Disclosure: This is a sponsored post, all opinions are my own. We are thrilled to partner with wonderful companies to let you know that Maple Cheerios are hitting the shelves!

For 18 years, we’ve put the Christmas tree up on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. It’s just how we do it. I’ve taken it for granted all this time that it will always be like that.

This year, Julia will be in Virginia for Thanksgiving. We opted to have her fly home for a week in October, instead of only four days in November. It made sense. But now, that little tug at my heart that things won’t be the same keeps on happening.

We came up with the perfect new tradition!

When I was a little girl, my grandmother would have us make strings of cheerios and hang them up on the tree. We would sit on the floor and listen to everyone tell stories and eat our fill of Cheerios as we made whimsical garlands for the tree.

This year, I decided that we would still put up the tree, but we would wait to put ornaments on until Julia is home. After all, she makes the best hot chocolate and we couldn’t possibly put ornaments on without hot chocolate.

In the meantime, we made garlands of cheerios. What started out as reluctant helpers ended in giggles, smiles, and tummies full of cheerios.

Murphy stood watch to pick up any stragglers that we had. Julia called at the perfect time, during all the chaos, so we put her on speaker!

Pro Tip: Grab the Maple Cheerios. They taste like Christmas morning breakfast. You can taste that they used real Maple Syrup! If you need help locating a box, feel free to click here for the information from Walmart.

I’m not sure if this new tradition will stick around, but this year it sure did make me smile. It was the perfect compromise in a beautiful season of change. I’m in the holiday spirit, but I don’t feel like we jumped too far ahead without my oldest.

You can see our fun wasn’t perfectly mess-free! But there is joy in seeing the clutter, and working together to clean up again.

So, this holiday season, get your hands dirty. Spend some time together. Enjoy some Maple Cheerios!