Encore Pregnancy

Now before you roll your eyes, I know you are knee deep in your older child’s soccer schedule or cutting your grapes in half for your toddler, but maybe, just maybe this summer you celebrate Christmas in July. This could be a fun tradition, a low lift, that your family might look forward to every summer.

There’s something almost rebellious about it, too. It’s the middle of July, it’s knocking on 100 degrees outside, and for one evening you get to pretend it’s the most wonderful time of the year. There’s a reason “cool” and “Christmas” go together in our brains – string lights, hot cocoa, cozy blankets – and it turns out just thinking cool thoughts can make a sweltering summer night feel a little more bearable. Call it mind-over-mercury.

Keep It Simple, or Go All Out

The beauty of Christmas in July is that there’s no rulebook. It could be as simple as making a batch of Christmas cookies and turning on the AC a little colder than usual. It could be curling up as a family to watch A Charlie Brown Christmas in the middle of summer, blackout curtains drawn, pretending it’s dark and snowy outside instead of golden and 95 degrees. Or it could be a full-blown party – stockings, string lights on the patio, and all your favorite holiday dishes served with a glass of lemonade instead of eggnog.

Whatever you choose, make it your own.

Ideas With a Little More Heart (and a Little Life Lesson Built In)

If you want to lean into the “family time” spirit of the holiday rather than just the decorations, here are a couple of ways to add some meaning:

• The Homemade Gift Rule. Instead of buying presents, everyone makes something by hand for each family member: a drawing, a friendship bracelet, a poem, a coupon for “one free chore.” It takes the pressure off spending money and puts the focus back on thoughtfulness.
• The $5 Dollar Store Challenge. Give everyone in the house a $5 budget and a trip to the local dollar store to pick out a gift for every other family member. It’s silly, it’s cheap, and it sneaks in a genuinely great financial literacy lesson – budgeting, prioritizing, and thinking about what someone else would actually like, all wrapped up in wrapping paper.

Either version turns a goofy summer holiday into something with real substance, without anyone feeling like they’re being taught a lesson.

Let the Big Sibling Run the Show

If you have an older child, Christmas in July is the perfect activity to hand over to them, at least in part. Let them pick the movie, plan the menu, or decide which Christmas carol gets played on repeat. Kids remember the traditions they got to help build far more than the ones that were simply handed to them, and it gives your older child a meaningful role while you’re busy wrangling the toddler’s grapes.

The Real Point of All This

Family traditions – even the silly ones, especially the silly ones – are what your kids will remember in their adulthood. Someday your kids will look back and appreciate how fun (and a little ridiculous) their parents were willing to be, just to make an ordinary July evening feel special. A homemade “Christmas” cookie in the middle of summer might not seem like much now, but it’s the kind of memory that sticks.

So light a fake fire on the TV, pass out the mismatched Christmas socks, and let the kids believe – just for one night – that Santa’s sleigh runs on beach tires in July too.

Speaking of traditions worth capturing – if you’re expecting again, don’t let these little family moments slip by unrecorded. Encore: Second-Time Pregnancy Journal is designed to help you hold onto the small, funny, chaotic details of this season of life – from a summer Christmas cookie disaster to the big sibling’s excitement about a new baby on the way. It’s a keepsake for the traditions you’re building right now, made especially for the parents who know the second time around deserves just as much of a record as the first.