The holiday season is a great time to reflect on the past year, become excited for the future, and spend quality time with one another. It brings in a season of caring for one another while also slowing down from our usually busy lives. One of the many aspects I appreciate about the holidays is that they are a perfect opportunity to instill and carry on with family traditions. Parents and little ones have this unique chance to create family traditions that become regular holiday festivities. There is no rulebook on how this is done either. But I recommend keeping it family-centered, low-stress, and memorable. Reflect on your childhood and decide on what is important for your children now during this time of year. If you maintain the holidays as a positive, uplifting time of year for your children, they will happily remember it for the rest of their lives. 

Multnomah Village is hosting its annual Holiday Gala on Friday, December 6th, from 5:00pm to 8:00pm. This small community still maintains all its old Portland charm while not appearing outdated. A regular outing in Multnomah Village can include visits to eclectic shops, coffee and hot chocolate stops, delicious lunches, and so much more. Village Coffee offers great seasonal drinks, but my favorite is their Cubano coffee, a double shot of espresso pulled with raw cane sugar. The restaurant Yalla hosts an incredible weekend brunch with options such as their Dutch Baby with Peaches and Honey Labneh, Gravlax Bagels, and Schmaltz Cornbread. Another fun place in Multnomah Village is Thinker Toys. This family-owned toy store carries a wide range of toys for children of all ages and is sure to become a family-favorite shop. Throughout all the buzz in this neighborhood community, take the family to their Holiday Gala, where the stores will stay open late for the event. It is the perfect location for this type of family outing. 

There will be much to see and do at Multnomah Village’s Holiday Gala this year. The neighborhood will be fully decorated, and beautiful holiday lights will shine. It will also have easy, accessible pedestrian access for families to experience the event more freely. At 6:00pm, a tree lighting ceremony will be held for families to gather to see the Christmas magic come to life. The festivities will include caroler-sing-alongs and other forms of live music to enjoy. The Multnomah Arts Center will host an art fair for people to roam and see what is available from local creators. A grumpy but hilarious Grinch will also be making a fun appearance. And do not worry; Santa Claus will also be there for visitors to meet and take pictures with. These are just a few activities in Multnomah Village on Friday, December 6th, and this holiday celebration is certainly not to be missed. 

There are some valuable tips for visiting Multnomah Village to make for a fun and not stressful outing. The first thing to mention is that Multnomah Village is relatively small. You can walk the neighborhood strip in a reasonably short amount of time. Pair this with it being close to the highway and busy roads; it can be a little tricky to navigate in and out of with a vehicle. I recommend getting there a little early to allow time to navigate any potential traffic. The second part is parking. The village will be shut down for vehicle access, so your best bet is parking along the neighborhood streets. Many neighborhoods are adjacent to the village, so locking in a spot should be trouble-free. Also, don’t let this put you off from attending either. The traffic and parking situations for most other Portland-based holiday events are way more hectic than you would encounter in Multnomah Village. 

I don’t want to undermine the fact that the holidays can be stressful. There are a multitude of reasons as to why this time of year is taxing. Reasons could be relationship strains with extended family members, financial hardships, demands from our job, and so on. The most important thing to remember is that our kids will never forget this time of year from their childhoods, and we can shape it into what we want it to be for them. As adults, we have seen many of these decorations and festivities every year for quite some time now. But our children have not, and they deserve to experience this unique magic while young. There are so many things out of our control, but what is in our control is our ability to craft a happy, exciting, and memorable holiday experience for our little ones. And to me, that is what being a parent is all about.