Christmas was always such a magical time for me when I was a child, and as parents, To make single parent Christmas holidays memorable, there sits a lot of efforts, and as parents, we hope to create joy for our children.
Unfortunately, the Holidays can be a particularly hard time for those of us who are single parents.First Christmas as a single mom, making a memorable Christmas for your child can be stressful if you’re already on a tight budget and only have one parent’s income.
The good news is that it’s not impossible to do.
With a little creativity, you can spruce up your old traditions or add a few new traditions to your single parent Christmas holidays celebration.
I’ve put together a budget-friendly list of ten traditions for you to try that are guaranteed to delight the kiddos without maxing out your credit cards.
1. Christmas Eve Pajama Party
This tradition might be my favorite of all because it’s one I’ve taken part in for as long as I can remember. On Christmas Eve, before you set out the milk and cookies for Santa, everyone gets to open a present.
Surprise, matching pajamas for everyone!
It adds such a nice touch to the Christmas morning pictures. Even though you may be half asleep because you’re up three hours earlier than usual and your coffee still hasn’t kicked in, you’ll always be looking marvelous!
2. Bake Christmas Cookies Together
It doesn’t matter if you make them from scratch or buy the premade mix that you just add eggs and oil to.
It’ll be a deliciously memorable experience for your kids.
Use Christmas cookie cutters on your sugar cookies and after they’re completely cool, let your kids decorate them with different colors of icing.
The kids get creative with this, and you can even make special cookies for one another.
3. Tree Trimming Party
Decorating your Christmas tree and home always seems to take a whole day.
Why not make it more fun by turning it into a party?
Make a pot of your favorite Chili or Stew and have plenty of snacks ready to munch on. Turn some Christmas tunes on, or if you happen to have an older child, you can let them be the DJ.
As you place your ornaments on the tree take turns recalling your favorite Christmas memories.
4. Decorations Are Important
I’ve always loved having a yearly Christmas ornament exchange.
You can buy ornaments at the store, or you can make your own. Get some construction paper, tape, self-laminating sheets, crayons and photos of your kids and make your memory ornaments!
School pictures work well since we all seem to purchase more than we can hand out. If you do a quick internet search, there are a ton of cute ornament ideas out there.
5. Christmas Light Competition
Another one of our favorites!
Every year we’d put on our pajamas, get some hot cocoa and drive around the city listening to Christmas music and checking out the Christmas lights.
To make it extra fun, you can take a photo of your favorite decorations and then have a family vote to name a winner at the end.
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6. Teach Your Kids to Be Thankful
During the Holidays it’s easy for your kids to get caught up in everything they want as they make out their lists for Santa.
It seems like they talk nonstop about what doll or video game they hope to get, but it’s important to be thankful for the things they already have too.
Starting on Thanksgiving until Christmas Day go around the table at dinner and have each person name something they’re thankful for.
It can be something as simple as cookies or a favorite toy, but it will make a big impression!
7. Love Gifts
This is a great tradition where you give handmade gifts to show your love. If you have a large family, you might want to pick names, but smaller families are encouraged to make one for each person.
This is especially fun to do on Christmas Eve after everyone is in their new, matching pajamas. Make sure to record a video that captures the poems or songs that your children wrote for one another.
It’s fun to see what everyone comes up with; gifts like coupon books, portraits and comic books are wonderful ideas!
8. Do Something Nice for Others
At some point in your busy month of festivities take some time to serve others in your community that are less fortunate than your family.
Pick up some desserts at the store and drop them off at your local homeless or women’s shelter. Sing Christmas carols for the elderly at your local nursing home. Make cards for the troops and mail them off.
You never know how much your act of kindness will mean to someone else and it also teaches your children to be compassionate.
9. Try New Cultural Traditions
This helps your kids learn about parts of the world they’ve never been to.
Trace your family roots for celebration ideas that your ancestors might have taken part in, or you can research a culture that’s always been interesting to you.
It doesn’t have to be something extravagant; it can be as easy as teaching your children how to say Merry Christmas in another language. Or you can try beverages and snacks from other countries.
One year, we had some Glühwein or (German Mulled Wine) for the adults and heiße schokolade (hot chocolate) for the kids at our Christmas gathering.
Trying something new and hard to pronounce was a massive hit with everyone. There are many recipes online for these drinks and tasty treats online.
10. Create Your Own Memories Book
A photo book is a beautiful way to celebrate the end of the year, and it’s also a great keepsake for years to come. With today’s technology, it’s easier than ever to put a book together.
You can upload your photos to a nearby store where you can pick them up and put them into an album. Or you can upload your pictures to a site that will print them into a book and mail them to your house.
It’s so much fun to flip through the book and reminisce about all the good times you’ve had together over the past year. You can even save this one for New Year’s Eve if you already have too many other traditions you’re taking part in on Christmas.
I hope these tradition ideas will help you and your family have a fantastic Christmas without breaking the bank. Maybe you have some good ideas that we didn’t think of. What special traditions does your family take part in? We would love to hear about them!
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