Am I the only one who makes my kids write to Santa AFTER Christmas? A few people look at me strangely when I’ve said my kids always write thank you letters to Santa.

I just think it is good manners and teaches them respect. Thank you notes to Santa are in some ways more important than other thank you notes because he doesn’t hand you the present to get even a cursory ‘thanks’.

My expectations of the letter have changed over time (as my kids get older they are capable of more of course) – I wrote the first few with their input but now I let them write their own letters and am pleased to say they do it pretty well.

Writing two letters a year isn’t a big ask, especially given how much Santa does for us!, and is much better than just writing one letter all about what you want! Do you have any other relationships in your life where that would work well?

This year we made the thank letters part of our Boxing day – it is a quiet day at home, exploring new things and tidying away wrapping paper, etc so it seems like a good time to write those letters.

But seriously, does no one else do this???

We went looking for Christmas lights a week before Christmas and ended up finding some lovely lights so here’s what we found in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs…

Bellbird Court, Wantirna

A few houses there have decorations. The first house has a beautiful tree covered in lights and another had fewer lights but was beautiful in its simplicity with white reindeer forming a path to the front door.

2.5 Santas for this group, but well worth it if you’re in the area

Beddoe Rd & Allison Ct, Vermont

We found  a number of houses on Beddoe Road (starting at the corner of Cosgrove St) with lights – one or two had a lot of lights – which was nice but only about 2 Santas. We turned into Luck Drive and found one lit up house on our right.

Then we  turned into Allison Court. Most homes in this street have some lights set up while a few have a lot of lights. Altogether it is a good street to slowly drive through – but a walk along would be even better (our kids were too tired by this stage so we drove!)

Put all 3 streets together (and you could walk between them) and this is definitely worth 3 santas.

 Morack Rd, Vermont South

We only saw these lights while driving past on Burwood Highway but I think there are a few places and they were certainly lit up!

Narracan St, Vermont

This one is a mixed review. The house has quite a few lights on the house, in the garden and inside the windows – you can walk through the garden, too. It stands out and is worth a bit of a drive.

However, if you have been there in the past (as we had), this is not the display it once was. it used to be covered in lights, have a snow machine and create traffic chaos in the side streets! A few neighbouring houses were also decorated (but not this year). The owners have sold off many of their lights and decorations but hopefully will retain some lights for Christmas 2012.

Surrounding streets  (such as Hartland Rd) have a few dispersed homes with nice lights, too, so driving through these streets can be rewarding.

Read more about Victorian Christmas lights or share other lights in the Vermont/Wantirna area for others to enjoy…

In the lead up to Christmas, young children are very excited and often need more activities, attention and distraction – while parents needs kids busy so they can get things done!

Here are a few activities (additional to those in Santa’s letters) that may entertain your kids while they wait for Santa to arrive on Christmas Eve:

 Santa’s face colouring in page

 Six white boomers colouring in page

 a printable colouring-in book about Santa train (for early readers – they’ll get skills from it)

 a pop up Christmas tree card or mantlepiece decoration

 play games and see what’s happening with Santa’s preparations to fly Downunder

 cook some yummy treats for the family – just to get their ok to leave out for Santa to snack on!

 go and see some Christmas lights or Myer (and other) store windows

 try some new Christmas craft ideas

 tell some Christmas and Santa jokes and fun stories

 set them up on the computer and play some Santa games

 write letters to Santa – even if they’ve sent a list, let them write a friendly letter to Santa for fun (and good manners!)

 teach them some Christmas tongue twisters…

 listen to the story of Kris the Moose (although disappointing that the Boomers are ignored )

 together, read Santa’s letter to the world (it’s about Santa and fun but also has educational and making-them-think elements)

If you have some other good ideas, please share them here as we all need help and creativity for our kids at Christmas!

We drove down Burwood Highway in Burwood last night expecting to see some great lights.

We could see the lights from a distance so easily found 378 Burwood Highway (not too far from Middleborough Rd) which has various lights up high on a garage roof and the roof of the house.

From the sign out the front, we realised we had missed seeing Santa there by about an hour. However, there were other elves wandering around inside and a couple of fairies even did a dance routine a bit later!

