Yesterday I was standing all alone in my living room. My husband had gone up to church to help decorate the Christmas set for our upcoming holiday program. Ian, my 10 year old, was bored with the idea of decorating the Christmas tree, so he was doing his own thing. And I had decided to completely change my traditional way of decorating our 7 ft. Christmas tree.

Instead of doing the fancy matching decorations of red, pink, and white, I nixed that idea and opted for putting all our kid and family ornaments on the big tree. Normally these are the ornaments I put on our 4 ft. tree, but I was feeling sentimental and wanted to enjoy all the fun ornaments while I still could. As I started hanging these ornaments, family memories started to arise, and the tears came too.

I have ornaments from my son Kai’s first Christmas, and now he is away studying for finals in college. Life goes by so quickly. There was one little ornament that represented Kai when he was a young baseball player. I kept staring at that little boy ornament, and thinking I will never get that time back. There are exactly 14 days left until Christmas and so I thought I would give you 12 special ways you can spend some quality time with your children everyday to celebrate this special season.

1. Snuggle and Read Some Special Holiday Books Together. We use to have this great scratch and sniff holiday book that the kids absolutely loved. We read it so much that eventually the smells of all the pine trees, hot chocolate, oranges, peppermint sticks, and other holiday goodies wore off. Don’t wait until bedtime to read these books. Go to the library and get some books the children have never read and make it a special occasion.

2. Watch a Holiday Movie. You can rent a movie or go to the movies. You can see a classic or something you’ve never seen. Either way, it’s always a great way to get in the spirit to see a family holiday movie together.

3. Sing Christmas Carols. Depending on where you live, build a fire, make some hot chocolate, and put on your favorite Christmas CD. Sit by the fire and sing your heart out. Singing raises your energy and puts everyone in a good mood!

4. Learn about other cultures. Pick another part of the world, and learn how they celebrate Christmas, or this holiday season. It’s good for children to understand that not everyone celebrates in exactly the same way we do, or even celebrates the exact same holidays we do.

5. Play Holiday Games. Look around on the internet for some holiday games you can print off and play. There should be plenty of search and find word games, unscramble word games, and other fun games. You can also make up your own games like holiday hang man, or holiday 20 questions.

6. Enjoy the Christmas Lights. Take a drive one evening in a neighborhood known for its awesome decorating. Just drive around with some holiday music on, and enjoy all the beautiful houses and their light displays.

7. Make a Gingerbread House. Our family has done this a couple of times, and they never turn out as beautiful as the house on the front of the box. But the kids sure have a lot of fun building these houses. Who cares what they look like, right?

8. Set up a Wrapping Station. Get the whole family involved one evening in wrapping presents for friends and family. Put someone in charge of tape, another one in charge of the bow, and yet another one in charge of the name tag. Before you know it, you might have two or three presents wrapped before the kids get bored or start bickering! LOL!

9. Bake some cookies. Have the dough made ahead of time because after all, the best part of making cookies is using the cookie cutters and decorating them, right? Have lots of fun cookie cutters, little candies, colored sprinkles, and colored sugar available so the kids can get creative. Finish off your experience with a glass of milk and a couple of warm cookies from the oven.

10. Make a Holiday craft. There are so many to choose from. Think about craft items you may be able to give as gifts from the kids, or hang around the house as decorations. One year our family made these beautiful ornaments that we still hang on our Christmas tree today.

11. Giant Coloring Book. Coloring is a great way to relax and de-stress from a busy day…not just for kids, but for adults too. Get one of those huge holiday coloring books and let everyone pick out their favorite page to color. Tear it out of the book and sit at the kitchen table and color away. Use your colored pages to decorate your windows.

12. Do a Community Service Project.During the holidays, there are so many different organizations looking for volunteers to help them. Gather up the family and do something to help others in need. Serve meals to the hungry, visit the elderly in nursing homes, play with the kids in homeless shelters, or anything else your community needs.

Time with our children is precious. Take this holiday season and beyond to enjoy them!

Do you have any special ways you celebrate the holiday season with your children? Share your ideas here.