twelve days of Christmas

Note:  HUZ, this is the post I said you must NOT read!  :-)

December is upon us.

Last year around this time I first heard about using the twelve days of Christmas to grow your marriage.   If I remember right, it was a post by The Generous Wife.  Anyway, I promptly decided I was going to do it, and I got so excited about the idea that I sent out an e-mail to my dear sisters and sisters-in-law encouraging them to do the same.

For many of us, December can be very busy.  Christmas concerts, gift exchanges, and multiple get-togethers leave us strapped for time, money, and sanity.  Many of us might spend a lot of time baking just the right dish for the party at Mom’s or choosing, crafting, and wrapping just the right gift for our children.  Meanwhile, the time we spend on or with our spouse often amounts to very little.  That’s where this idea comes in!

Here’s the basic premise: starting December 14, you give your spouse a gift that corresponds with the number of that day.  (Traditionally the “Twelve Days of Christmas” refers to December 25-January 5 -  not here.  Not married?  You can use the twelve days of Christmas to treat your significant other, best friend, or a child or the children in your life.)  I started last year with December 14 as the first day, December 15 was day two, etc.  It was my sister Erin who came up with the brilliant idea to count down instead of up – since the gifts you give on days 10, 11, and 12 tend to be smaller, counting up can be somewhat anti-climatic. 

Let me give you a few examples to make it clearer:

Day 1: something big, a coat, an electronic gadget

Day 2:  things that come in pairs, like shoes, gloves, tickets to an event for both of you, dinner for two…

Day 5: pack of 5 razor blades

Day 6: six-pack of his favorite soda or brew

Day 10: ten of his favorite candies or fishing lures

Day 12: a 12-month planner for 2013 or a dozen cinnamon rolls to share at work

Other ideas include books with a number in the title (Last year I bought John Gottman’s Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work so that we could read it together), things for his vehicle, hunting stuff, new undies, socks, t-shirts, or his favorite treats – monkey bread, Schwans’ orange push-ups, and beef jerky are three of B.J.’s favorites.

What if the budget is kind of tight?  Where one opportunity disappears, another presents itself.  What about ideas that are service or time-spent-together oriented?  A 10-minute massage (or coupons for 10 – 10-minute massages), seven minutes of smooching, a five-course meal, two tickets to hot chocolate and a dvd from the library in front of the Christmas tree (after the kiddos are tucked in, of course), one poem or love letter.  You get the idea.

One of the days I think I’m going to do an acrostic.  Day eleven, which is December 15 if you’re counting down, happens to be a Saturday and my birthday.  And we’ve got a few free babysitting coupons from B.J.’s 8^th grade students to use up.  So we could do:

Eggs for breakfast,

Loveland’s downtown (I’m thinking browse the shops for a bit),

Eat at _______ or eat _______ for lunch,

View from the Devil’s Backbone (I’ve been wanting to hike up there for a while),

Eat _______ for supper or End the hike/day with _______, and maybe a 

Night playing board games (If your hubby prefers video games or you own a Wii, let him pick.).

Day nine, a Monday, happens to be B.J.'s birthday...hmmm, I've got some more thinking to do on that one.

Think your hubby won't enjoy this?  I didn't know if mine would, either.  But I still remember Day 3 last year.  I had a package of three air fresheners for B.J.'s truck tucked in with his tea and his lunch, tied with a tag:  "On the 3rd day of Christmas..."  As he grabbed them on his way out the door, he turned around and gave me the biggest ol' grin.  "Is this going to continue?" he asked.  And the other day when we were talking budget and I got pouty and said, "Now I can't treat you to twelve days of Christmas!," he said, "Can't you just figure out a way to do it without spending much?"  So he did enjoy it...but not as much as I did, I bet!  :-)

So there.  For what it's worth.  A sipmle idea that'll help your marriage sparkle this Christmas season.