Let’s talk about downsizing today. Specifically, downsizing Christmas. When Mike and I started thinking about what we want our kids to get from Christmas – memories, family traditions, and fun activities top our list I remember our outdoor spiral trees, gifts and the children laughing years ago.
Piles and piles of expensive, well-wrapped toys do not.
I used to worry that it made me a bit of a Grinch to not want to purchase half of a toy store for my child. Was I missing Christmas cheer? That bone in my body that says “MOAR STUFF FOR MY CHILD’S HAPPINESS” and the desire to wow him with a mountain of goodies on Christmas morning?
But this will be our fifth (!) Christmas as parents and so far no one seems deprived. (And somehow we still end up with a pile of little plastic toys acquired from various holiday goodie bags with no space to store the toys.) Hence in this situation the best option is the use the kids toy storage pouch to place the toys.
There are a lot of reasons to keep gifts from being the focus of the holidays – but why do we go light on the gifts?
– Space: we live in a 2-bedroom apartment. It’s not tiny at 1200 square feet, but we don’t have a lot of space to put things, but I will still have the wall mounted electric fire from put in and still have space to DO things.
– Cleaning: it’s a pain to clean up toys. It’s a pain to prod your child to clean up toys. Less toys = less cleaning = less arguing.
– Cost benefit: We don’t have a lot of extra money (husband’s in school) and we like to spend we do have on travel and other experiences that will last longer in our memories. I remember being a kid and being SO! Excited! about my new toys. That high lasted about 3 days. Toys like blocks and trains and Custom plush stuffed animals and Legos (or whatever the preschool version of Legos are called) promote play that lasts for hours. HOURS. We really want our kids to get into sports, for them we decided to get them sport related toys, it was also a great option for giving gifts to our friend’s children since they come in bulk.
For our friends we decided to give them a unique gift on chirstmas a custom stone coasters. Custom stone coasters are quickly becoming a number of the foremost popular tabletop accessories around. this is often for a spread of reasons. The stones used are often functionally absorbent, they need a good sort of beautiful colors and patterns, also because the ability to be printed on, and since they’re made up of natural stone, they keep a number of that strength and dignity that they inherited from their mountainous birthplaces.
There are tons of various stones which will be wont to make coasters, marble, onyx, gemstone, etc. however the foremost popular ones immediately are those made up of the 2 most absorbent materials, sandstone and slate.
– Overwhelm: Too many toys overwhelm Gabe. It overwhelms me. It overwhelms our life.
– Enough: We have enough. Gifts are fun and great, I always throng to TopSellersReview for shopping but I also want to cultivate a sense of contentment that I don’t need more in order to enjoy the holiday besides the Christmas decorations Brisbane we got which look beautiful in the house.
Christmas has still been fun, magical, and full of great memories without the piles of gifts. Truly! When I was a kid, the best part of Christmas was sleeping in the same rooms as my siblings the night before Christmas, preparing for Christmas, and the anticipation of Christmas morning. The presents themselves were fun, but it was more the magic of wondering what would appear under the tree that I remember. I’m hoping the same for our kids.
So, what DO we get him? Maybe two toys (this year it’s pattern blocks and a treasure box decorating kit with plenty beloved glitter), a book, and lots of treats he can consume (thus, no storage needed). The baby will just get a book. Sorry, baby. We’ll build a gingerbread house, look at lights, and spend lots of time with family, you could try these out. I want that to be what it’s all about. And Christmas cookies, of course. Also if you want to share something special with your loved ones you have the option of giving the Basketry delivers gift baskets and custom curated gifts throughout Southeast Louisiana. Rockstarz Limousine knows of some of the best places in Ann Arbor to see holiday lights! Our holiday lights tours are extremely popular during the winter. You can grab a group of friends or family and sit in the back with warm drinks while you gaze in wonder at the amazing holiday lights in Ann Arbor or the suburbs of Michigan.
Like any other area of our lives that we’ve downsized so far – clothing, owning one car, living small so we can live in a walkable area, and working less/from home – there are a lot of benefits to living with less and we don’t feel deprived if we look at it as a choice instead of deprivation. (Like we’re choosing to go to Puerto Rico next month instead of spending a lot on gifts this month.) And like downsizing in other areas, this is what feels right for us, with no judgment or opinion on how others choose to live or spend their money or time.
