The True Joy of the Season: Baby’s First Holiday Season

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By Rachel Derry
Staff Writer LIFamilies

The holidays are just around the corner, but you've already received the best gift imaginable; its baby’s first holiday season and you want to celebrate! This is the year that you’ll want to remember for the rest of your life because it is the very first, a new beginning, and a new family. Try to plan ahead to appreciate the season, and get a couple worries out of the way before it ever begins!

With a new family member to take into consideration, it’s time to sit down and re-evaluate your holiday schedule. When you were first married, you decided to make an alternating holiday visit schedule; Thanksgiving with your parents, Hanukkah with his parent, Christmas/New Years with yours again. You will want to go over your schedule again, and decide when it will be best for you to be able to spend time in your own home as a family. Maybe decide to host one of the big holidays yourself; catered or pot luck events are great, easy(ish) options when you have a little one to watch over.

Start a new family tradition for baby’s first holiday season, and keep it going for a lifetime. There is always a special tradition or two that you remember from your childhood growing up, and chances are good that your spouse has a couple, too. Start one with your little one; it doesn't need to be anything huge and overwhelming, for example my grandparents had “Santa” deliver the Christmas tree. Can you imagine having to get three excited children to bed Christmas Eve and then having to spend your night sneaking around, setting up the whole Christmas tree? Start something simple like a Black Friday walk through the nature preserve (because everyone else is shopping) or the gift of holiday pajamas.

Make your first wish registry or “letter to Santa” for your little one. This will help you ensure that the gifts that he/she receives will be safe and appropriate for their age, and that you’re comfortable with. This is also a good way to make sure that baby receive a couple of gifts that he actually needs, and not just a new sleigh-load of toys.

If you’re worried about room, knowing that new gifts will be coming in soon, take this time to downsize and donate to charity. Go through all of the gift, toys, and clothing items that you received when your little one was born and since. You’ll find that there are many items that aren't being used or were out grown; donate them to charity to not only contribute to a worthy cause, but to also organize your home and mind with it.

Don’t push yourselves too hard and plan for too much. With a new little one in the picture, you’ll want to share your holiday with everyone that you love. It is easy, however, to spread yourself a little too thin and to stress out the whole family. Don’t plan to run to both sides of the family on the same day (if possible) and don’t schedule a different event for every day. The holiday memories won’t be the same if you’re all stressed and cranky in every “first holiday” photo!

Take a minute to relive some of your holiday favorites. Read all of your favorite holiday stories to your little one. They may be too little yet to appreciate the stories and the special family time spent reading them together, but you certain can appreciate it. Savor the first reading of the Polar Express or the first viewing of The Grinch. These are not only memories for you to cherish, but great ones to pass on when your little one gets a little bit bigger!

Long Island Family Life & Parenting Articles > The True Joy of the Season: Baby’s First Holiday Season