This season I carved out time in my already over-planned calendar to make some homemade gifts for friends. I love making things and usually don’t have the time. I am proud that I made it happen and I produced probably 45 bath salt gifts for neighbors and friends. Because let’s be real- we all need to relax a bit. 

I will admit that this December has been incredibly overwhelming. It’s the season of overconsumption. Overconsumption of actual things but also overconsumption of things to do. 

bostancı escort
ataşehir escort
kadıköy escort bayan
ataşehir escort
kartal escort
tuzla escort
pendik escort
bostancı escort
anadolu yakası escort
göztepe escort
alanya escort

I’m drowning in December.

Speaking of overconsumption of “stuff.” We get bogged down by all these things that pile up in our homes afterward, and that are often awesome for about two minutes. They take up space and collect dust. In fact, lately, I have felt that we just really need to cleanse a bit. All of it.

I decided to change things up in our house this year. We (John and I) just decided that there’s going to be fewer “things” exchanged in our house this year and more experiences.

I told our kids, you guys have everything you need, you don’t need anything. So I said, let’s come up with an idea for a different type of gift. Let’s find an experience that will bring you just as much joy that isn’t going to take up space in our home. I’m happy to report that our kids are completely on board! I’m not saying that I didn’t buy them anyTHING, but I was just more mindful this year. 

What I like about gifting experiences is that they won’t get thrown in the corner when it’s old news. These experiences live on inside them forever. AND they don’t take up ANY space in my house. WIN WIN! 

Do you think our kids understand how our society all but brainwashes us into thinking we need more, more, more? We will be cooler. Smarter. Better. All for the sake of capitalism’s bottom line.

But what if Less… is More? 

You can find joy in less. It is about recognizing those values too. It has been a lesson I am sharing with them about time and choices. It is so easy for kids to become complacent and not realize all that they have. This way, my hope is that they can better understand and appreciate what’s really going on around the holidays.

So I asked Jersey, what if your main Christmas gift this year wasn’t a bunch of little things that you will play with for a minute and then it will just take up space in our home… but what if it’s a “Jersey girls day.” 

Jersey and a few of her friends will go and get their nails done and then lunch and the trampoline park and then a sleepover! SHE WAS SO EXCITED! She was actually surprised though and asked, can we really do that as a gift? I explained that it would be an experience gift from us, so she can have that time with friends doing fun things instead of a bunch of things under the tree. She still believes in Santa, so she will get a few gifts, but she’ll realize the idea that a gift doesn’t have to only be in the form of a wrapped-up box. 

For Madden, you know how much he loves baseball. So, we went to the White Sox playoffs and I told him that was part of his Christmas gift. Of course, he loved it! And this coming Monday he has courtside Bulls tickets! For John, I’ve gotten him another concert ticket to a band he loves. It’s not until March so it’s something fun to look forward to.

We also have a trip booked over spring break in April, and that’s a family gift. Again, a spring break trip is something that could easily be taken for granted we’re emphasizing it as an experience we’re choosing to consume as a family rather than just buying more things. Overall this year, we’ve really been talking that out with our kids, so that they really understand that gifts come in many forms.

I just really think that there’s so much more intention around gifts when we do it this way. Also, much more appreciation. 

As we’re going into this “season of stuff,” I’m feeling that for us this year is about cleansing a lot of the “stuff” and just adding more layers of experience to our lives instead. So this year’s gifts lean more towards experience than things and I’m not sorry about it.

Focusing more on enjoyable experiences that we can hold on to much longer in our memories, rather than items that last just a few moments in our hands, will make all the difference. I just know it. 

I’m curious, have you ever thought of replacing some of your things with experiences? I’d love to hear about your experiences too!