My shops have been extremely busy these past few weeks and I’m down to the final wire before I close them down for the week between Christmas & New Years. I haven’t taken a day off in weeks so I’m looking forward to taking a break, spending time with David and oh yeah, do the dreaded task of end-of-year inventory of my business.
But my point in telling you this is that with all this day and night hustle with orders, I haven’t had to “sweat” the holidays because I’ve dropped a lot of the conventional expectations that most people succumb to with the holidays.
We don’t exchange gifts (well, David really needed a nice, supportive pillow and I needed a coffee maker, so we bought those earlier this month when running errands together, but that’s it); we don’t even do stocking stuffers and you know what, it’s no big deal and we appreciate not dealing with the hassle. And I convinced my family and friends not to do gift exchanges years ago and everyone appreciates having one less thing to do.
We don’t do holiday parties (though we’re not really in social circles that do all that; we’d rather have more intimate get-togethers with close friends and even then, those can wait until after the holidays), we don’t send out cards (I’d rather send personalized cards to people throughout the year when they least expect) and we don’t feel compelled to go all decoration crazy. Heck, we only got the tree up today and only have a strand of lights decorating the outside of our front door. That’s it.
And I only make enough holidays cookies to send a small batch to my elder in-laws and to keep a few in the house for us to nibble on. Perhaps not having kids or big corporate jobs or the fact that we live in a rural area helps cut down on the expectations, but it really boils down to you and choosing what you want to partake in and what you don’t.
Here’s a post I wrote last year on the topic and here’s a great article that I read recently on an art blog – she shares my sentiments that it’s up to you to just say no!
So it may sound scroog-y to keep holidays low-key, but I guarantee you that you’ll find them much more enjoyable and keeping in line with the true sentiment of the holidays.
What have you given up for the holidays this year (or what do you vow to give up next year)? How do you keep it low-key and more meaningful?
I love this time of the year..Winter! The beauty and what it represents to me spiritually.. It’s a time to reflect and have never been into the going overboard with gift giving but like to give a small thoughtful gift. Have a Merry and Meaningful Christmas!
Atta girl Roberta…thanks for the warm wishes; sending them back your way!
♥
I haven’t bothered to put up Christmas decorations in my apartment for years since I’m always travelling to see my family. In fact, my nine year old cat has never seen a Christmas tree and I’m a little afraid to think what she would do to it lol So while I look like a Scrooge to the outer world, it’s really just not that important to me!
Since its just my parents and I for Christmas and none of us is that interested in more Stuff, I committed to only buying thrifted items for them this year. Mom wanted a fleece vest and Dan wanted a windshirt, both of which I found at a Salvation Army near my house for about $12 combined. Then I picked up a couple of interesting used books for them that I stumbled upon at a local store that supports LGBT organizations, for another $5. Frugal AND social justice-y for the win!
Kudos Lisa, I love the Salvation Army and LGBT local store…that’s awesome!