a peek inside the fishbowl

I’ve been thinking a lot about shopping, holidays, consumer goods, and our messed up economy since my Wal-Mart post. A reader also recently reminded me of The Story of Stuff.

This Christmas I’m going to try my best to do it up big, but keep it small. It’s my new motto:

Do it big, but keep it small.

How many times have the girls totally forgotten about gifts they’ve received … i.e. “lost” them under their bed, never to remember having received them in the first place? How many things is too many?

How many times have I realized that the thing the girls like best is when we do something fun as a family? Happy memories stay with us for always.

This Christmas, I’m going to do my best to do the following:

• Buy fewer gifts, and take the time to ensure that what I do buy is (a) meaningful/special in some way (b) of good/lasting quality.
• Avoid big box, go small box. I’m going to do my best to shop locally… and whatever I can’t find I’ll considering buy at smaller outfits online.
• Handmade is good. Etsy rocks in this regard. I bought the girls some prints last year. I might to the same this year. I have a few handmade gifts in mind to make too.
• There’s always eBay!

AND (and this is going to be a tough one for me) I am also not going to succumb (or let Mark guilt me) into a last minute panic that I haven’t bought enough. It happens almost every year.

I know defining my Big Box rule is going to be a tough one for me. What about the sweater I want to buy Mark at Banana Republic? Or the chocolate coins I get at Shopper’s Drug Mart? What about the craft supplies I buy at Michael’s? Or the four-seater toboggan (made in Canada!) I saw at Canadian Tire? Ok. Maybe I’ll keep the toboggan on the list. But I am going to try my best are pare it down the list itself.

It’s best to spend my money on fewer, perhaps more expensive items, than on cheapie stuff that might not even get played with, isn’t it?

What do you do? Do you have a budget, say $150 per kid, and shop until you hit the limit? Do you prefer to buy two things which add up to the $150, or ten? In other words, does quantity trump everything else because it looks “good” to have a full complement of boxes under the tree?

I’d really be interested to know how many gifts Canadian (and U.S. kids) get at Christmas.

I love beautiful things as much as the next person (I might even argue that I love beautiful things even more than the next person!) but don’t you think less is more?

I don’t want to give the impression that we’re all going to be sitting around on Christmas Day, eating day-old bread while unwrapping second-hand underwear bundled up in old newspapers tied with kitchen string. But I do know we can have a joyful and pleasant Christmas without so much stuff.

That’s where the “do it big” part comes in. We can have a happy Christmas without all the gifting. Baking, decorating, skating, tobogganing, hot chocolate with marshmallows, reading Christmas stories while tucked cosily in bed … these are things that can play a major role in our holidays.

My reasons for entertaining this challenge (and I hope you think about doing the same!) are numerous:

• Environmental (less shopping means fewer resources are used, fewer things are imported, less energy is expended, more space in the landfill)
• Financial (less shopping means more money saved)
• Logistical (where in my home am I going to put new things?)
• Familial (I’d also like to teach my children that happiness does not come from the amount of things we own.)

I’d like to turn it over to you with a couple of questions:

Is Christmas going to be different for your family this year? And are you willing to pare it down and see what happens? Or maybe you’ve already done your shopping? I’d love to hear what you think.

Our tour of Disney was so whirlwind-fast I hardly had time to form blisters on my feet.  I love nothing more than to sit back and take things in (a common quality among us introspective types) and Disney is a good place to do that. I really do love the details and the creativity that goes into everything here. I can’t imagine how much planning went into these places. It is mind-boggling.

Take Animal Kingdom for example. For those of you who haven’t been, it’s part midway, part zoo, part shopping, and it’s chock-a-block full of things to do and see, big and small. And I mean small. If you’re looking down at the pavement under your feet you’ll notice it’s stamped with tiny leaves.  The light fixtures at the Kilimanjaro Safari look authentic, as if they were ripped out of a shack somewhere on the Savannah. At Expedition Everest you never feel like you’re waiting in a line because the building which houses the queue has been designed to like a cross between a Yeti museum and an abandoned Tibetan mountaineering shop: wool mittens, signs, prayer flags, pottery … all this and more fills your eyeballs everywhere you turn.

And then there’s the Tree of Life, the centerpiece of Animal Kingdom.

It’s a 145 foot tall construction (which looks quite real from a distance) which depicts 400 different animals within its framework.

“A unique system of fabricating and assembling the branches was designed that brought the flexibility that was needed to bring this idea to life. There are 45 secondary branches that lead to 756 tertiary branches. With 7891 end branches, the entire structure is covered with 102,583 manmade leaves, each of which is more than a foot long.” (from here)

Some people probably think Disney goes overboard. Does there really need to be a gingerbread smell emanating from the floats during the Christmas parade? And fake snow? And the hot cocoa on every corner?

Does there really need to be a shop made entirely out of real gingerbread?

Or a three storey Mowgli and Baloo over looking the pool?

Or a salon where little girls get transformed into princesses?

That’s up to you to decide … ’cause Disney, when they do something, they do it big. And kids love it.

* FYI – I would like to point out that even though Disney foot the bill for my recent trip I was in no way obligated to post anything about it. These posts are entirely my own.

FYI – I’m transcribing this post almost entirely from notes taken during my recent trip.

I’ve been thinking a lot about why I enjoyed this trip so much. There are a few reasons – perfect weather being one of them – but the enjoyment factor was upped (for me) simply because of the great group of people I was with. Six of us were invited to explore what Disney had to offer: Nadine S., editor of SweetMama; Julie C. of Mabel’s Labels; Jennifer M. from Canadian Living; Jane M. from City Parent Magazine, Racheal M., from the Yummy Mummy Club, and me. As for our hosts, they were friendly, knowledgeable, professional, HILARIOUSLY FUN, and totally with it.

In this first of a series of five posts I wanted to write about an aspect of Disney that I really liked – the service, and the people behind the service.

Time and time and time again I met people who worked at Disney – at the front desk, in maintenance, wait staff, groundskeepers, shop staff, office admin, security staff  – everyone I met was absoloutely genuine. There was no retail fakery, no tired “may I help you” or sad and deflated “welcome to the magic kingdom.” Not one person smiled at me through gritted teeth.

The six of us got a whirlwind tour of different resorts and were introduced a lot of employees along the way. Our hosts always asked them about their favourite Disney character. After a couple of days of this I wondered if I’d meet anyone who’d roll their eyes at the question. No one did. Everyone answered the question very seriously, as if they were being asked whether or not they went to church. Or voted republican. It was clear that the people who work at Disney treasure their jobs. They sing it like gospel. They love it, they’re proud, and it shows. It’s postively infectious.

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