Ah, Christmas Eve. My favorite night of the year. Christmas Day is nice, but I’ve always felt that Christmas Eve is more festive. Maybe it’s the anticipation of opening gifts the next day or maybe it’s Santa and his reindeer sprinkling cheer in the air. Christmas Day is the end of it all, while Christmas Eve still leaves one more day to go.
If you haven’t found it, I highly recommend the NORAD Santa Tracker app for your iPhone & Android phone. Whoever created this software is a genius. It’s fun to look up and see what random part of the world Santa is visiting. If you are not mobile-y inclined, they do have a website that does the same thing. It can be a learning tool too. If your kids are old enough, you can research information about the countries together and discuss them. Maybe that’s just something I like because I’m a nerd at heart.
If you are looking for a simple Christmas-y after dinner drink, a tradition in our family is for the adults to have Baileys on the rocks. It’s so delicious. They have all these flavored versions now, but we like the original. It’s like dessert in a glass.
One of my favorite things to watch on Christmas Eve is a little odd. It’s odd because I don’t have any kids. If you get the Sprout Channel, the Snooze-a-thon begins at 4:00 PM Pacific Standard Time. It lasts about 12 hours, so if you find yourself unable to sleep because you are excited about Christmas Day, I highly recommend you watch it regardless of child status.
Basically, it’s a bunch of cartoon characters and puppets sleeping. There is soothing background music. There are no flashes of light. It’s great. Heck, if anything you will probably fall asleep from sheer boredom, but for the past few years, I have been watching this show when 24 Hours of A Christmas Story has proven too stimulating.
OK, this year, my favorite night of the year will be each one I spend with my boyfriend, Paul. Santa finally brought me what I’ve been wanting for all of these years. Took you long enough you jolly old elf!