One of my favorite traditions was to honor Christ’s birth by baking a birthday cake for Jesus every year. And no one opened any gifts until we sang Happy Birthday because He is our greatest gift.
As a kid, we had a real tree. We now have an artificial tree and it’s beautiful. I can remember waking up really early (before anyone else was awake) and walking out of my bedroom to the lit tree with all the presents under it and just standing there looking at the lit tree. I was in awe almost in tears at how beautiful it was. I’m 70 now and can still remember that feeling.
We’re empty nesters, & our kids & grandkids live on the other side of the country. It will be just us & the dogs. We’ve simplified our menu, but don’t mind making things that produce leftovers. We love leftovers! As for making Christmas more meaningful, we read Luke chapter 2 from the Bible to remind ourselves of the true meaning of Christmas. It begins with Christ! ❤
We are also empty nesters. We definitely live across the country from any family, so we've started going to little local activities & going out for special meals (since we don't really buy presents - we too old to need much & we're in the retirement home - which is small) experiences are what we consider our gifts to each other.
Great video! My “keep it simple” hack was born the year I had pneumonia at the beginning of December, plus my in-laws were coming. When I put away our Christmas stuff, I created a “#1 Christmas Box” with all the “must haves” like our stockings and a few key favorite pieces of decor. Only what would fit in that one tote. That way, if I was ever crunched for time again, I knew I could grab that one tote and be all set. If there was time and energy for more, then great! But for many years there has been no time or energy. So I get out what’s in the #1 box and that’s it! ❤❤❤
@@jenniferdevries2343 Me too! That's what I ended up doing. After a while I realized that I always started decorating with my favorites, and as time ran shorter and shorter each year, more and more of the other decorations never made it out of their boxes. So eventually I put all the favorites in one or two boxes and only got those out from that point on. When I recently moved, I donated all the less used decorations. It felt good to purge some things and give them to others to be used and enjoyed instead of sitting in storage year after year.
Several years ago, we stopped cooking big meals for Christmas. We get finger foods and make trays. Vegetables with dip, fruits, tamales, and cookies for dessert.
One Christmas, I was 8 months pregnant with baby #7. Once the tree was up, I pulled all the non-breakable ornaments out. I let the kids decorate the tree and called it good! They had fun, and I got to sit down. 😊
All great tips. I like the 4 gift rule plus stockings. When my daughter was little, Christmas Eve was a big deal too. Kids are so excited the night before. Our routine - after dinner, late evening she got to open 1 present, it was always new pajamas. So getting a bath/shower was not an issue because new pj's are special. This also was good for photos Christmas mornings. After bath time, she was allowed one more gift to open, it was always a book. She could have warm milk & cookies while looking at the new book and knew bed time was near. Lastly, she got to hang "Santa's Magical Key" on the exterior door knob. That's how Santa gets in when there's no chimney, an old skeleton key with red ribbon. Then bed time!
We always had a real tree. Now they are so dried out and expensive. When my adult kids all come home we still haven’t one. If it’s a quiet one I pull out our 24”tabletop…that’s ok too. At 67 I’m purging my decor, it’s just too much. I’m giving away a sentimental crèche my father built before he died. It’s beautiful just too big. Lady coming tomorrow to get it…out of 7 people I picked her because she said she loved it, and it was beautiful. Now I can let go.❤🇨🇦
The reason I don't like Christmas is because of all the money you are expected to spend on gifts, decorations, the tree, the meal and on and on. Thank you for this reminder video
Thank you. My life is overwhelming right now and I feel like I'm failing as I see all the perfect holiday decor and spotless houses. After using the same old artificial tree for years and fighting with the branches and lights, I gave it away and splurged on a new prelit tree. I kept it under $200. But it is so easy to get caught up in the glamour of it all. I miss the old days when it was more unique to everyone. Now everyone has the same stuff. Simple is the way to go so that you can enjoy your family.
This year I'm giving cozy socks and yummy treats from Trader Joe's to my daughter and son in law. The grandkids get socks, Christmas tshirts, and an ornament each. Budget has shrunk now that I'm retired. Food is always a hit! 🌲💖
In addition to the Want need read list I add a Do. Christmas day they need a toy or something to play with. So coloring books, Lego sets, puzzles etc. A new family game. You get it.
