Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Good Morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Speaker 1: Today's tip is to make an Advent calendar of experiences.
Speaker 1: Lots of people of all ages enjoy using an Advent
Speaker 1: calendar to count down the days till Christmas, opening a
Speaker 1: little door to find a new delight every day. These
Speaker 1: calendars should technically start on the first Sunday in Advent,
Speaker 1: that is November this year, but for secular purposes, they
Speaker 1: tend to go from December one until Many of these
Speaker 1: calendars have a little box each day to fill with
Speaker 1: candy or a trinket. This is nice in theory, but
Speaker 1: many of us don't need twenty five more days of clutter.
Speaker 1: So instead, to keep the delight but skip the stuff.
Speaker 1: Why not fill an Advent calendar with experiences. Each day's
Speaker 1: box could contain a slip of paper inviting the recipient
Speaker 1: to a holiday or winter themed activity. Some ideas singing
Speaker 1: Christmas carols, going caroling in your neighborhood, having hot chocolate
Speaker 1: with peppermint marshmallows, making a gingerbread house, decorating holiday cookies,
Speaker 1: making paper snowflakes, going to a local production of a
Speaker 1: Christmas carol or The Nutcracker, watching your favorite holiday movie
Speaker 1: on TV, going to choose your Christmas tree, decorating the tree,
Speaker 1: going for a walk in your neighborhood to check out
Speaker 1: the holiday decorations, driving around to see epic lights displayed
Speaker 1: in your town, Going to the holiday lights display at
Speaker 1: the local park or zoo, going to see Santa Claus.
Speaker 1: If you start brainstorming ideas of fun holiday activities, you
Speaker 1: may be surprised at how many you come up with.
Speaker 1: Once you have a list of ideas, it's wise to
Speaker 1: time specific activities for days when they are likely to work.
Speaker 1: For instance, on a night and your kids have hockey practice,
Speaker 1: having hot chocolate with peppermint marshmallows is a lot more
Speaker 1: doable then going to the holiday lights display at a park.
Speaker 1: If you keep a master list of dates and activities,
Speaker 1: maybe a simple spreadsheet or a list in your bullet journal,
Speaker 1: you can make a switch of activities and dates. If
Speaker 1: you need to say it's raining the day you plan
Speaker 1: to go cut a Christmas tree, you can easily pull
Speaker 1: out the slips of paper and swap days so you
Speaker 1: go see Santa that day and get your Christmas tree
Speaker 1: the next day when the forecast is sunny, hang on
Speaker 1: to the master list of activities and dates. If your
Speaker 1: family enjoys this advent calendar of experiences, you can pull
Speaker 1: out this year's list next year as a starting point.
Speaker 1: That will be much easier than beginning with a blank page.
Speaker 1: Making an advent calendar of experiences is a great way
Speaker 1: to build in holiday fun and delight. With just a
Speaker 1: little bit of planning, you can inject holiday fun into
Speaker 1: every single day until Christmas. That will truly make this
Speaker 1: the most wonderful time of the year. In the meantime,
Speaker 1: this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making
Speaker 1: the most of our time. Hey everybody, I'd love to
Speaker 1: hear from you. You can send me your tips, your questions,
Speaker 1: or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook
Speaker 1: and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod. That's b E the
Speaker 1: number four, then Breakfast p o D. You can also
Speaker 1: shoot me an email at Before Breakfast podcast at i
Speaker 1: heeart media dot com that Before Breakfast is spelled out
Speaker 1: with all the letters. Thanks so much, I look forward
Speaker 1: to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a production of
Speaker 1: I Heart Radio. For more podcasts from I Heart Radio,
Speaker 1: visit the I heart Radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever
Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows.