SCVNews.com | Opinion/Commentary: It’s Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas

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1925 - By letter, Wyatt Earp beseeches his friend William S. Hart to portray him in a movie, to correct the "lies about me." Hart never did. [story]

It’s Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas

Commentary by Jennifer Fischer

Jennifer Fischer | Saturday, Dec 1, 2012

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Confession time: We have not put up a single Christmas/holiday décor item at our house, and I only recently did a Christmas craft with my son. He keeps asking when we can make Christmas at our house.

Please tell me I am not the only one who has not unpacked the ornaments, wreaths and garland, or figured out what I am doing this year regarding a tree?

I will admit that living on the East Coast for so many years makes it hard for me to feel like I should be preparing for Christmas here in Southern California when the weather is still pretty darned nice. Yes, it has been rainy and a bit cool, but it does not hold a candle to Boston or New York weather this time of year, which is, typically, cold and full of ice or snow.

This weekend we are getting things started at our house. We have promised our 3-year-old we will start making the house look like Christmas. He really wants lights, so I think we will be attempting Christmas lights on the house for the first time. Wish us luck.

Now that our eldest son is old enough to be excited about it, I am also looking around for different things in Santa Clarita we can do that will help us celebrate and enjoy the holiday season as a family.

We were already planning to attend the Literacy and Arts Festival (today, Dec. 1), presented by the SCV Education Foundation as our company, Generation Arts, will be conducting free animation workshops for kids – the workshops are supported by the Newhall Foundation – and I am looking forward to the holiday atmosphere the event should provide.

Plus, there is also the Winter Wonderland at the YMCA with 10 tons of snow. I’m not sure if we will have time to make it over there today, but I would love to see our 15-month-old and 3-year-old respond to snow.

The main thing on our agenda this year, though, is the Christmas lights – one of the latest obsessions of our 3-year-old. So I have been asking around, and word on the street is that the Copper Hill area has the best Christmas lights, particularly Wakefield Court off of Copper Hill Drive with each house featuring a different page from “The Night Before Christmas.” It definitely sounds worthy of a fun family outing.

I also love the idea of a family bike ride to see Christmas lights – if only we had a bike trailer, since our boys are too little to ride with us. The Newhall Bicycle Co. does this unique ride on Dec. 15, and it is definitely on my to-do list for when the boys are old enough.

Oh, and I guess we will also get it together and get a tree. Some parents we are.

I would love suggestions about your family’s favorite holiday events in the Santa Clarita Valley. Please share.

Jennifer Fischer is co-founder of the SCV Film Festival, a mom of two, an independent filmmaker and owner of Think Ten Media Group, whose Generation Arts division offers programs for SCV youth. She writes about her parenting journey on her blog, The Good Long Road. Her commentary is published Saturdays on SCVNews.com.

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