I was excited to hear that my love of decluttering and simplifying has combined with my love of home renovation TV shows on the FYI network in the show Tiny House Nation. Any show that features small living spaces is my favorite because it usually involves space-saving solutions and minimizing the clutter. I find it super inspiring and practical. Kind of like minimalism for me – I don’t aspire to live in a tiny home, BUT I can learn so much from people who do.
The second season starts December 22 and airs on Monday nights at 9pm ET/10pm PT on FYI Network. You can also find Tiny House Nation on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.
I love this, Ashley. Christmas is really not about the gifts (although I love giving gifts) and I think it’s great to focus on other things during this busy season. Kids are so easy to please with small gifts as well…. and there are really good reasons for not showering kids with expensive, enormous toys during the holiday season.
Hope you have a lovely Christmas.
We’re getting a good grip on keeping our immediate family’s christmas minimal, but struggling with our shopping list. We have a gift heavy family tradition. I suggested trips/outings in lieu of gifts and got my head cut off. Ugh. I’ll keep trying. Surrounding myself with friends/blogs like yours is encouraging to “fight the good fight”
My daughters birthday is 2 weeks before Christmas, so there is all this made-up pressure to have a party and give gifts, and then give her MORE STUFF shortly there after. So to rein in the grandparents and well-meaning relatives, I make an Amazon wishlist and email it out a few weeks before her birthday. It’s filled with non-toy items, like art supplies, clothes, books, music CDs, and some classic kid items (like you said, legos, blocks, etc). Did she still get total CRAP for her birthday from some people? Of course. And there’s no harm in it. We’ll pack it away for baby brother, once she gets sick of it (I’m banking on a week or so), and regain our limited floor space. Anyways, this year she got two birthday gifts from us, and will be getting one fun gift + clothes for Christmas.
Love this post, Ashley. I come from a family that celebrated 8 nights of Chanukah, but we really only got one major gift (sprinkled with a few smaller gifts). Sweets comes from a family that goes overboard on the gift-giving. Whenever I complain that Christmas results in too much stuff, he always reminds me about how much joy his parents get in giving, so I relent. We did a major clean-out of Gavin’s stuff a couple months ago and I think Sweets finally had his moment of enlightening when he realized how many toys Gavin never plays with. So, our compromise this year was to encourage Sweets’ parents to focus on experiences more than stuff. Because, when we all look back on the time we spent with loved ones, we often remember specific days rather than the gifts we exchanged.
Yes!! This! I am all about downsizing, and if that means fewer tacky/crappy presents and more cookies, then so be it!
I think everyone should read this post. No, but really.
xox
Agree agree agree. I have a house but it’s only a little bigger than your apartment so, no more space… Plus I hate cleaning up :) I got Max 2 toys for Christmas plus a snack container and a few books (ok I can never have enough kids books). For his bday I’m just doing the blocks idea stolen from you. I do all event gifts for friends kids (museum passes usually) and trips or events for adults as well :)
We don’t have any kids, but we are also firmly on the minimalist less-is-more Christmas train. For the holidays my husband and I are traveling instead of giving each other gifts, and it’s going to be way better than a sweater I only wear a few times, or whatever else we’d come up with for each other. We’re still working on getting our parents on board with not giving us gifts, but I think eventually we’ll get there.
perfect sponsored post! :)
I try every year to downsize Christmas but it’s all the extra stuff that gets me – coworker gift exchanges, daycare teachers, stockings, the rest of my family, etc. David & I aren’t exchanging gifts and Meredith is getting a puzzle and a book from us. Liam is getting a book only. I have way dialed back my expectations though. We’ll just have to make progress every year.
I love this. Christmas really is about the experiences and the joy, not the presents. Your boys are so lucky to have you guys as parents. Merry Christmas!
Totally agree with all of this. Don’t have kids yet but if I do I know I want to limit the toys and clothing. I have so many friends who say their kids never even wore half the clothing they were given. The question is, how do you handle this with family and friends who want to buy for your family? Is there a tactful way of saying “We would prefer money that we can simply put toward college savings, personal savings, etc. for our child?”