Inside their yard, there are not as many lights and decorations as we expected BUT there were  so many Santa on display! Along one wall were man-sized Santas (and a couple of other characters in Christmas garb). Along the second area was an incredible display of Santas – on trains, in parachutes, sitting, standing, with presents or without, with sleighs and reindeer (didn’t notice any with boomers unfortunately) and even some in snow globes for the white Christmas feel. You could spend ages there looking at each one in detail…

The elves are happy to pose for photos with people, and with the huge throne in a corner, I assume photos with Santa are also welcomed when he visits.

If you’re in Melbourne, I’d definitely say visit Burwood for a Santa display like no other! 4 Santas for this spot

Find out about other Victorian Christmas lights

There are 2 sets of lights worth seeing in Ashwood, Victoria now…

Arthur St (don’t know the number but on your left coming from Huntingdale Rd, about 400 m form the corner) has a huge Santa out the front and some nice lights.

Corner of Ashwood Drive and Baryn St has lots of lights including reindeer leaping along the roof, blue archways and Santa parachuting.

Being close together (and not far from lights in High St, Highbury Rd and Burwood Hwy), I’d say 3 santas and well worth a look (they’re also not well-known yet so traffic isn’t a problem!)

I’ve noticed in the last few years that schools are encouraging (if that’s the right word) Kris Kringles for gifts between the kids.

Not sure if this is good or bad really. Certainly easier if kids just give each cards but a few would always want to give a gift to special friends. Then there is the risk of hurting people if one gets a gift and another doesn’t so it can be hard to stop. I see both sides of that.

One child did one at school last week and the gift had a $10 to $20 limit – that’s a lot of money for kids I think, especially if it’s not for someone you know well so it could end up being $20 of nonsense or unwanted things. I also found it a big range – some kids will spend $9.99 and get a $21 gift, and so on, which is a bit unfair but could lead to disagreements and hassles in the playground.

Tonight, another child says she will be doing a KK too. A week of school left and they’re told it’s happening with details to be discussed tomorrow! So guess who’ll have to go shopping over this weekend – someone who had thought Xmas shopping finished because I don’t want to go within cooee of a shopping centre at this time of year!

SO am I the only one not enthused about school Kris Kringles this year?

We went to a break up party last night for scouts and every child got a gift – we expected a bag of lollies or such so were very impressed with the actual gifts.

All the younger siblings were given an animal finger puppet. It was only small and probably cost no more than a bag of lollies (less if you count the time it would take for someone to make said bags of lollies!) but I think it’s a much nicer gift. It will last and didn’t hype the kids up at the end of an exciting night as sugar would have – and no one had to worry about allergies either.

So if you’re after a token gift, keep animal finger puppets in mind – they work a treat! Especially when Santa hands them out

Entertaining people is one of the delights of Christmas – socialising, seeing those you care for, relaxing and being hospitable. But it comes at a price – preparing to entertain.

Entertaining can mean a lot of cleaning up, buying food and supplies, cooking and planning which can add up to a lot of stress for many people. Especially if you’re on a tight budget and try to minimise expenses.

Here are a few tips to get your entertaining preparations under control this Christmas:

1. delegate – most Australians are used to ‘bringing a plate’ so don’t be afraid of asking people to help with the food
2. ignore ‘unseen’ parts of your home for December – don’t bother dusting, vacuuming or even tidying the study, ensuite, garden shed, etc if no one will be going in those areas. Stick to public areas and go for clean and presentable rather than perfect
3. use short cuts in the kitchen. For example, buy packets of fruit mince pies or fruit cake and just ice them yourself, buy tartlet cases, prepared custard and fruit to make fruit tarts, use an electric mixer or blender instead of stirring or chopping by hand, and cook in advance and freeze food to reduce cooking on the day
4. get the kids to make paper chains as a cheap decoration that helps keep them busy while you work, too
5. flat red sheets make great tablecloths – easy to wash, can be reused as sheets and are big enough for large tables. They’re generally cheaper than tablecloths, too. You could decorate them with fabric pens and paints, or leave them plain so you can brighten them up in different ways for each event and following Christmases – pretty runners, tinsel, Christmas balls, scattered popcorn, ivy and other greenery, glitter and paper chains are all ideas for adding interest to the table
6. put some candles around the room and house – they give a lovely light in the evening and can smell beautiful at any time. Candles are much quicker to set out than  a lot of other decorating ideas yet look classy
7. give yourself permission to relax and enjoy the events you host – people are there to see you and celebrate Christmas, being together and the end of another year so relax and be with them instead of running around aiming for an impossible target of perfection
8. consider using plastic cutlery and plates so you can set them out in advance without interfering with your daily needs. Before you worry about the low quality plastics or the financial and environmental cost of disposables, think about using some good plastic plates and cutlery such as from your picnic set. The bright colours will just add to the festive atmosphere and plastic takes away any risk of broken dishes hurting people
9. set yourself a schedule for cleaning so it doesn’t become so overwhelming. For example, sweep and mop the floors on Monday, clean the bathroom on Tuesday and dust on Wednesday. On the actual day you then only need to do a quick once over everything to be ready

