By Sinaiyouth 
I don’t remember “Christmas lights” being a thing when I was a kid, but to be honest, I swam competitively from grade school all the way through college, and winter swim season usually doesn’t mean much else. Now, however, it seems like every institution is having some kind of Christmas lights festival, whether it’s explicitly Christmas or not.
A blurry and happily lit photo.
What I love about these Christmas lights, at least the one we’ve chosen as our family’s annual tradition, is how joyful they are. We squeal, squeal, ooh and aah at every little light show. This is definitely one of my favorite “new” traditions and one I try to plan right after Thanksgiving to kick off the holiday season with a bang.
Timing is everything.
With a baby, and now a toddler, bedtime is one of the hardest boundaries to respect. I know not all children are like that, but I have one who needs to sleep. It’s amazing how my adorable and funny toddler turns into (adorable) FERAL GREMLIN as soon as the clock strikes 7 p.m. when sugar flows through his veins.
Luckily we live in New England and it gets dark at 4 p.m.! So that’s always when we book our tickets. We leave early, make a lunch-dinner for my toddler, crush a s’more by the fire pit, and call it a day. Now that they’re a little older we can usually come back for a good bath time and bedtime routine, but as a baby and toddler we would pack pajamas, do a last change/night diaper in them and hope they would collapse in the car and we could transfer. (Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t, but I’ll never sleep around Lord Huron from now on.)
I haven’t been to all of this, but here’s a quick summary of New England lights and nighttime holidays that I gleaned from friends and family:
- Night lights at Tower Hill New England Botanical Garden in Bolyston, MA
- Christmas in Old Sturbridge Village in Sturbridge, MA
- Winter Lights at Naumkeag in Stockbridge, MA
- Boston Lights at Franklin Park Zoo in Boston, MA
- Winter Wonderland at the Strawbery-Banke Museum in Portsmouth, NH
- Holly Jolly Journey in Litchfield, New Hampshire
- Aglow Gardens at Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens in Boothbay, ME
- Sparkle Weekend in Freeport in Freeport, ME
- Christmas Prelude in Kennebunkport, ME
- Christmas by the Sea in Ogunquit, ME or Camden, ME
- Wassail Weekend in Woodstock, Vermont
Let me know if you have a favorite in your area!
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Choose a lighting experience that meets your family’s needs.
Part of it depends on what kind of place you choose to go. I ended up finding our light show mainly because we’re already members there, but here’s what I think works:
- This is a walk-through experience, not a drive-thru tour, so it’s very immersive and celebratory. (I mean, there is so much to see. Our favorite place is always the railway village layout!)
- They serve real food so we can all dine. (As I mentioned, I pack for my toddler so I know he will eat something.) It’s kind of a lunch/pub but it’s real food, not just snacks or chocolate.
- They have fire pits in several locations throughout the experience so you can warm up and/or toast a marshmallow or two, which is a big hit with my toddler.
- There’s nothing else to see, just the lights. There are no zoo animals, no indoor playground, no fireworks or anything EXTRA AWESOME. It’s just the lights, which is stimulating enough!
- More importantly, it’s somewhere we’ve been before, during the day, and we know the rules, we know where the restrooms are, and we don’t need a map to get around. I can’t stress this enough: if you have to go somewhere after bed, you need to have an exit strategy, and this one is simple since we know where things are!
There’s nothing wrong with removing yourself from the holiday craziness.
I think the most important thing to remember is that it’s okay if you still aren’t able to do this kind of outing. The same place that hosts the winter lights is hosting a similar Halloween-themed event, which I was so excited about this year. But in October it’s still light at 4 p.m., so we had to book a ticket for 7 p.m.
And it was an absolute disaster that ended up taking our toddler outside less than an hour later. I spent days trying to figure out what was wrong and realized the time difference 🤦🏼♀️ Maybe you have a kid who goes to bed later or hasn’t had a nap but phew, we just can’t do anything past bedtime right now. It’s okay if you can’t either! We often go there with our good friends and they team up with their two children, putting out every year who can take out their eldest between their two less than two years old.
All I mean by that is that there are LOTS of holiday events you can choose from, and you can really pick one or two, or change them up every year. We had a meet and greet with Santa last year and you know what? We won’t do this again based on how my toddler handled the situation. (I *think* it was one of those fits of emotion overwhelmed by happiness? Who can say?)
My favorite holiday books.
I say “holidays” intentionally because they are mostly non-denominational or cover multiple holidays/religions:
Thanks for being here.
Toddlers 🤝 practice
The holiday season can be so magical if you let it. It’s a stupid mental load for parents (usually moms, let’s be real) and I feel it. I’ve made literally eight dozen cookies already and have several batches left to make. Plus, there’s a whole host of events to plan: we’re vacationing in Portland, Maine, for the Maine Narrow Gauge Polar Express which I’m really looking forward to – and we’ll also be doing The Nutcracker for the first time.
Even when I feel a little overwhelmed by the chaos of the season, I try to remember that the tree is lit, the fire is blazing, and the whole house smells of caramel and peppermint. Take a deep breath, my friends. Deep breaths.
To the cookies that I only make once a year,
Kayla
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This article was originally published on Traveling with Toddlers. Subscribe for more actionable travel tips, toddler-friendly itineraries and proven gear recommendations.