MomsTribute
Now that December is here, most of us are busy preparing our homes for the end-of-the-year holidays. For many, that includes Christmas and New Year. For others it might include a variety of winter celebrations. No matter which holidays you observe, we here at MomsTribute.com—a top mom to mom blog—want to wish you a happy and festive season.
If Christmas is on your calendar and if your family is anything like mine, then your kids have likely handed you some type of wish list that you eagerly try to fulfill. Many families already have their trees decorated and their stockings hung. And are your radio stations anything like the ones in my area? Well then, you’ve been listening to Christmas music for more than a week or two.
In my household, we still have one bigger item to check off our list, and that’s meeting Santa himself. Opportunities abound for the big meeting. We’ve got shopping mall Santas, photo shoot Santas, and special party Santas. There’s one fun spot in my area, though, that we especially like to visit.
At the Early Works Museum in Huntsville, Alabama, guests can enjoy the Nights with Santa event! This annual family adventure takes place each December for the two weeks leading up to Christmas Eve. Families can take part in all sorts of activities including:
The hours for this event begin this year on December 12, 2023, and run through to December 23, 2023. On weeknights they open at 5PM, on Saturdays at 3PM, and on Sundays at 12PM. The cost is $12 per person for the general public and $10 per person for museum members. Tickets do have to be purchased online ahead of the event.
We’ve taken our kids in years past and they’ve always loved every minute. Walking into the courtyard of the museum, where the Nights with Santa event takes place, is like walking into the North Pole. Tinsel and lights hang from every light pole and archway, and jolly holiday music floats in the air.
Stations are set up at spots throughout the courtyard as well as at indoor booths, and these stations are where all the action takes place. My kids especially loved decorating cookies and writing their letters to Santa. There’s a giant, red mailbox where they can drop the letters!
The museum pipes in a type of fake snow (being in Alabama, one can never tell if the real thing will make an appearance) that is always a big hit with kids and grownups alike. In years past, we’ve even been able to see live reindeer!
We save meeting Santa for last, and of course it is always a highlight. One year, when our son was a toddler, he fell asleep in his stroller while waiting for the big guy. When it was our turn, Santa insisted on holding him for the picture, so we placed our sleeping little one into Santa’s arms, and Santa proceeded to “take a nap” right along with him for the picture. It was a delightful memory, and I still love looking at that picture every Christmas season.
You may be wondering what you can do to meet Santa this year if you aren’t living in the North Alabama/Southern Tennessee area. Let me give you one of the best time management tips around—download the free KFV app. It’ll save you time searching out the best places to visit with kids.
When it comes to finding a place in your area that’s like Nights with Santa, the Kids Friendly Venue app can help. By narrowing down the search area to your specific location, it will find spots near you where you can read reviews from other working moms like yourself.
There have been times during my parenting journey where an app like this would have come in handy. We once decided to skip the Nights with Santa location and go with a closer, more budget friendly option. If we had utilized something like the KFV app, we would have known this secondary location was not highly recommended. In fact, it turned out to be a total dud! Though I will say, it has provided us with laughs for years as we remember the year we skipped out on visiting Santa’s “real” village.
The holiday season can be tough—financially, emotionally, and physically. Narrowing down what is most important to us, and making good choices to cut out those things that won’t fulfill our truest wishes, can be vital to keeping our sanity during this time of year. Here at MomsTribute, we are dedicated to seeing that happen. From all of us to all of you, Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and have fun Santa hunting!
Katie C
A unique platform for all-things-mom. A shared, nurturing community for moms that empowers, brings convenience, and removes chaos from their everyday lives.
