Holiday Book Countdown to Christmas

A lot of families have recently had a guest move into their home since Thanksgiving has come and gone…the Elf on the Shelf.  Well, bah-humbug at our house.  We do not succumb to the Elf because I do not need more to do this month!  Very cute idea, but (in my opinion) a lot of work for the parents if you do-it-up like I would.  So for now, no Elf.

However, I did like the Pinterest idea I found about unwrapping a holiday book each day in December.  Not a brand new book, but one you already had.  And whatcha might not know is that I cannot stand to read children’s books out of season.  For real.  Halloween book in January?  No way.  It was always torture for me to read a Santa book during the summer to the kids I watched while in college.  Truly pained me.  Odd, I know.

So each season I put the kids’ themed books away with other decor.  Which keeps them new and exciting every time they return the next season.  And we get lots of books as gifts.  So I dug into my holiday/kids’ bin and counted the books…perfect amount.  So then I spent an hour in front of the TV and wrapped up about 25-30 books.  All different shapes and sizes.

Last night I introduced the basket to the girls with the “rules”.  The books would only be unwrapped and read on nights of good behavior.  So last night bath time and the entire get-ready-for-bed process went pretty smoothly!  To kick it off each of them picked one book, but we’ll probably switch between 1-2 books depending on their behavior and the length of the book chosen.  I LOVE that it will keep me from reading the same Princess holiday book over and over each night this month.

Below are some pictures of our own book basket.

6 Responses to Holiday Book Countdown to Christmas

  1. Oh man, I totally wrapped all of my books last night and didn’t even CONSIDER it as a Pinterest post. Could be because I cannot keep track of what day it is this week to save my life. So I wrote my Pinterest post to publish tomorrow instead of today.
    Whatever! Your girls are going to love their books a day. We started this last year, and my kids actually read the Christmas books, rather than them just languishing in a basket by the TV.
    I’m with you on the Elf. Haven’t even really investigated how much work he would take, because I just think he is crazy. I already have three other ridiculous Advent projects going. I just hope no other kids have Elves that my kids find out about!

  2. 1) we got the elf and kept forgetting to move him so he hasn’t made a return trip to our house this year. 2)i pack up the books with the holiday decor too. 3) I plan to do this, but don’t have enough books. i need to find some secondhand holiday books somewhere.

  3. Our kids have been asking for JJ (our elf) so I took advantage and am writing a letter from JJ setting some behavioral expectations. I feel kind of creepy doing it, but they have not been at their best of late so worth a try.

    Last year, I pulled one Christmas book out of our locked closet (which my son randomly called “Santa’s Church” — ?!). I meant to wrap them this year, but I didn’t get it done. Yours look great, and how fun that your kids are really excited about it!

  4. Wow, I’m curious about your list of holiday titles. I see some gift ideas for the grandparents in this post! And our favorite book right now is Fancy Nancy’s Halloween. It does grate a little bit, doesn’t it?

    (Visiting from MEP’s as a fellow RWoP.)

  5. When I mentioned this idea to my oldest, she insisted on doing the wrapping. I pushed back at first, but then just got some paper from the dollar store and let all three girls go at it wrapping all the books themselves…it keep them entertained for quite some time.

    My girls love the elf, but it sure is a lot of pressure to remind her to move every night. I don’t find that it affects their behavior in any way, but it does help motivate them to get out of bed in the morning so that they can go downstairs and see where she is.

  6. We don’t have an elf yet, but I have been pinning all those cute ideas – sugar angel anyone? I think our elf will make an appearance next year IF I can remember to buy one.

    I LOVE the book idea – I considered doing it this year but when I pulled out our holiday books (packed with our decorations also) I realized we have only 8. So I pinned this and plan to buy holiday books throughout the next year.

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