Santa Letters, Gifts, And Christmas Day Fun & Relaxation

The build up to Christmas can seem chaotic. At my house we do everything from writing Santa letters to shopping, decorating, entertaining and more. I guess that’s a big part of why we prefer to stay at home and enjoy each others company Christmas day. We lounge around the house all day in our new Christmas pajamas. My husband and I feel that it is unfair to drag the kids out of the house when all they want to do is stay home to play with their new gifts.

First thing in the morning the kids run down to open a package from Santa. The air in the living room quickly becomes filled with bits of ribbons and wrapping paper. They open one gift and return to the tree to find another a package with their name on it. Drew and I take as many pictures as we can. It is important to us to have visual record of our Christmases together.

After we have opened all of our gifts we cook breakfast together. Some years we make something easy like cinnamon rolls or pancakes and other years we go all out and create a gourmet style breakfast. While breakfast is cooking my boys bring in the empty reindeer food bowl. They show everyone that the reindeer ate all of the food we put out. We sit down together at the table and have a nice breakfast. The kids can’t finish their meal fast enough. They are so excited about the things they received from Santa.

Once we have the kitchen cleaned up after breakfast the kids run off to play with their new toys. While they are entertained my husband Drew and I start to cook our Christmas dinner. We both love to cook and we usually get something new for the kitchen. Now and then one of the kids will pop in and help out for a bit. My youngest daughter will almost always come in and write thank you letters to Santa while we cook. She thanks Santa for everything that was under the tree, fully believing that he is responsible for all the gifts. She will have her letters from Santa as references as she writes. She’s not one that can be argued with and we certainly would not want to. We actually want our children to believe in Santa for as long as possible.

Drew and I set the table with our special Christmas dishes. When we sit down to eat each kid gets a turn to tell us what their favorite gift was.

Once we have put away dinner, we veg out and watch a few movies. Drew always remembers to buy the movies for Christmas day. One by one the kids drift off to their beds. Christmas is always such a tiring day for them all.

Once the last kid has wondered off to bed and it is just me and Drew. We sit by the lights of the Christmas and enjoy the stillness of the night. Each Christmas night we have a champagne toast for surviving another Christmas. This is when Drew and I exchange our special gifts. This is perhaps my most cherished tradition. It may sound silly but Christmas may be the most romantic night we have throughout the whole year. We reflect on our love for each other, our love for the kids, and how important their happiness is to us.