I LOVE the "want, need, wear, read" mindset of gift giving!! Simple and practical, and helpful in avoiding going crazy and getting too much, which I did in the beginning when my kids were little. I didn't realize that I was inadvertently teaching and promoting materialism. You're so fundamentally grounded and I love it, and your kids will thank you for it someday!! 😊
“Swapping, rather than adding” is a great concept … a real way to reduce the stress and the feeling of being overwhelmed by decor!! Be happy and grateful for the holiday moments … Merry Christmas to you and your family🎄🎅😊
My way of simplifying is Christmas dinner... is just dinner. Maybe it's spaghetti and meatballs, maybe it's chicken/potato/vegetable, but the point is, it's not terribly different than any other good meal we'd have on a regular night. I was amazed at how much stress this eliminated!
A couple of years ago my daughter and I decided to simplify our Christmas meal by making it a 'finger food' snacking brunch. The girls were more interested in their new toys than sitting down to a big formal meal, which we had at Thanksgiving. This worked out so well we're continuing it. I had passed the torch of holiday cooking to my daughter about 7 years ago but still help out with it. They have a large home that's great for family gatherings and mine is a very small one.
Real tree growing up in the midwest where is gets cold in winter- fake tree now that I live in Florida! One thing that resonated with me watching your video is your message to not compare your decor/holiday season to others- especially by what you see on social media! I truly do think this is big one as I see friends around me spend money on things they really don't have but feel like they must live up to all the trends they see on social media! DO you & make your own traditions. Keeping it simple and focusing on the true meaning of the holiday can be a game changer.
I've done similar gift giving guidelines for kids in the past. Something I often do for adults - especially for couple/family gifts is use elements as your guide...Earth, Wind, Fire, Water. For example: Earth - a plant, flowers, some kind of wooden decore item. Fire - a candle, something for the grill, or something that simply that produces thoughts of heat or warmth. Wind - Windchimes, wind socks, fans, kites...things that make you think of or that requires wind to work, or makes you think of wind. Water - a tabletop fountain, floating candles in display container, things used in water like swimming/floating item for the beach or pool. Obviously not everything can be as directly linked, like candles and wind chimes, but just think about the vibe you want your gift to give. I love being able to use themes in gift giving. It makes it more about curating rather than just shopping. 😊
I do a scavenger hunt for my kids. I make little small riddles that give them clues of where to look. Each gift has a new clue on it leading to all their gifts. It typically takes at least an hour for the kids to complete and they love it. Before they could read I would draw pictures of where they should look and they would go find them. It made christmas feel really special every year.
@thatpracticalmom I have a 15 year old and a 7 year old. My 14 year old helps me come up with the riddles and make the clues, and he also helps his brother sound out and read the words. You can also come up with a lot of riddles through pintrest. Just look up "Christmas scavenger hunt riddles." Although, I bet chat GPT could help a lot with this.
I wanted to cheer when you mentioned starting to make lasagna for Christmas. Me too! I started making lasagna a few years ago for the reasons you mentioned. My daughter-in-law says that she looks forward to this throughout the year and that she prefers it to turkey. Traditions can change!
I always tried to keep a small limit per child. And try to keep that to only one gift from the parents and one gift from Santa. Keeping in mind that children get gifts from other people a.k.a. grandparents, etc. I love that you’ve decided to do a simple Christmas and focus on the tree itself. As an empty nester now, I only put up a tree and a wreath. I love the simplicity of it.
A real tree!! Nothing better!! Picking it out, bringing it home, for us it was always the Friday after Thanksgiving, at night. Christmas music, hot chocolate and getting the tree up with the lights on was the goal. It was our annual tradition and we always did it all as a family. The next day was when I would pull out all the boxes of decor and decorate the house, and because I started this tradition when my girls were babies, I would do all of the decorating and by the time they got up from their nap that afternoon, I would have everything else done and cleaned up, and the only thing left would be to put the ornaments on the tree. The girls and I would do that together, then Dad would come in and put the angel at the top.
Hi there from Bulgaria! I totally agree with your point about the build up to gift giving and how it feels like empty, almost dissatisfied at the end. We have a big gathering at the 25th, so it's not all about the presents, but still. Thank you for the advice for something to do - maybe this year we can make cookies with the kids (2yo and 7mo) or something like that. Here in our country we rarely buy as much new decorations and actually, accept for the Christmas tree, we don't decorate all that much. It's still festive enough and it doesn't add too much clutter. But to be honest we live in tiny one bedroom apartment, so we don't have much space anyway. As for the gifts - my girls get one from Santa, one from us, one shared gift, and a lot from relatives. They're not even that expensive and when they grow up they wont remember what you got them, but will remember how they were happy, the activities that you all did, the traditions that you implement. Just try and make the day special and spend some quality time together! ❤❤❤
Thank you for this...I've been simplifying over the years, and even more this year. Trying to focus on what's important to us and not what others are doing!
