As premature as it is, I'm already thinking about what kinds of holiday traditions we could start with Baby Epic. I have no doubt that his/her first holiday season, when he/she will be in the 7-8 month old range, I am going to go way overboard with things he/she will never remember and probably not get a whole lot out of, being way too young to care. But there's nothing wrong with getting traditions started early, right?
Of course, I know there are activities that will be best saved for later, when the kiddo is older and can enjoy them. I mean, I have no delusions of having a baby under 1 try to make a gingerbread house or anything. I realize that some things like that will have to wait a bit.
But I feel like there are a few holiday traditions we can introduce early, at least on some level. We can play with Baby Epic while sort of half-watching Rudolph and Frosty, mostly just singing along with the songs as we play while it goes in the background. When the kiddo gets older, those are two big ones I'd like to keep up the tradition of watching, and next year (I know, screen time, blah blah) we can kind of do a baby-friendly edit of "watching" them. Then, as he/she gets older, we can throw a few other holiday favorites in the mix.
When I was a kid, my family had a tradition of listening to old vinyls of holiday music. We have a turntable of our own in the Epic house, and I have one or two Christmas vinyls, but I'd like to work on adding to that collection and introducing that tradition with Baby Epic next year. I really want music to be a big part of his/her life anyway, so vintage holiday music on vinyl is a no-brainer! Super baby friendly. I know I have a Gene Autry 45 of Here Comes Santa Claus, a Bing Crosby 45 of White Christmas, and I think I have the full album of Vince Guaraldi's music from A Charlie Brown Christmas--my favorite Christmas album ever--so that's a good start.
Mr. Epic and I were chatting on this topic just last night, and he brought up that another tradition he'd like to begin is having each of us make a special Christmas ornament each year. Of course, Baby Epic's artistic skills (and motor skills) will be fairly limited next year, but there are plenty of footprint and handprint ornament ideas out there on Pinterest to get us started for the next couple years until the kiddo can DIY a little more easily.
Another one we can modify a bit so we can start it on Baby Epic's first Christmas is the "Christmas Eve box" I've been seeing a lot on Pinterest lately. The Christmas PJs and book would be appropriate for baby's first Christmas, and other pieces like the holiday movie, popcorn, and hot chocolate can be introduced later.
I've also thought of some other traditions to save for later when Baby Epic is older, like making a Lego Christmas village together every year to display on the dining room table, coming up with special holiday baking projects to do together, etc.
What special holiday traditions do you do with your kiddos (or plan to do with them as they get older)?
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