Merry Christmas, from Leisure Villas.

Homeowners in our wonderful 55+ active adult communities have learned what’s most important in life, and it has very little to do with shoveling snow.

This Christmas, there’s plenty to do with family. So grab those grandchildren and show them how much fun Grandma and Grandpa can be, during the holidays.

Just because we prefer senior communities, doesn’t mean that we’re old, and boring.

There’s a few things that you can do, especially since you live in one of our retirement communities, but I’ll try to include a few things you can do, no matter where you live.

What to do with grandchildren over the holidays?

Community fun

Two weeks ago, I had a group of kids around six years old come caroling at my door. Their parents didn’t know what they were doing, and frankly, neither did the kids. While they got most of the words wrong to Jingle Bells, I could tell that they were having a great time. I too, was enjoying the moment.

1. So number one on my list is: Caroling to your neighbors with your grandkids. They don’t even have to know all the words.

One of the perks of our communities, is that we have a clubhouse. True, the swimming pool is closed for the winter, but the clubhouse itself is open year-round. If you were lucky enough to reserve it ahead of time, you can easily host a big family or community get-together. But since we’re on the subject of grandkids, these next few ideas are great for playing without needing a reservation:

2. Watch a Christmas movie in the grand theater room.
3. Coordinate with some of your neighbors and play Christmas games, maybe even host a white elephant.
4. Have a billiards tournament. The winner gets to force a fruitcake down anyone’s throat they want.

Other ideas

Maybe you want to stay at home and entertain there. Well, kids are pretty easy to please. Here are just a few more ideas that you can do in the comfort of your own kitchen:

5. Make gingerbread cookies.
6. Make a gingerbread house.
7. Put together that old train set.
8. Make gifts for the neighbors.
9. Wrapping paper origami.
10. And of course, since your kids aren’t likely to do so, you must pass on the family fruit cake recipe!

Christmas is for the kids

Not everyone will agree with me on this, but personally, I could care less if I ever got anything from anyone on Christmas, especially all those extra sweets, but when you see a child’s eyes light up with anticipation, it makes all that extra holiday sugar more bearable.

This brings me to my bonus activity, one that is sure to bring a smile to you and your grandkid’s face:

Take them shopping for a gift that they can deliver to another child in need. No matter how well off we think our circumstances are, there are always children near our neighborhoods who could use a little extra Christmas cheer.

Thank you for choosing Leisure Villas this year. We love building communities that promote happy healthy lifestyles. Merry Christmas from all of us to you!