Love the idea of doing something other than presents in the afternoon of Christmas! Also for us the Jesus bit of it helps keep things in perspective and with a different reason behind the hype which helps.
A tradition I started years ago with my kids to make the magic last longer on Christmas Day was to do a treasure hunt for the stockings. We had clues that led all over the house and ultimately brought them to their stockings that were all in one place so we have to do the treasure hunt as a family. Nobody can go do their own thing or get ahead of everybody else. One year every kid had a color of yarn to follow, and it led to puzzle piece and everyone’s puzzle piece was needed to make a map of where the stockings were. We started this when our kids were about the same age as yours and now my oldest is 20 and the kids still look forward to the most on Christmas Day.we haven’t had much to spend and I’ve worried that the day wouldn’t be magical and it turns out they love the stocking the most!
There are free Christmas treasure hunts that you can find online and just print them out and hide the clues accordingly to keep it simple and easy for yourself as a busy mom some years I have used the free ones online and other years I’ve made up my own. Some years I had a newborn or was due with the baby and other years I was not, and I had more energy to be creative in the area.
I just rescued two adult male cats from the shelter and I’m keeping things pretty easy. My usual 9 foot Christmas tree is being replaced by a 6-1/2 foot that I can tie to the window to avoid crashing. I’m also using picks instead of ornaments (so far). I have a 3 ft tree decorated with leaves and berries for Thanksgiving and they have shown no interest in it. Hoping the smaller Christmas tree fares as well. I’m doing something on the mantle, the dining room table (already made) and maybe a couple of things in the kitchen, but all the insane decorating I usually do down the stairs, around all the door frames, etc. is taking a rest this year. Hope you and yours have a wonderful Christmas. You are a sport with all those Little’s!
I feel like the true meaning of Christmas has been lost for years now. It's all about decorating and presents and less about love and family. We have had both real and artificial, I'm team whatever works. We have also streamlined gifts too. Great ideas as usual Kallie. ❤❤🎄🎄🎁🎁
Team live tree!!! That is how I grew up and that brings the best memories( smelling evergreen) of a magical time! To this day smelling evergreen trees brings me back to Christmas as a child!! Kallie, you are such a great Mommy!! Your head is on straight!!😉🎄♥️
You may not want to do much for decorations, but don't take what you have for granted. Our house caught fire and we lost everything. I lost my Christmas village, decorations, things I'd been collecting for years. I'd be glad to have even a few things back.
Love this video, thank you! Our finances are very tight this year, to say the least. So we are focusing on making homemade treats for friends and family as gifts, and we will be driving around the neighborhoods with hot cocoa looking at lights with the kids. Also really trying to focus on the true meaning of Christmas. 😊
Grèat advice! Our kids are grown and out on their own now with their own kids. They want a traditional Christmas and they want their kids to experience a traditional Christmas too. I love Christmas and all the business that comes with it, but at this stage of my life its too hard to do everything, so i have started roasting my turkey a day or 2 in advance. I cook it, slice it and make the gravy and store in the refrigerator. On Christmas day i wrap the turkey in tin foil with a sprinkle of water and heat it in the oven, and the gravy gets heated in a pot on top of the stove and voila! Ťhis makes life so much easier and the turkey tastes great, it doesn't taste like leftovers!
We watch "A Christmas Story" during the day, but I like the idea of making the gingerbread after presents. We usually do our gingerbread before Christmas, but I think we'll try doing it after presents this year. Thanks for the suggestions in this video!
