Could your Christmas stand a make-over? Or how about a little improving? Did last Christmas turn out the way you envisioned? Most people find that their Christmas, as years pass, falls short of what they expect. When we realized that this in our lives, we decided to take action. We\u2019re not going to be the victim of having a Christmas that doesn\u2019t quite meet our expectations; Pamela and I did something about it and began making our own unique Christmas traditions. Today, we want to share 4 ways you can make Christmas great again.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s begin…<\/p>\n
Plan One Big Family Event<\/strong> The main event for Christmas is to dine together. Generally we have a Christmas dinner with the family at our parent\u2019s home. This year we\u2019ve decided to move the dinner to brunch and go all out for it. This change will eliminate some of the commuting that generally occurs on Christmas. By reducing some of the commute, we have more time to enjoy company and (of course) food [our favorite, breakfast].<\/p>\n There\u2019s one other event we have [which doesn\u2019t include the entire family, but a large portion] and that\u2019s Christmas service. There\u2019s 15+ of us who will attend a special candle lighting Christmas service.<\/p>\n When you fill your calendar with the main events, you can then begin to work around these to make Christmas even more special. Having events to look forward to, takes some of the weight and pressure off of gift-receiving to make Christmas exciting.<\/p>\n Take Notes During This Season<\/strong> Create an Implementation Strategy for Next Christmas<\/strong> Share This Christmas<\/strong> Today is Friday [the Friday before Christmas]! Question:<\/strong> What ideas do you have to transform your Christmas into a more memorable day? Leave us a comment.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Could your Christmas stand a make-over? Or how about a little improving? Did last Christmas turn out the way you envisioned? Most people find that their Christmas, as years pass, falls short of what they expect. When we realized that this in our lives, we decided to take action. We\u2019re not going to be the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1600,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1599","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-holiday","8":"entry"},"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.kerryaclark.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/20171222-TIF-Blog-Make-Christmas-Great-Again.png?fit=760%2C360&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4jb7V-pN","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kerryaclark.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1599","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kerryaclark.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kerryaclark.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kerryaclark.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kerryaclark.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1599"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.kerryaclark.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1599\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1605,"href":"https:\/\/www.kerryaclark.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1599\/revisions\/1605"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kerryaclark.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1600"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kerryaclark.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1599"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kerryaclark.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1599"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kerryaclark.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1599"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nOur desire for a Christmas makeover was renewed by our Thanksgiving makeover<\/a>. Our family, the Clarks, decided to take Thanksgiving<\/a> up a notch and after making Thanksgiving<\/a> more inviting and seeing its success, we decided to give Christmas the same type of makeover.<\/p>\n
\nAs the Christmas season progresses, take notes. There are thoughts you have that only occur during the Christmas season. You have seen how others do Christmas and said to yourself, that would be nice. Take notes so that you can apply or implement next Christmas. We take ideas from the current Christmas season to apply to future Christmases. There\u2019s no other way to make the intentional changes you desire to make Christmas great than by taking notes. Planning for Christmas in this way will also add excitement and anticipation for the coming Christmas.<\/p>\n
\nThis step is the tough part, the mechanics. Now that you have notes and ideas on what you\u2019d like to change, the tough part is always in the doing. How do you make it happen?<\/a> I suggest you partner with family members, especially children. You may be wondering why children, well they never forget. They will remember as soon as Christmas returns. Let them play a role in the excitement. The more the merrier. Come up with ways so you don\u2019t forget. We also use our family plan<\/a>\u00a0to add these desired goals. Whatever it takes for you, do it. You could even set reminders on your smart-phone. Regardless, don\u2019t forget to give yourself enough time so that it doesn\u2019t seem as though Christmas caught you by surprise.<\/p>\n
\nDon\u2019t be afraid to share your plans, thoughts and ideas of Christmas during Christmas. It\u2019s Christmas and it\u2019s a good time to communicate with family and friends. Social media is s great avenue for sharing. You\u2019ll be surprised at how many others have similar thoughts and will give you ideas you\u2019ve not thought of. For example, we \u2018moved\u2019 Christmas day and it was the best idea we ever received from our friends<\/a>. Share your Christmas with others.<\/p>\n
\nFrom our family to yours, Merry Christmas! We hope this post inspires you to make Christmas great again! Share this with as many of your family members and friends as you can.<\/p>\n