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.