Christmas before Thanksgiving - I’m allll for this. I’ve always hated having to stress right after a day we simply stuff ourselves with food. It’s crazy to be doing all this decorating while we also struggle with winter weather, kids being out of school for holidays, biggest shopping season due to deals, having to work OT as coworkers start using up unused days off before the new year rolls over.. AND I just love our Christmas tree. I want to see it for more than 3-4 weeks! 😭 I used to be annoyed when it was pushing thanksgiving out of place, but I actually love it now. I start decorating as soon as Halloween is over, and slowly add in things. So for example. Out tree goes up BEFORE Halloween and we do a Nightmare Before Christmas tree with lights and paper (Cricut) ornament cut outs of bats and characters in ornament circles. After Halloween we take the Halloween cutouts down and add in handmade ornaments from kids. As the weeks go on we add the more “pretty” stuff. After thanksgiving is when we go all in with the santa, snowmen, snowflakes, etc that the kids love. I really wish more ppl would embrace this and enjoy their home a lot longer.
Last year I wasn't ready to give up our tree yet, but it was a real tree so couldn't stay in the house longer, so we took the decorations off, left white lights on it and sat it on our deck right outside our living room window. We left it there until March, lit up at night, and it was beautiful!
I cannot believe the craziness I see online with Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas... soooo many decorations bought new etc. We only celebrate Christlmas where I live and all we have is a tree, a few tree ornaments and some lights. Zero seasonal decoration stress.
@ ok now don’t get me wrong. I’m pretty darn near poor, which is why we do paper cut out ornaments on my friends Cricut haha And I think having the tree out all winter season kind of helped with seasonal depression and gloomy feelings because of cold dreary days. That’s what my husband suspects is going on lol. I also started to realize how much my kids loved it when we would raid a Goodwill for discarded Christmas decorations 😆. I do admittedly feel like I would want to go to a more simplistic way such as yours, but for now, this seems to be keeping everyone in an upbeat mood around here. And well, our Mardi Gras tree covered in parade beads is just fun 😆 I’ll defend that decision on top of a mountain hahah I am glad you know what works for you guys though, and maybe when my kids move away, I’ll adopt the same streamlined approach.
Almost a decade ago we started to order pizza or Chinese for Christmas day supper. My family was so turkeyed out by Christmas night they didn't want a large turkey dinner. My family loves this tradition and with my health issues (who knows how I am going to feel one day to the next), I don't have to worry about making a large dinner when I can barely get out of bed.
Shannon, I did the same thing a few years back and my family has loved it ever since! 🥡🥢🥠 Not having to worry about cooking and being able to put the food out straight from container to the table hot and ready to serve has been a treat and something we all look forward to. 😊 It’s also takes so much stress out of the day and allows us all to be able to focus on each others company and having fun laughing and playing games together instead of on the food. 🎄Plus we love reading and sharing our🥠 cookies at the end of our meals as an exciting way to get a glimpse into where each of our New Year’s may lead us next!💛 Have a very Merry Christmas Shannon and a happy and healthy New Year.🎄 God bless🙏
@@Goldenheart2911 Absolutely, I found Christmas Day Dinner just too much. My extended family has 4 appetizers six desserts and perogies, cabbage rolls, 3 sides, a ham and a whole turkey dinner to boot. It is too much to actually enjoy. So the month of December I make that stuff but I may make one thing for that day. We seem to enjoy them more this way
@@shannonbrice8012 Good Morning Shannon☀️ I absolutely love your idea of making one of your favorite Christmas food items throughout the month.💛 I can see how it is much more enjoyable that way. Even if you do one side or dessert it helps to keep the enjoyment of the Christmas season going throughout the month instead of for only one day.🍽️ My family loves to all come around the table and do the big meal with all the trimmings on Thanksgiving and that has become enough for me. 🦃🥘🍲 Thank you for your reply Shannon. 😊 After Thanksgiving I’m going to sit down with my kids and have us write down 24 Christmas foods that we would like to have during the month of December leading up to Christmas Day, fold them up, randomly pick one each night and then make it the next day.🎄🤶 I love trying new things and I’m looking forward to this one.💛 God bless and have a Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas.🙏🦃🎄💛
Such a great video…love the whole simplify concept. I host the holidays too which makes me happy, but when someone asks what they can bring, I give them something that makes it just a bit easier for me and works with the meal. We don’t exchange gifts anymore ( except grandkids), as most of us are retired, empty nesters and truly don’t need more stuff. There is music, smiles and laughter at every holiday…so much better.
I have one room that is “Christmas all year. “ I leave everything up. I don’t have to put up/ take down or store items. It makes me happy year around. Also, I can see that I have plenty of Christmas decor and don’t need to buy more.
