This year, I’m simplifying our Christmas traditions to save on stress and some money. In particular, I scaled back on our tradition of the advent calendar.
When Whitney was around three or four, I think I started this tradition in our home. Rather than buying the pre-made versions from the store – I grew up getting the cheap chocolate-filled ones from the grocery store – I chose to DIY our advent calendar and pick out different little surprises for each day. As someone who loves giving gifts, this was my cup of tea.
But as the years went by and our family grew, this sometimes became a little more stress-inducing than joyful. And not to mention, not easy on a tight budget. Even though I felt justified because buying a fancier pre-made one could cost $30-$40 (which I did buy a few times), I would often spend more time and money than I wanted on my DIY version. And once there were three kids to please, quite a few times there would be disappointment and/or arguing over who got what and the whole idea of the advent calendar backfired.
I either found the paper bag idea above on Pinterest or on one of the many popular design blogs back then. Since I already had many brown kraft paper bags on hand, I numbered twenty-four of them with a Sharpie. We used these bags for a few years – I even used them last year – before we made a set of cardboard advent houses, another Pinterest idea.
These houses were used for several Christmases but are in need of some repair, so since we moved to Saskatoon, they’ve simply become part of the decor on display.
Finally, this year, I decided to buy JUST ONE pre-made advent calendar for all of them to share. I did it for a number of reasons:
1. To save on spending
2. To save on stress
3. Because of our kittens, who think anything new is for them and free for the taking.
4. To remind our kids how to share and the meaning of Christmas
Let me tell you, it has been a game-changer. At night, when the kids have gone to bed, I’m not scrambling to figure out what surprises to give them.
Previously, instead of putting out all the goodies on December 1st – because what kid wouldn’t peek at all the things if they were all just sitting there in an unsealed bag or box? – I would hide their surprises the night before. This would require a lot of organization on my part, deciding what to give each of them each day, keeping all the things together but separate in one box, trying to not duplicate what was given the day before. Stuff that I would worry about and stress over unnecessarily.
This time of year can be overwhelming enough, that I chose the path of simplifying this tradition instead.
At first, Brighton was disappointed and kept asking me to do what I’ve done every other year. I think he would still prefer the DIY version next year, but some mornings he doesn’t even remember to open the new surprise of the day. Both he and Blythe are still very much into counting down the days until Christmas, which is sort of what the advent calendar is for.
“Only six more sleeps until Christmas!”
Other ways we’ve simplified things this Christmas is by keeping all the decorations indoors and also not putting up everything we’ve acquired over the years. While I love decorating for the holidays, I forgot that if I don’t start early enough in Saskatoon, it can get pretty f***ing cold by mid to late November. So I’m willing to opt out of outside decor if it means I don’t need to brave those minus double digit temperatures and risk frostbite.
Our Christmas tree has since been moved to our family room. While it is mostly bare right now as it was being attacked by Zesty one too many times when it was fully decorated, I did put some battery-powered lights on it. They make such a difference to the look of the tree when they are turned on and they are a somewhat safer option for kitties. A few ornaments are also on the tree and hopefully we can put more up before Christmas day.
Years ago, when we were short on space living in a smaller house in Toronto and didn’t have our current tree, we made an ornament tree (pictured above) on our wall. I loved the way it looked and thought about resorting to that again just in case. But hopefully our maturing kittens will relent and play with the many toys they have instead of thinking of the ornaments as their prey or playthings.
For now, I’m also waiting to put any presents under the tree since I don’t want the kittens pre-opening those and revealing anything to our kids. What I’ve already wrapped has mostly fit into the kids’ stockings, but I’m also waiting to put things under the tree so there is an even bigger element of surprise on Christmas morning. Typically, I would put presents under the tree once they were wrapped, but I’m holding out this year since we’ve scaled back ever so slightly on the number of gifts. Too bad the price tags haven’t gone down as well!
What about your family’s Christmas traditions? Are they still going strong or have you chosen to simplify them as time goes by? I’d love to know!
