Make a holiday fun list

Plan out your memories so the memory-making happens

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning.
This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
tip is to make a holiday fun list. By thinking
through what you like most about the holidays and asking

(00:26):
your loved ones too, you can make more memories and
spend your time well. So we do a lot of
Christmas celebrating in my house. Every year, I make what
I call a holiday fun list. This is a list
of the things I want to do before early January

(00:46):
to make the holidays feel fun and memorable. This often
involves seeing the Nutcracker, singing in a Christmas choir concert,
watching the kids and the Christmas pageant, buying new family pajamas,
doing a Christmas lego set with the older kids, and
so forth. We have tried a lot of different things

(01:09):
over the years, different light displays, holiday train shows, and
so forth. It is hard to know exactly what is best,
so I've also started asking the kids what they like.
My daughter and I made a list to gather the
other night, and now I know that she wants to
go ice skating, and she wants to do a baking extravaganza.

(01:33):
She also wants to visit Dutch Wonderland to see the
lights and go on rides there. Now I would not
have pegged that as a top pick, but now I know.
The point is to really think about what would feel
most festive. Because during the holidays there are lots of options.

(01:57):
It can be easy to do whatever is right in
front of us. Or else we don't make plans and
then don't get to go to that holiday train show
because it's sold out. We forget what's going on and
realize we really would have liked to go see the Roquettes,
but it's not going to be possible to build in
a New York City trip now. Or you go to

(02:20):
an ice skating show because you think that's what your
kids want to do and it turns out they don't,
and then they complain that they never got to have
breakfast with Santa. I mean, the truth is people might
complain anyway. But the upside of a holiday fun list
is it that it makes everything feel more intentional. You

(02:41):
can say no to stuff that is not on the
list and still feel like you will have a full
holiday season. You can make arrangements to do things that
are on the list, knowing that the family has identified them.
As mattering, you decide it is worth fitting in that
amusement park trip the visit to see Santa on the

(03:01):
same weekend because they both are on the list. You'll
have time to relax in January. You can also budget
more strategically if you know what people are excited about.
Maybe you do pay for the breakfast with Santa tickets,
but you don't buy tickets for some pricey train show
since it turns out that no one cares about it.

(03:23):
If you still want to go see trains, he finds
something cheap or free. So this weekend, sit down with
the people you will be spending the holidays with and
see what they would like to do, what would make
everyone feel festive. You can brainstorm a long list and
then narrow it down, or maybe you construct a few

(03:44):
anchor activities and then let everyone add an additional one
or two. But I find that making a holiday fun
list always puts me in something of a celebratory mood.
I have a plan for the holidays. It makes me
feel like they will be memorable, and honestly, that is
the way the holidays should be. In the meantime, this

(04:10):
is Laura, Thanks for listening, and here's to making the
most of our time. Thanks for listening to Before Breakfast.
If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback, you can reach
me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast

(04:38):
is a production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts from iHeartMedia,
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