Favorite Christmas Traditions Series: Christmas Lights

Christmas gives many of us the excuse to decorate our houses in pure Griswold-style both inside and out.  Our streets begin to twinkle and many neighborhoods become winter wonderlands.  It doesn’t take much effort or money to enjoy these glittering displays and start a fun Christmas tradition.

Welcome to Part 4 of my Christmas Traditions Series, for previous posts see here, here, and here.  Every year, we make a pot of hot cocoa, load the kids in the car, tune in to the Christmas music radio station, and drive around our area ooo-ing and aahh-ing all the sparkly Christmas lights.  There is something about the colorful displays that’s just magical.  Every blinking light just makes me grin and smile.  There are always a few dozen neighborhoods in our area that transform to streets of glittering gingerbread houses each year and bring smiles and laughter to our family.  Our Christmas just wouldn’t be the same if we didn’t venture out as a family to admire all the glittering houses. 

This activity can entertain for a couple of hours and create fun family memories for the cost of some cocoa and fuel.  If you live in a neighborhood that goes all-out each year, you could even bundle up and walk around, eliminating the fuel cost and being a bit greener.  This comes from someone who lives in the desert though, so I apologize if you just fell out of you chair in laughter at the thought of walking in below-zero temps and giant snow drifts with your family. 

If you don’t know where to go, many local news websites have Christmas light maps that pinpoint the neighborhoods with the best light displays.  They also have lists of churches and other organizations that put on light displays.  We go to a local church each year that has a drive-thru light display where you tune your radio to their station and the lights are in-sync with the music.  Very groovy. 

Since this activity may require some decent time spent in a vehicle, I highly recommend bringing some cocoa and other treats to keep the kids quiet.  My toddler would probably grow restless after about 30 minutes.  So, to keep him happy and quiet so we can all enjoy the sights and sounds of Christmas instead of fussing and thrown toys, I will bribe him with cookies and a candy cane.  But he's just started saying "miss mas" when he sees Christmas displays, so I'm thinking he may be just as entertained with the lights as the older kids *fingers crossed*

Now, go out there and enjoy all the sparkles!


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