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BE A CHRISTMAS REBEL
Why not make your own cards from recycled materials?
I do enjoy celebrating the Festive Season, Summer and the end of the calendar year. There are things about this time of year that annoy me, but we still participate in many festivities, like giving gifts, eating good food, listening to Christmas music, watching Christmas movies, putting up some decorations etc., because I love having a magical time with my kids and our loved ones.
I don’t enjoy the catalogue explosion, the seemingly-earlier-each-year appearance of crappy Christmas decorations in shops, and I really don’t enjoy shopping centres at the best of times, let alone in November and worse, December.
I don’t like the expectations and obligations, the marketing and the commericalism.
Oh, boy, now I am a grumpy old Grinch, aren’t I! Not really. I can be Bah-humbug about certain aspects, but instead of complaining, I chose to do something different.
When I hear people complain about how awful this time of year can be, I think, “if you don’t like it so much, don’t participate!”
Don’t make it about presents, eating too much, and being so busy. Don’t get stuck shopping, buying, rushing and grumping.
Who says you have to do things a certain way? Why put yourself through the stress, when it is supposed to be a joyous, gracious and happy time of year?
To make for a happier pre-Christmas time of year, I try to do things in a way that makes me happy, or at least, less stressed. You can rebel against the consumeristic or commercialised push, and the stress that Christmas brings, by:
Start Early & Be Organised
Don’t get caught up in a panic, then buy crap or accidently buy two things for one person, and none for another.
Make lists (make a spreadsheet template you can use year after year) and cross them off as you go. There are still six weeks to go, so why wait til the last minute to pull it all together?
Make or Buy ‘handmade’
If you are making your own handmade gifts, you’ve no doubt already started. If not, there are plenty of quick handmade ideas out there. However, handmade-by-someone-else is a great idea too!
If you want to give ‘handmade’ without the stress of rushing to finish making gifts, and you can afford to, consider buying your handmade! Try Made It or Etsy, try local handmade markets, or at this time of year, it’s the fete season, where you can often find lovely handmade gifts.
Shop Online
Made It, Oxfam, Inky Co. (Aussie made wrap/ cards etc.), Etsy, Peanut Gallery, Blue Caravan, Biome, Todae, Booktopia, ABC Shop (ie. look for ones based in your country)… there are many great stores online these days, and sure you pay for shipping/ post, but if you go to the store/ shopping centre to buy, you use petrol, you get sucked in by temptation, and you may go slightly crazy!
Some stores will wrap & send your presents direct to the recipient too. If you can’t think of something to buy a loved one, buy something practical or buy them a charity gift… what to buy for the person who has everything? A gift for someone who has nothing.
Avoid Temptation
Stay away from shopping centres, put up No Junk Mail signs on your mailbox to avoid catalogues, stop watching commercial TV, don’t read glossy magazines, and repeat after me, “Use it up, wear it out, make do or do without”.
It’s hard sometimes to no go overboard, when those feelings of guilt or inadequacy creep in, which is silly really because our kids never miss out… it’s just 36 years of indoctrination from our consumeristic society that sways me into thinking there needs to be a certain amount spent, or enough stuff in their Santa bags.
Rebel, I say, rebel, and be happy that I am teaching the kids about moderation and enjoyment from quality time together, not stuff!
Buy presents that suit your beliefs
Obviously, I am hoping your beliefs are like ours, that we want to give gifts that are more eco-friendly, ethically-minded, practical or long lasting, support local business and artists/ crafters… and the recipient enjoys and uses!
This year, instead of stressing about trying to find presents I think someone else will like (and every chance they may not)… we have bought handmade/ Fair Trade/ more practical gifts, and even if they don’t like it, at least we’ve supported others by purchasing that way. It had made me really happy this year to stick with my guns about it!
Plan fun things (with the kids)
Like making cookies or some sort of non-baked treats because it’s Summer here in Australia. Or putting up our Christmas branches and each year we add a special decoration to our collection…this year it will be something crochet!