I grew up with real trees. We would go together and get the tree. That was one of our traditions and when I got married, my hubby and I would go. Over the past 5 years or so my hubby does not want real trees anymore so we did get a fake one. It is beautiful but I really miss the real tree, it was part of the lead up/tradition and I really do miss it! Happy Holidays everyone!!
I grew up with artificial trees. Starting with silver one. My father was an electrician. He felt electric lights on a tree that's getting dryer everyday was a recipe for fire. That was the late 50's early 60's and quality and safety has vastly improved!
My BIL and his family come visit for the holidays every other year and whenever they visit, a lot of time is spent over at my in laws to maximize the time we can spend all together as a family. But, because we have young kids, we will often spend the whole day at my in laws only to come home for supper and then bed for the kiddos. These visits have become one of my prime "meal prep and freeze" events where I'll cook a double meal once a week for the 4-6 weeks before Christmas just so our freezer is fully stocked and I'm not scrambling to cook during these visits. And tbh, I sometimes do this even when they aren't visiting so I can take a "cooking vacation" during the holidays.
I have strict rules around Christmas in order to prioritize family time rather than busy-ness. All Christmas decor goes up between the end of Black Friday shopping and bed on Saturday. That way we wake up the first Sunday of advent, ready to celebrate the birth of Christ. All Christmas presents have to be wrapped by a week after cyber Monday. And these are non negotiable. If I get sick over thanksgiving and can’t put up Christmas decor, that’s ok! We just skip it. December is jam packed with school plays, concerts and Christmas parties. I don’t want to show up dragging to my husband’s work party bc I was out shopping. I want to be present and engaged in everything. Boundaries help me do that with 5 little kids.
My advice for anyone: don't do things for the sake of social media! You'll be amazed at how much more relaxed the season is by that alone. Your house doesn't need to be perfect, and you don't need to take a picture of everything. I like what she said about planning something for later on Christmas day. Something we like to do is make popcorn and hot cocoa and watch a Christmas movie together or play a family board game (usually a new one that was received as a gift).
This year I will get out and decorate the trees and mantle along with my handmade quilts pillows and table runners …THEN add maybe a few extra items here and there. This will help in minimizing w/out all the store decor I’ve collected over the years
When i was young, my family would go to find a tree and saw it down. Once it is cut down, dad would lay down, and we would put the tree laying across him and take a photo with him. It was a tradition for my family, and we kids loved it.
You can do experiences as well for gifts. Just go somewhere. We went to New York City and ice skated in Rockefeller Center on Christmas morning. That was the best Christmas ever. Sometimes Christmas can just be going somewhere special and not stuff. Thanks for the video. This year my daughter and I are going to London England to celebrate her 21st birthday and Christmas. Sometimes you can just plan ahead and just go somewhere special.
I love the swap idea. That way I can decorate for every holiday. Pot holders, pillow covers and lots of things like that are easy and inexpensive to make
Last year for Christmas, I cooked my ham in my crock pot(I have a big crock pot). Then later all I had to do was the sides. It was such a huge time saver and made life so much easier. Not sure what I'm doing this year but something easy for sure. And for Christmas morning, I usually make French toast casserole the night before so that I just have to pop it in the oven in the morning. I do make some eggs and bacon as well but it still means less time in the kitchen for me:)
We also celebrate the 12 days of Christmas (Christmas Day is actually the first day of Christmas!) Each day we do a fun thing as a family or the kids get a small gift. Examples are: reading holiday books, drive and look at holiday light displays while listening the Christmas music, baking cookies, going to a holiday concert, visiting our local reindeer farm, or playing music together. We fast for 40 days before Christmas from meat and dairy so we wait to do all of our baking and meat eating until the 12 days of Christmas, so good eating is definitely part of the fun of these days!
All great tips and I’m feeling the simple vibes this year too! All of your kids are adorable but I’m sorry, olive at the holiday dinner table was my favorite. Lol Happy holidays!
Swaps is a great idea! I used to thing it was pointless to buy holiday versions of things I have, never thought of it as preventing holiday clutter. Last year, I started a new tradition of family games at our family Christmas. I got on tiktok and found silly games that everyone can play and it was so much fun! It kept everyone engaged with family and off electronics.
What we started years ago when kids were young & mom wanted to be with everyone opening gifts. We started steaks on the grill with baked potatoes. The men like to grill after gifts are open & the potatoes are in the oven while the gifts are being opened. No fuss & fewer dishes.😊😊
Since we had our children (now 19 and 16) we've had our Christmas dinner at 6pm on Christmas Eve. Takes a lot of the stress out of Christmas day! This year, we have ordered our meal from a local hotel and I can't wait to not have the food shop stress.
