How to Create an Advent Calendar of Traditions That Actually Matter
Using a few questions & tools to build a countdown to Christmas with the things we really care about. Adding more purpose & cutting out busyness this season.
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“All is calm. All is bright.”
Do you ever have to laugh (with me) at the lyrics from Silent Night? “All is calm. All is bright.”? Hardly! Christmas time can feel so chaotic, so unfocused, & just busy. Can I invite you to join me in simplifying without cutting out all the fun? Let me show you exactly how I do that, plus I’ll share a bonus template to make things easier for you.
Let’s get started. Here’s how you can create an advent calendar of traditions that actually matter.
Step 1: List your non-negotiables.
Do you have traditions that you look forward to every year? Something that truly excites you & doesn’t fill you with any dread? Make a list of these traditions! Maybe they started when you were a kid, or maybe they happened just last year. Doesn’t matter. If it made an impact on you, it’s worth holding onto! Hold onto that list to add to your advent calendar!
Step 2: Focus on relationships.
The whole reason we hold traditions is to help us develop our relationships. Whether that is the relationship with our family, our community, with God, or elsewhere. Traditions are the rituals that keep our hearts aligned & connected. They offer us consistency with our connection & give us common ground to fall on. They can elevate the way that we interact with each other & allow us to challenge ourselves in ways we may not otherwise. They truly help us experience magic together!
Before you start to add to your advent calendar, consider the relationships that matter most to you, or that you most want to nurture. This is where we start because it ensures that our traditions aren’t meaningless. Each tradition will have a core purpose of relationship development. Even if that is the development of our relationship to self—we will be inviting intention in when we recognize the relationship first.
Important to note: Just because the intention is deep, it doesn’t mean the activity always needs to be deep too. Don’t stress about making every activity perfectly meaningful. The meaning is in the relationship, not the tradition. Make sure there is plenty of fun right alongside the deeply thoughtful traditions!
Step 3: Fill out your Christmas Bucket List.
Make a list of 24 activities (one for each day of December leading up to Christmas). Each activity should have a relationship tie (like mentioned above). It should also tie into one of these categories: Make, Share, Watch, Read, Plan, Go, Listen, Decorate, or Donate. By adding a sprinkling of each of these activities to your list, you can ensure that you have the variety that is the spice of life. These activities will also have various time & resource commitments to allow for your list to stay flexible as you navigate busier days, & days where you may be itching for a little more.
If December is in full swing, still fill this out! I’m always an advocate for giving retroactive credit, so write down what you’ve already done & check it off! :)
I created a template for you to use to make this a little easier for you! Click here to grab yours.
If you’re looking for a little extra guidance, here are some examples for each category below! Remember these can be simplified in so many ways! Let them be simple. :)
Tradition Ideas (per category)
Make:
Make Christmas cookies.
Make hot chocolate.
Make Christmas candy.
Make a traditional Christmas dinner.
Make gingerbread houses.
Make & mail letters to Santa.
Share:
Share Christmas treats with neighbors.
Share testimonies of Jesus Christ.
Share through text a favorite Christmas memory with your parents.
Watch:
Watch “It’s a Wonderful Life”
Watch The Christ Child
Watch “The Grinch”
Watch “Home Alone”
Watch “Elf”
Watch “Charlie Brown Christmas”
Read:
Read “The Grinch”
Read “The Polar Express”
Read Luke 2
Read “The Spirit of Christmas” Greg Olsen
Plan:
Plan a Christmas party.
Plan a dinner with friends.
Plan a white elephant exchange.
Plan “Gifts to Jesus” (resolutions for the coming year).
Go:
Go to a Christmas concert.
Go to see Christmas lights.
Go to a care facility to carol.
Go sledding.
Listen:
Listen to a favorite Christmas playlist.
Listen to family members tell of their Christmas experiences.
Listen to Christmas sermons.
Decorate:
Decorate the Christmas tree.
Decorate with a Nativity scene.
Help to decorate at your Grandma’s house.
Wrap Christmas presents.
Donate:
Donate cans to a local food shelter.
Donate to the Giving Machines.
Donate toys to a local thrift store.
The Sacredness of Simplicity
While we’re all wary of change, remember that it is going to be ok if you have to say “not this year.” Make the most of your season, but don’t do it at the cost of sanity. One of the best gifts you can give your families this year is a slightly less overstimulated holiday mom. ;)
The greatest gift growing up was that we didn’t have resources coming out of our ears. We were abundantly blessed, but couldn’t do everything we hoped to. Thank goodness. Hindsight is 20/20, & I see now the value of simplicity & focus. My favorite tradition is one that my parents started when I was a teenager. On Christmas Eve, before we could get ourselves too excited for Santa to debut, we would write down on a little strip of paper what our “Gifts to Jesus” would be for the year. We would also review the gifts we had written for the previous year. These lists were our resolutions for that year. A spiritual re-frame for goal setting, and one that included the Babe of Bethlehem. It was a sacred, simple time.
I hope that as you experience your personal Christmas Advent, you will find sacredness in simplicity. That is where the most memorable moments seem to thrive.
Your Next Step:
If you’re looking for more ways to add meaning without busyness into your life, I’d love for you to look at my Reset & Rise course. A great way to prepare for an impactful new year if your goals include more peace, purpose & play!
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Resources:
Christmas Bucket List Template
Christ-Centered Traditions: Light the World Campaign
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Building a Christmas Bucket List with purpose.