I love playing groovy Christmas music, and we all watch our favourite Christmas movies, like Elf and The Holiday.
I enjoy making things and involved the kids, like gift tags, and wrapping the presents is fun for me too. We enjoy the anticipation, the planning and putting magic into it… rather than having the fun sucked out of us!
How about you? Do you find ways to make the season less stressful and more enjoyable? Have you rebelled against any traditions?
Whatever you choose to do remember that Christmas is supposed to be fun and joyful, not an ego trip of who can do the best and grandest presentation. Keep it as achievable as possible, if you try to do too much on your own you will only stress yourself out and there goes the joy and fun out the window, and get other people involved especially the children. I have found that in fact people like to be involved, the kids love to help and then everyone has a sense of ownership to make it a great event
I love your suggestions and given the choice would dump present giving altogether for the adults, but it’s not always easy to get other parts of the family on board.
On one side of the family (the larger side) we do a “lottery” and each adult/couple draws the name of another out of the hat and then just buys for that one person/couple. There is a $ limit on the gift, ‘wishes’ are requested so it’s something they actually want and each person/couple gets one good quality gift, instead of either half a dozen crapy ones, or everyone going broke. We all buy for the younger kids, but nobody goes overboard these days.
The other side of the family is yet to be converted, but we seem to have managed to rein in the avalanche of ‘useless stuff’ in the past few years, so that is good. I much prefer one good quality, useful/practical item than a bunch of stuff I’ll never use, or have to dust.
True, Helene, our kids love the ‘magic’ we create around the Festive Season, not just what Santa will bring them or how many presents they can score! It can be so overwhelming… we have enough ‘stuff’ as it is, and have been on a No More Stuff Til Christmas Family Challenge in the last few months! The magic is in the small things we do…
It can be hard, Silverdragon, can’t it… we tried talking with my In Laws about other options, ie. not buying for adults at all (only nieces/ nephews), and while they agreed with the ideas, come Christmas day they had gone against everything we’d talked about! Now we stick to our plans (buying ‘handmade-by-someone-else’ small presents & books) and try not to worry about what they will/ won’t do.
Some more blog posts too:
http://eatatdixiebelles.blogspot.com/2009/10/frugal-and-eco-christmas-present-ideas.html
http://eatatdixiebelles.blogspot.com/2009/11/frugal-and-eco-christmas-gift-wrapping.html
http://eatatdixiebelles.blogspot.com/2009/11/frugal-and-eco-christmas-decorating.html
Thanks for this article. Some great tips!
The ‘expectations and obligations’ can particularly get you down and with older kids with blended families, there are lots of places to be and expectations to meet. It can be very stressful trying not to let people down.
I always get myself into a state beforehand and then the day is fun and I wonder why I was worried.
I would like to know more about the ‘groovy Christmas music’ though. Suggestions?
Bing Crosby?
Absolutely! All depends on your definition of ‘groovy’ I suppose!!
“A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector” from the early 60s is hard to beat – it’s so damn retro it’s fun and available in CD.
How about some Wham! “Last Christmas” that has got to rate! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8gmARGvPlI
I can imagine having blended families to think about (esp. kids with different ideas on what Christmas is about than you) would be tricky!
Check out the Elf soundtrack for starters, we have an old Freedom Christmas CD from many years ago with jazzy numbers, any Harry Connick Jr. Festive music, even some Etta James and Muppets! I am getting a treat this year (not in keeping with our No Stuff Challenge!!) but something we will listen to for years to come, a She & Him Christmas CD. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTPzDsgvYvs&feature=related
Thanks for all the great advice. I feel like now I can take on the silly season, armed with some good websites.
Thank you for the stop and slow down sign! I need it:)
Thanks for the music ideas Dixiebelle. I’ve checked some of them out on youtube and they look great. It’s something I very much needed and appreciate:)