“Christmas, children, is not a date. It is a state of mind.”

Christmas Eve is officially sixty days away, and this morning I want to encourage you to plan ahead for the festivities! For many years, I longed to host holiday festivities,but somehow it was always December 16th when I arrived at my planning. Choose and lock-in a date now! Send your invites the earlier the better! 

Here are seven ideas for holiday entertaining.
 

Christmas Cocktails: Invite families over to enjoy cocktails and appetizers. If there are many young children in the group, consider hiring a babysitter or two to help out. Providing a babysitter will encourage those with young children to attend, as it is one less detail to organize during a busy season. If some of the children attending are older, set up a Christmas craft area for them to work on projects while the adults are visiting.
 

Caroling Party: You don’t need to have a spectacular vocal range to enjoy caroling! We caroled every year, even though none of us could carry a tune. That actually made it all the more fun as each house tried to listen and lavish us with praise… only to finally encourage us to keep quiet by feeding us Christmas treats. All you need is a group of six or more “singers” who aren’t scared to belt out a tune. This
is by far one of my favorite Christmas activities and it always ends with cherished memories and laughter.
 

Have people meet at your house and dress for a night outside. Serve appetizers and cider while waiting for guests. Once assembled, enjoy the caroling and regroup at your house for Christmas cookies and cocoa, cider, or an after dinner drink.