It's January and already you feel the magic of the holiday season slowly starting to fade. It can be a major bummer to many people. Here are some of the ways my family and I get through this all-of-a-sudden very boring winter...
We do a "room reinvention". If you are trying to save money after the expensive holiday season, this can be as simple as rearranging the furniture to give it a fresh look. Sometimes the kids will ask for new bed sets for Christmas or room decor. We will use gift cards we received to buy a new picture for the wall or add a bulletin board. Freshen up a bedroom with a new fluffy rug. It's amazing how this transformation can bring such a fresh outlook on the New Year!
Think LIGHTS!!! One of the things my family and I miss most after packing away all the Christmas decor is all the beautiful lights strung about the house. Lights can bring such a warm, cozy feeling to a home in the dead of winter. This year I purchased a couple 15" light-up birch trees off of Amazon. They are the perfect winter decoration and add that "light" element that makes us all feel so at home. Another thing I did was put fairy lights into mason jars and set those on our hutch. There are numerous ways to incorporate lights around the home, and it doesn't have to be Christmas!
Schedule a couple movie nights, complete with a fun snack theme. Some of the themes we have chosen: Cereal night. (Let's face it: Most cereals nowadays are more like desserts anyways! Each kid and parent picks a box of the one they like, and we all go to town.) Candy night. Everyone chooses a box/bag of candy to their liking. When it's time for the movie I pass out ziploc bags and everyone gets a small serving of each one. (We just mix it all up in the bags) The kids absolutely LOVE this!!
Plan an evening to write thank-you cards for everyone who sent gifts for the holidays. The thank-you card is becoming a lost art, but it is so important to teach your kids this! To make it more fun, you can order a few cute and inexpensive stationary sets off of Amazon. Set a plate of cookies and some drinks out and there you go... An activity that kids would normally find boring is now more interesting and fun!
Spend an evening together making plans for the summer. (This is the best time to make camping reservations, some places book up FAST!) Get input from everybody on new places they want to visit or old places they want to see again. Discuss camping, vacations, picnic days at the parks, sports games they want to attend, etc. Whether you officially make reservations or not, it can be exciting to talk about and give everyone something to look forward to.
Start a chore and rewards chart system. Many little kids actually love this. Depending on their ages you can plan on a small daily reward (bite size candy/sticker/pencil) or a weekly reward. I have found that no matter what their age, if there is a reward involved most kids are all about it! My kids are expected to do chores no matter what: we all live here/eat here/sleep here so there is no reason at all that EVERYONE shouldn't pitch in to help. But, I keep a basket full of optional chores that the kids can do for money and gift cards. HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!