I believe I am one of the fortunate few that does not stress about the up coming Holiday session. I am honestly not exactly sure why that is. It might be because my favorite holiday is actually Halloween, and I start preparing for THAT ..in August.

As the hype for a bigger, brighter, sparklier, does not include batteries, holiday seems to get worse with every passing year, the pressure to be Instagram’s next Martha Stewart can get pretty intense.

Here are some of things that my family does to not to go too crazy, when the rest of the world seems to be foaming at the mouth over the next must have thing.

1.Pinterest

…just back away slowly- Pinterest used to be one of my favorite sites, a whole website dedicated to organizing thoughts, ideas, pictures and recipes. I used to love going down that rabbit hole, pinning to my hearts content! At some point it stopping being fun and it started to judge me. Obviously, if I did not make my child’s birthday completely by hand, out of mason jars and burlap, I better not even THINK about showing my face in the drop off line in school the next day. Not writing every gift tag in calligraphy? How DARE I!, Buying ornaments, instead of making them out of mud and seeds that you can plant in the spring? FOR SHAME!

Pinterest CAN be a great jump off point, but unless you were born with a golden hot glue gun in your hand, 90 percent of those pins are going to come out looking like you went 60 rounds with an entire craft store, and the glitter won.

How do I combat the Pinterest Pressure? I made up a motto that I stand by, (and often have to repeat to myself when tying to make a wreath bow) “Pinterest is for INSPIRATION not DUPLICATION”

I almost never try to copy a Pin, I will take an idea and turn into my own creation. This has done wonders for my crafting self esteem, and if that wreath bow goes way off the mark and starts looking like all three of my cats used it as a scratching toy, I just say the kids helped me!

2. Ditch the Gift List

I have two daughters ages six and nine, we have never made a present list “for Santa”. We write him letters, but it does not include a laundry list of stuff that must be under the tree. It is not because we, as parents wanted to celebrate the true meaning of Christmas, it was because some years we were a bit broke. We would ask the kids, about the one thing that they would REALLY want for Christmas and that has come from us parents.
“Santa”, has gotten them things, that “he thought” they might like.

I have found this poem very helpful in navigating the present idea black hole, “Something you want, Something you need, Something to wear, and Something to read”, (the books usually will come from “the cats”, cause kitties love to curl up with the kiddos while they read). Groupon is great for discounts on experiences, like a trampoline park, or tickets to an event. Stocking Stuffers can be inexpensive and even kids like fuzzy silly socks.

This method of not having a list, has taken so much pressure off of gift giving, and saves the kiddos the disappointment on Christmas morning, if “Santa” did not give them that weird gadget that blinks and makes unicorn poop. I have never had to fight in a line, for the last available thing that sings and giggles.

In all honesty, my kids have been pretty content with their loot, they both seem to have that ONE thing, that they REALLY want, and they usually start talking about it, (constantly) right after their birthdays (which are both in MAY), so it tends to be pretty clear. Not having a list has allowed my kids to truly be surprised, because they honestly have no idea what they are going to get.

3. Find the Fun and the Free! 

While the statement “give experiences not things” does make me roll my eyes, it is actually very true, unless your getting a puppy, or a car. Looking around for free or inexpensive things to do locally, does put the holiday spirit back, without torturing your wallet.

Our local mall turns a store into a “Winter Wonderland”, where kids can write letters to Santa, watch holiday movies, make crafts, and the entire thing is FREE! Now, most of the time I would rather shove hot needles in my eye before going to the mall, but on a gross winter day, when every one has had too much sugar from the tenth holiday party they went to, this is a awesome way to let off some pre-present opening steam.

Qur family has come up with our own tradition, a hot chocolate party on Christmas eve. We make real hot chocolate, (I got the recipe from Pinterest, ha!), we get into cozy fuzzy pjs, and we watch holidays movies, usually Elf, which is a favorite. We garnish our hot chocolate any way we want, putting candy canes, chocolate chips, marshmallows, whip cream, you name it! If it can fit into the cup, then they can have it, and they have gotten pretty creative in their hot chocolate “decorating”!

Over the years, my kids have consistently asked for this part of celebrating more then any other. I usually spend maybe $20 on ingredients, dust of the holiday snow man mugs that we used every year, and have a ball! One year we all made matching t-shirts, to go with our matching pj pants, the kiddos LOVED it!

I only have so many years left, before my kids stop believing in Santa and the magic of the holidays, so I do try to make the most of it.

I try to remember, what I liked most as a kid, the lights, the cookies, hanging ornaments on the tree. It can be so hard not to get caught up in the frenzy, as the kid’s friends get cell phones, and the latest unicorn poop making thing.

You are totally allowed to take the whole thing down a notch or two, to tell your kids, this is what our family does.

SO go grab that cup of hot chocolate, over fill it with marshmallows and watch a cheesy Hallmark Holiday movie…

I will be on Pinterest…planning my Halloween costume for next year. 🙂

Happy Holidays,

Jannine