Does your family do something special or different when there is a new baby experiencing Christmas for the first time?

It has become commonplace for retailers to offer stockings and baubles with ‘baby’s first Christmas’ on them, but there are many other ways to make the first Christmas special for the new parents and everyone’s memories.

Maybe start a family tradition of Christmas photos (thanks for the idea Bronwyn) or the youngest person gets the first gift. Or perhaps rethink the venue and format of your Christmas celebrations to be more baby and child friendly. Get everyone to sign a Christmas card or scrapbook page (like a 21st key or wedding guest book) or record a video message.

So, what does your family do for first Christmases? Or is another Christmas experience considered more important in your family?

Santa knows if you’ve been bad or good, so be good for goodness sake…

Sometimes wanting to be good isn’t enough – you need some ideas on how to be good and do good deeds that people (including Santa) will appreciate. So we’re adding to last year’s list of good deeds suggestions – including some from this year’s list of good deeds Santa is including in his letters to Aussie children.

1. don’t wake anyone up during the night unless it’s really important – usually rolling over and going back to sleep is easier for everyone
2. helping with keeping the house tidy and clean
3. keeping your bedroom clean and tidy
4. doing nice things for Mum and Dad – like giving foot rubs, making fresh orange juice, brushing hair and finding their keys
5. being brave about seeing a doctor or dentist
6. dressing yourself – especially if you do it quickly and without a fuss
7. using good manners, such as saying please and thank you
8. giving lots of cuddles and kisses to Mum and Dad, and other people
9. doing your best at sport and in classes

Having some family fun around Christmas is great for bonding and releasing some of the end-of-year pressures we all face.

I started a list of fun ideas when posting about making family happy at Christmas, but here are some more ideas:

1. perform for each other – play music, sing songs, do skits, etc where the aim is the entertainment rather than be sensible or polished
2. set challenges for each other – who can be silent for the longest, avoid touching wood or metal, stand on one leg, hold their breath longest, etc
3. spend an evening without power – see how creative everyone gets when there is no computer or TV
4. cook together
5. tell stories
6. read books out loud
7. play in a playground – parents, too!
8. get outside and play cricket, chasey or whatever game takes your fancy
9. have a picnic in a park or at the beach – even better, have a picnic somewhere special to your family
10. watch a movie outdoors – various parks offer this now or try setting up your own in the front yard!
11. look through photo albums or home movies – remember people and events you share as a family. Take it further and create scrapbooks or albums together
12. do impersonations – start with relatives and move onto celebrities

The emphasis is on fun so let everyone be a bit silly – in fact, you could almost make that the only rule (you must have fun and be silly!)

What other things could families do for fun? What does your family do to relax together?

So what sort of Christmas tree do you have in your house? Did you think about it or just go with habit or the first option?

I LOVE the smell and atmosphere of a real pine tree in the house, but I feel terrible cutting down a tree for a few weeks’ pleasure. So here are my thoughts on which type of tree is ‘best’.

An artificial tree is good because:

• doesn’t kill a real tree
• cheaper than buying a tree every year
• doesn’t droop or go brown over December
• no mess (pine needles can be a pain to clean up)
• fire-retardant so safer
• often on sturdy stands which may be safer than a tree held in a bucket by a few bricks
• easy to access – most big shops sell them and you can even order them online!
• it is lighter to move around – and easier when folded – than a real tree