A lot of people talk about how to get through the holidays and especially Christmas while a family member is deployed, but I wanted to touch on a different subject: making the most of the holidays when your spouse IS home. My husband’s first deployment was last year and he missed Thanksgiving, Christmas, our Anniversary, my birthday, and Easter! Next year he will be deploying again and he will miss almost all the same things.

While Christmas was very hard with him away, I wanted to take this year to focus on the good: having him home. My question this Christmas has been how can I make the most of the time we have together? Here are a few things to do if this is a rare Christmas you get to spend with your spouse!

Don’t Worry About Making it Perfect, Just Make it Special!

For me, I realized that no Christmas is going to be perfect. I don’t need to stress about it because it doesn’t have to be perfect, just special! Spend time as a family, enjoy each other’s company and do things that you don’t normally do. Ask your spouse what they would like to do on their special Christmas at home. Find out what things they missed on previous Christmases they were away and try to do those things for them this year.

Start a New Tradition.

Since your spouse is home this year, start a new Christmas tradition with him or as a family. There are plenty of things you can do to involve the whole family in and that you can make sure to continue every Christmas in the future too. Here are a few traditions to get you started: An Ornament Christmas Tradition, 25 Ornaments of Christmas and Hot Chocolate Bar & Christmas Movie Night.

Make Memories – Even if you have a Low Budget.

One of the best parts of Christmas is making memories. Make memories that you, your spouse and your children will remember for years to come. It doesn’t have to be a budget-buster, just find special things that you can do together. Bake cookies together, go caroling, volunteer together, and more! You can read more about ways to celebrate Christmas on a low budget here: 27 Ideas for a Low Budget Christmas.

Take a Christmas Vacation.

Some people choose to take a vacation during the holidays and a holiday off from a deployment is definitely a great reason to go on vacation! If you know well in advance that your husband will be home for Christmas, plan a fun vacation. Take the kids to Disney World, or go on a cruise to somewhere exotic. Remember this is all about you and your spouse, so don’t be afraid to take a break and get a little alone time!

Do Something Different.

Every year at Christmas time whether my husband is deployed or not, we travel to visit family. This year we decided that we wanted to stay and have a family Christmas at home. We told all our relatives that they were more than welcome to come visit us, but we were staying home this year. I am excited to start our own traditions and celebrate as a quiet family of three. For us, this is something different and special we are doing to celebrate my husband being home. What can you do that’s different that will set apart this Christmas from the others?

No matter what your Christmas is like this year I hope it’s special and that you are loved and blessed. Merry Christmas!

Kathryn is a 25-year-old Christian military wife and stay-at-home mom. She has been married to her husband Jonathan four years, and together they have a two year old little boy named Adam who has Autism. She loves making new friends and enjoys blogging at www.singingthroughtherain.net.  She and her husband are about to go through their second deployment together.