What to Do When Your Husband or Wife Has to Work on Christmas Day
Updated: Aug 29
Having a husband, wife, spouse or partner scheduled to work on Christmas Day can make the holidays feel complicated—especially when you have young children who have been counting down to Christmas morning.
Firefighters, nurses, police officers, paramedics, doctors, pilots, military members, hospitality workers and many other essential and shift workers may not have the option to be home on December 25.
But Christmas Day can still feel magical for your children without having to celebrate your entire family Christmas while your spouse is at work.
Here are some ways to make December 25 special while saving your biggest family traditions for a day when everyone can be together.
Let Santa Still Visit on December 25
Kids don’t have to wake up to an empty Christmas morning just because Mom or Dad is working.
Santa can still stop by on December 25 and leave a filled stocking and one special gift from their wish list.
Your children still get the excitement of waking up to something from Santa, while the majority of the presents and family traditions can wait until everyone is home.
While your husband, wife, partner or spouse is working on Christmas Day, Create a Relaxed yet exciting Christmas Morning
Instead of trying to recreate your entire family Christmas without your spouse, make December 25 a fun, low-pressure day.
Stay in pajamas. Make pancakes or cinnamon rolls. Watch Christmas movies. Build a gingerbread house. Play with the special gift Santa brought.
The goal doesn’t have to be creating the biggest Christmas Day.
It can simply be creating a cozy day your children enjoy.
Find a Way to Include the Parent Who Is Working
If their job allows it, find a small way for the working parent to be part of the day.
That could mean a FaceTime call while the kids open their Santa gift, sending photos throughout the morning, dropping off Christmas treats at work, or having the kids make a Christmas picture or card for Mom or Dad.
Even a few minutes of connection can make the day feel special.
Save Your Biggest Traditions for When Everyone Is Home
The Christmas meal. Opening the majority of the presents. Family photos. Matching pajamas. Grandparents coming over. Your favorite traditions.
Those can wait.
Choose another day—before or after December 25—when your whole family can actually be together.
In our family, we call this our Family Christmas Day™.
And instead of that day feeling like a replacement for Christmas, it becomes something children can look forward to.
Give the Kids Something Exciting to Anticipate
This is where Santa Stops Twice™ began. I created Santa Stops Twice™ after experiencing firsthand what it feels like to have my husband working on Christmas Day.
As a firefighter family with young children, I wanted my husband to be part of the excitement of Christmas morning without taking away the magic of December 25 for our girls. So we created another way. What started as a solution for our own family became a tradition I knew I needed to share that could help other families, too.
Santa understands that some very important moms and dads have to work on Christmas Day, so he finds another way.
He makes his traditional stop on December 25 with a stocking and one special gift. Then he makes an extra stop on your family’s chosen Family Christmas Day™, when everyone can be home together.
For children, the message becomes incredibly simple:
Santa is coming Twice™!
Instead of focusing on why Mom or Dad isn’t home on December 25, children have another magical day to count down to.
How Does Santa Stops Twice™ Work?
It all begins with a special delivery from the North Pole.
A parent purchases the Santa Stops Twice™ keepsake holiday book, wraps it in special North Pole-inspired wrapping paper and secretly delivers it somewhere magical for their child to discover — under the Christmas tree, by the fireplace, in the mailbox or another special spot.
Inside, the child discovers a special note from Santa explaining that the book has been sent especially for them. The story explains exactly what Santa does for special children whose parent has to work on Christmas Day.
And Santa has a very special plan:
He’s stopping Twice!
After reading the story, your child fills out their own Letter to Santa, including their Christmas wish list and the very best day for their family to celebrate together.
Then they mail their letter off to the North Pole.
Together, the child and parent choose their very own Family Christmas Day™ — the day when everyone can be home together for their big family Christmas celebration either before or after December 25.
Your child knows that Santa will still visit on December 25, filling their stocking and leaving one special gift from their wish list.
But the excitement isn’t over.
On your chosen Family Christmas Day™, Santa makes a special stop, bringing the Christmas magic when the whole family can be together.
Two Santa visits. Two exciting days to look forward to!
The parent at home with the children on Christmas will have a wonderful enjoyable day. And the family will enjoy one big Family Christmas Day™ celebrated together.
A Christmas Tradition Made for Working Families
Whether you’re a firefighter working on Christmas Day, nurse working Christmas, police officer, paramedic, doctor, military parent, airline employee, hospitality worker or another parent whose job requires holiday shifts, Santa Stops Twice™ gives your family a Christmas tradition designed around real life.
There’s no need to rush through presents before a shift or make the biggest Christmas moments happen while someone important is away.
Your child gets the excitement of knowing Santa is stopping Twice, while your family gets to experience the magic of your big Christmas celebration together.
Christmas magic is about being together, not just the date on the calendar.
There isn’t one right way to celebrate Christmas.
If your husband or wife works on Christmas Day, your family doesn’t have to squeeze every meaningful tradition into December 25 simply because that’s the date on the calendar.
Let December 25 have its own magic.
Then choose the day when your family can be together, make it your Family Christmas Day™, and celebrate the Christmas you’ve been looking forward to.
Santa understands.
He always finds a way.
Santa Stops Twice™ gives working families something pretty special:
Their Christmas together back.
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Santa Stops Twice™ - Every Family Deserves to celebrate Christmas Together
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