Every Christmas Season I strive to make memories for myself, my marriage, and for the kids.
I say "I strive" because Mozart is laid back about holidays and leaves that realm of our life to me. Which makes me happy in some ways and overwhelmed in others.
This Christmas I wanted to do handmade gifts for everyone. But as the seasons changed, so did my mind. I love the idea of a completely handmade Christmas but I'm not sure it is the right thing for our family. During October and November I reflect on Christmas' past and the one coming up to see what traditions I want to carry on, add, or remove. I think about how I want our family to feel during this time and I also think about holiday sanity.
Being sane during the holiday season is my top priority so that it's a fun for everyone. I have keep up the same amount of Christmas energy throughout the entire season, the last thing I want to do is start the season out strong and end weak because I'm too tired, frustrated, or out of ideas.
To keep myself sane, we have decided to go a 4-5 gift maximum for our children, a gifting tradition we don't ever see ourselves changing: Something to wear, something you want, something to read, something you need.
This concept isn't unique to our family and if you Google it I'm sure you'll find a lot of examples out there.
I can't tell you how much of a weight this lifted off my shoulders. I also decided to outsource some of the categories. I'll cover something to wear and something you need for the kids while Mozart will cover something you want and something to read.
Seems like he always gets the fun ones ;)
I know what to get Bean for her need but I'm still stuck on what to get Reid. I also thought about making the kids jingle jammies for something to wear but I already made them during Thanksgiving and I want something they can wear for more than just one night. I'm thinking about sweaters, but we'll see.
As far as something to read and something they want...Well, you can believe that Mozart will find the most obnoxious items to purchase.
The one nugget of knowledge I wish to also share is this: don't stress yourselves with credit card bills months after the holidays have passed.
Our entire Christmas (and everything) will be purchased with cash. We haven't used credit cards in over a year because we're a cash only family. Using cash is a major pillar in our family and in our marriage and it's saved us heart ache and arguments, especially around holidays and birthdays.
So now that you know what direction I'm taking with our Christmas Season, what are you doing?