The treats of the holidays are a distant memory and the explosion of spring is a vague hope. Are you in need of something to spark your family’s mood in these bleak mid-winter days?
Perfect timing for a Red-Letter Day!
What are Red-Letter Days? A “red-letter day” is a quaint old title for a day that is pleasantly noteworthy or memorable (according to Google).
Some years ago, when my family was bogged in a mid-winter malaise, I instituted Red-Letter Days. I just got an old peanut butter jar (that happened to have a red lid!) and filled it with slips of paper with various surprise activities. I bought a pair of socks that were covered with letters (strange find, I know). Every couple days, I’d wear the socks. When a kid noticed the socks - they could choose a card from the jar. And it became a Red-Letter Day!
This shouldn't be a big project. Just grab a piece of paper - cut it up - dash off some common activities that will seem special when they’re treated as a treat!
Use your kids’ imaginations to add to your list. Some of our cards:
- Hat Day
- Narnia Day
- Bible Character Day
- Make Someone Else’s Bed Day
- Renaissance Day
- Plan a Surprise for Mommy/Daddy Day
- Stuffed Animal Day
- Pirate Day
- Art Project Day
- Pioneer Day
- Beach Party Day
- Bless Someone Else Day
- Color Day
- Game Day
- Do Schoolwork Day Candlelight Day
- Take Treats to Church Office Day
- Super Hero Day
- Dessert for Breakfast Day
- Plan a Party Day
- Bless a Neighbor Day
- Send Card to an Older Person From Church Day
- Bless Grandparents Day
- Do a chore for someone else day
- PJ Day
- Lego Day
- Camping Day
- Choose a Read-Aloud Day
- Make an invention Day
- Do a holiday from another country Day
- Create a new holiday
- Outer Space Day
- Limericks are Fun Day
- Pig Latin Day
- Mom's Day Off
The only rule for our Red-Letter Days: they could NOT be a big production. The activity or theme was just accomplished with what we had on hand. No runs to the store - no big messes. Ok - sometimes there were big messes - but most days have messes, right? These were SPECIAL messes!
One funny experience from our Red-Letter Days: we did Dessert for Breakfast Day once. Just once. I made LARGE chocolate chip cookies and served them as breakfast. Shortly - the kids felt quite ill. Cookies for breakfast lead into a good nutrition lesson about refined carbs and blood sugar and energy. Let’s just say they’ve begged to never do that Red-Letter Day again!
Your kids need a break. You need a break. Take it! Color it RED.
