Making Christmas Last All Year

Written by KT @ One Organic Mama, Contributing Writer

I love Christmas.

I love the spirit, season, the holiday, the decorations, the food, and being with my family.  I wish Christmas lasted ALL year and here is how I extend it as long as possible 🙂

Here are my 3 tips for extending our Christmas spirit and love throughout the entire year.

1. Gather the gifts

Despite my best efforts to cut down on the gifting of Christmas, my kids get tons of gifts.  They have a lot of people who care about them, and they show that at Christmas time with the gifts they give.  Once the initial excitement is over, I gather up the gifts and store them in a big box.

A little at a time, throughout the year, when we can appreciate how very special each gift is, we take one gift out at a time.  When we’re buried in snow in February – how about a new board game?  When it’s raining non-stop in April – what about some new legos?  It really helps us to value the kindness of our friends and family to space things out like this.  The rule is when we take one new gift out, we choose one item from the house to donate to those who need it.  Find a local respite center, non-profit, or family in need.  My area has an online fb group (a big one of about 1000 moms in the area) – if you put out there that you have some gently used toys that you would like to give to a family that needs them – a family that needs them will get them.

2. Give the gift of yourself

This year I have learned a lot about the creation and struggles of small non-profit organizations.  Research.  Look in your communities, towns, and churches.  Someone you know is involved in a small non-profit.  One that is based in your community and run on small donations, volunteers, and lots of love.  Reach out to them.  Offer yourself, your time, your service, and your support throughout the year.

Big organizations are wonderful, but much of their money goes to advertising, marketing, and salaries.  Many times smaller non-profits have NONE of those costs, put every single donation toward their mission, and are struggling to continue.  This means they could use your help.  You could offer to file, type, make phone calls, or just your time to do what they need.

3. Keep the nativity

Yup.  We leave it up all year.  I love it, it is beautiful and why not?  Not only do we remember what Christmas is REALLY about, but we are reminded all year round, what our lives, our hearts, and our families, should be centered around.

What do you do to keep the wonderful feeling of Christmas alive all year?