I saw an encouraging truth: that when it comes to any Holiday it’s rarely the gifts people remember most. What we remember are the smells, the food, the people and the traditions. It’s encouraging to me because I am not great at buying gifts. I get so stressed and caught up in trying to find the “perfect” gift for everyone.

This year I am going to focus on creating Christmas memories using my five senses:

Taste
Baking and enjoying the food and desserts that only come around during this Holiday.

Smell
Often tied in with food but Christmas comes with so many smells. I love the smell of pine and those cinnamon pine cones. I pack the cinnamon pine cones in with all my Christmas decorations so just the act of unpacking them smells like Christmas.

Touch
Flannel sheets, soft pajamas, wrapping paper, prickly trees, making snowmen. These all remind me of Christmas and I’m thinking about what other items I can incorporate into touch.

Sight
This one is easy for me because Christmas lights are my favorite thing year round. I love all the rainbow lights and bright colors and the tree and the nativity set and the dried fruit and pinecones. The colorful wrapping paper and Santa’s bright red suite. Christmas definitely goes big on the visual.

Hear
A lot of people hate Christmas music but I will always love it. I am so thankful that I grew up with a Dad who loved music and who had Christmas albums blasting every day all month. Alvin and the Chipmunks, the Califirnia Raisins, NYSYNCS Christmas, and so many more. He would sing and dance and pull us into it with him. My grandma also would always have Christmas music playing and everyone would sing along or laugh at the silly ones. I think this is why I love the music, because it’s happy memories for me. I think most people I know who hate Christmas music didn’t experience it until working a retail job they hated where the same songs were played continuously on repeat.

The people of course are the most important element of Christmas for me. All the inside jokes and laughter and games and time spent just being with eachother.

I know this year looks different but I hope you’re able to make great memories with people you love (whether that’s family or not) and moving forward I am going to be thinking about how I can tie more memories to one of these five senses.