We play games every year. Also, everyone participates on buying a gift on a budget like $10 or $20 we wrap it and we write numbers down and put in a cup and we start from 1- however many people are playing. etc
Yes and yes! Red/green pillow covers, switching my photo gallery to Xmas pics, and a beautiful tree. That's it and my teens love it. Plus, take the burden off yourself and go look at other people's Xmas displays in their yards. We'll have a great time walking around Xmas Tree Lane in a neighboring city and none of those decorations live in my garage -- a win win 😊
I grew up ALWAYS having a live tree that we either cut down ourselves or dug up ourselves to later plant in our yard. I have such fond memories of hiking back down the mountain with our prize pick of a tree every year. And my parents continued to have a live tree even after they became empty nesters, until they passed in their 70's. My dad continued to cut their tree every year, with the help of my brothers when he got older. There's just something about a live tree and that amazing pine scent, and the making of wonderful, treasured memories. 🤗
GREAT video, just what I was looking for. I have been campaigning for years with my family to downplay the gifting. Growing up, the volume of gifts was out of control. We are a small family and it's easy to overdo. When we had kids, they reluctantly agreed we would do gifts for the kids only. (not all of my family comply; my sister and mother just love gift-giving and are tooo good at it! Argh.) Even still, we struggle when my kids see their cousin get more gifts than they get. Work in progress. Team Real Tree. Having a lit-up plastic tree in my house strikes me as weird somehow. Living trees are special, and I do have guilt about cutting them down for the sake of holiday decor. I didn't bother having a tree at all, until my twins were old enough to care about such things. Now they are 13, and last year we opted to skip the tree again. It takes effort to set it up and decorate it and then take it all down again... That said, I always love our tree when we do have one, and we always decorate the house. I love bringing out the keepsakes from when the kids were little, and I have framed some of the holiday-themed art they made back then, which are some of the most precious decorations I have.
To simplify I limit to 5 or 6 types of cookies. Sometimes I will make double batch of cookie dough making 1 chocolate chip and the other m&m. This really helps on time.
Great idea for parents! I think just getting the one thing they really wanted and a few more things is great...they won't remember the other stuff we bought...saying this from a mom of two...As a grandma aged person.
We found a bird’s nest in our live tree one year when I was a kid. We bring it up every year when we look at our tree. We get a live one every year. One of our only traditions.
Beautiful. I'm a Nana, mom of 5. Christmas is about memories, not stuff. We make cookies and movies with grand babies. When kids were little, we made snow flakes, ornaments & snow fights. The morning of was pancakes or cinnamon rolls. One year, we decided to have a large sub for dinner, so we didn't have dishes.
We use to have a real tree growing up until we finally figured out my mom’s “Christmas rash” was from being allergic to the pine. Artificial since then. We did buy real when first married, but ended up doing some much traveling to families, we went artificial to not worry about it drying out. Love your ideas😊
When my youngest (of 3) was a year old, we put up the tree with lights only UNTIL Christmas Eve. That way we didn't have to worry about young children taking off ornaments.
My kids are a bit older (9 and 12). I bring up the storage totes from the basement and they put the decorations out. They love getting the house looking festive, and if I'm being honest, the holidays have been difficult for me the past few years so having that taken off my plate is so much more helpful than they realize.
I love the idea of swapping versus adding in. So I just put the swapped items in the Christmas storage totes and then swap back after Christmas. No need to find separate storage during the Holidays.
You do you, but I love Christmas perfectly! I’m an empty nester, so it’s all just for me, and any guest I may have. It’s my season and I fully enjoy it, every moment! As for the cost, been there, done that, still doing it. Made many changes years ago and have kept it simply since.
Yes love the real tree! I did it as a kid and now my kids love it, it’s definitely one of the best parts. We also decided a few years ago that gifts were for the kids only and adults didn’t need to exchange anything. It ends up being just a gift card swap at the end anyway. I nice meal and spending time together is all we need.
We're moving this month while I'm very pregnant this year, so we're just doing a tree, some outdoor lighting (that's the husband's thing) and our vintage Christmas village
I am older than you and your lovely family..I grew up with a real tree every year So many fabulous and cherished memories and let us not forget the vacuuming of pine needles after! We did eventually turn to an artificial tree and it was beautiful too!
