don't know what is wrong with me, but I am stuck somewhere between LOVING that my kids are getting older, i.e. they pick out their own clothes, do their own homework, dress themselves, can make their lunch, and they never ask how many days until Christmas, AND WISHING they were still little, I picked out their cute outfits, dressed them, made fun lunches, help them with their homework, and constantly asking how many days until Santa comes!!! I think the holidays make these changes more obvious -- even starting with Halloween!!
I recently found myself spending way too much time trying to find an "Elf on the Shelf" on the internet for less than $30. I soooo badly want to pose that bad boy around my house for my kid's amusement. Oh, do I have some ideas!!! But wait, hold the bus!! My kids are 15 and 12 1/2....is this really the time for me to jump on the Elf on the Shelf bandwagon?? Probably not. However, if I can get my hands on that little Elf for $20 -- I will !!!
The other thing I miss about not having younger kids... Older kids "know" everything. If they happen to see me printing a sheet with numbers on it. "Oh, is that for Christmas??" My daughter is on Pinterest. Sometimes I forget this... "Oh, are you going to make that thing on Pinterest?" They also use the computer that you might have typed some Christmas activities on. "Oh, I saw that list of Christmas stuff we are going to do!"Gone Almost gone are the days when I could surprise them easily. Ya know, put their Christmas presents in the shopping cart right behind their head. Or, "look, there's Santa" while you do your miscellaneous secret stuff. Then there's the whole "how many more days until Christmas"?? We have had a Christmas countdown tree for years. It's a tree with numbered pockets down below and Velcro ornaments for each day. The kids have always liked it. I like it, too, but it's kind of outdated looking. I've tried to spruce it up with some newer ribbon, but to me it still screams "90s". I also know that Christmas is all about traditions, but I really didn't want to hang that bad boy up again.
Rejoice!! I loved when I saw this Christmas Countdown idea at Hi Sugarplum!. Modern, simple and practical with the added twist of being able to put items inside the tins. Her tutorial is really excellent, so I don't feel the need to break it down for you. Oh, except I should say that even if it's late at night when you are making it, you're tired, and your magnetic strips appear to be sticking to the back of your tins, hot glue them anyways!! I tried to skip that step and here's what I got...
Oh, and I do not have a circle punch, so I just simply cut out my numbers. Keep in mind that depending on how many kids you have, the candy has to be fairly small to fit inside the tins. If you have a million kids, ya might have to go with M&Ms!!??
Yet, in spite of all of that, I whipped up this little countdown simply because I thought it was fun and even though the kids already know that there's candy inside, are old enough to count it down themselves, and saw my typed up list of Christmas surprises along the way -- well, I will still feel good spreading some good old fashioned "Christmas Joy" with my big ol' kids this holiday season!!!
I don't know what is wrong with me, but I am stuck somewhere between LOVING that my kids are getting older, i.e. they pick out their own clothes, do their own homework, dress themselves, can make their lunch, and they never ask how many days until Christmas, AND WISHING they were still little, I picked out their cute outfits, dressed them, made fun lunches, help them with their homework, and constantly asking how many days until Santa comes!!! I think the holidays make these changes more obvious -- even starting with Halloween!!
I recently found myself spending way too much time trying to find an "Elf on the Shelf" on the internet for less than $30. I soooo badly want to pose that bad boy around my house for my kid's amusement. Oh, do I have some ideas!!! But wait, hold the bus!! My kids are 15 and 12 1/2....is this really the time for me to jump on the Elf on the Shelf bandwagon?? Probably not. However, if I can get my hands on that little Elf for $20 -- I will !!!
The other thing I miss about not having younger kids... Older kids "know" everything. If they happen to see me printing a sheet with numbers on it. "Oh, is that for Christmas??" My daughter is on Pinterest. Sometimes I forget this... "Oh, are you going to make that thing on Pinterest?" They also use the computer that you might have typed some Christmas activities on. "Oh, I saw that list of Christmas stuff we are going to do!"
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| Let the Countdown Begin!! |
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| Without Hot Glue!! |
Yet, in spite of all of that, I whipped up this little countdown simply because I thought it was fun and even though the kids already know that there's candy inside, are old enough to count it down themselves, and saw my typed up list of Christmas surprises along the way -- well, I will still feel good spreading some good old fashioned "Christmas Joy" with my big ol' kids this holiday season!!!
How do you Countdown to Christmas -- are ya ready??
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| 25 Days |
2 comments:
Cute idea! My kiddos are in their own homes with countdowns of their own with the Grandkiddos. We always had the advent calendar with the chocolate candy inside. They shared it by having one boy take the candy on his day...sometimes we started oldest to youngest and some years we reversed it in other ways. They never fought over the candy. I found out the other day why...the candy tasted horrible but they loved the countdown! So they never wanted the candy anyway...Oh well, live and learn!
Cute cute cute!!! I warned you about the sticky magnets not working! ;) Hope your big kids still loved their treats today!!!
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