reindeer food

Reindeer Food - for little K for her birthday

I was talking to my dear friend the other evening and we were discussing his holiday plans with his family. He has a soon-to-be three year old and was expressing how forward he was looking to this year, since she will be able to really start building memories of their traditions for the holidays.

This brought to mind one of my favorite traditions that I used to do with my son when he was young - "Reindeer Food". It was a charming item that started with my Auntie E, giving me a little bag of the 'reindeer treats' when my sunshine (yes, the nicknames continue - link to 1,000 names) was about 3-4 years old. It was a small bag of oats (about a 1/4 cup) and glitter with a rhyme on it that was something like this - "Sprinkle on your lawn at night the moon will help it sparkle bright. As Santa's reindeer fly and roam this food will guide them to your home!" I embellished the rhyme slightly (shocking, I am sure) telling my pooka that "just like Santa gets milk and cookies to sustain him through the long busy night, the reindeer need special treats to help their flight". (cheesy? of course! it is a poem about flying reindeer [grin])

It was a really perfect idea, because by the morning the birds and/or squirrels had cleared away any of the oats - and voila! The reindeer had come!!

Since I was unsure where my Auntie had purchased the original bag - I simply made my own the following years. I did change it to a slightly more eco-friendly version by swapping out the glitter for shimmering cookie sprinkles that would melt away, plus it was super fun to make with sunshine. He liked to pick out which sprinkles to use that would sparkle the best, awww :) seriously cute! A delightful memory with my sweet boy.

Such an adorable and wonderful tradition - that we kept up every Christmas Eve, just before sunshine would go to bed, and we have passed it down to others since he outgrew it (sniffle). 

So now we are passing it on to little K (and her parents) and all of you.

Happy Christmas, with love, sunshine and I.