I don’t get any pressure fr social media. I love looking at everyone else’s decor, it doesn’t make me feel any less. The pressure this year is coming from my 7year old’s winter activity list 😂😂they aren’t asking for presents this year but rather, they want to do ALL the activities. Which I’m 100% for. I know next year may be a lot harder to coordinate I’ll have 4 kids spaced similarly to your kids), so I’m trying to help my 7yo and 4yo knock out their Christmas/winter to do list (they made it on their own)
Great ideas with wonderful tips. I had a water leak recently and all my floors are being replaced. Therefore all my furniture other than 1 recliner and TV is in storage. I will not be decorating as usual other than a tree. I'm kind of looking forward to it. Blessings to you from Texas.
we used to get a real tree until we realized family members were getting sick during the Christmas season from the strong smells - turns out lots of allergies, so switch to artificial tree. we always decorate the Friday after Thanksgiving because of all the December activities that arise. One thing we started with our family was - give each child a Christmas ornament and some cash. then when that child created their own home - they got to take all their Christmas ornaments with them. It made gift giving much easier and each of the children enjoy putting "their" ornaments on the tree. would use a marker and put their initials on the bottom of the ornament so we could remember who owns that ornament.
We celebrate Christmas the weekend before Christmas with my son and his family they have so many other places on the 24&25. We have had Christmas Lasagna for the last 2 yrs and are having this years also by request from my daughter n law. Then me and my mom have steaks baked potatoes salad and wine on Christmas just us
One of my favorite traditions was to honor Christ’s birth by baking a birthday cake for Jesus every year. And no one opened any gifts until we sang Happy Birthday because He is our greatest gift.
As a kid, we had a real tree. We now have an artificial tree and it’s beautiful. I can remember waking up really early (before anyone else was awake) and walking out of my bedroom to the lit tree with all the presents under it and just standing there looking at the lit tree. I was in awe almost in tears at how beautiful it was. I’m 70 now and can still remember that feeling.
❤️that’s a beautiful memory to share, you got me extra inspired to make Christmas special this year
We’re empty nesters, & our kids & grandkids live on the other side of the country. It will be just us & the dogs. We’ve simplified our menu, but don’t mind making things that produce leftovers. We love leftovers! As for making Christmas more meaningful, we read Luke chapter 2 from the Bible to remind ourselves of the true meaning of Christmas. It begins with Christ! ❤
We are also empty nesters. We definitely live across the country from any family, so we've started going to little local activities & going out for special meals (since we don't really buy presents - we too old to need much & we're in the retirement home - which is small) experiences are what we consider our gifts to each other.
Amen 🙏
Why aren't you travelling to your children?
Or your children to you?
Great video! My “keep it simple” hack was born the year I had pneumonia at the beginning of December, plus my in-laws were coming. When I put away our Christmas stuff, I created a “#1 Christmas Box” with all the “must haves” like our stockings and a few key favorite pieces of decor. Only what would fit in that one tote. That way, if I was ever crunched for time again, I knew I could grab that one tote and be all set. If there was time and energy for more, then great! But for many years there has been no time or energy. So I get out what’s in the #1 box and that’s it! ❤❤❤
I love this, stealing your idea this year 🎄
Great idea.
@@jenniferdevries2343 Me too! That's what I ended up doing. After a while I realized that I always started decorating with my favorites, and as time ran shorter and shorter each year, more and more of the other decorations never made it out of their boxes. So eventually I put all the favorites in one or two boxes and only got those out from that point on. When I recently moved, I donated all the less used decorations. It felt good to purge some things and give them to others to be used and enjoyed instead of sitting in storage year after year.
The dog sitting at the table gave me a good chuckle 😂
Me too.😀. Olive is such a cute dog.
Several years ago, we stopped cooking big meals for Christmas. We get finger foods and make trays. Vegetables with dip, fruits, tamales, and cookies for dessert.
One Christmas, I was 8 months pregnant with baby #7. Once the tree was up, I pulled all the non-breakable ornaments out. I let the kids decorate the tree and called it good! They had fun, and I got to sit down. 😊
All great tips. I like the 4 gift rule plus stockings.
When my daughter was little, Christmas Eve was a big deal too. Kids are so excited the night before.
Our routine - after dinner, late evening she got to open 1 present, it was always new pajamas. So getting a bath/shower was not an issue because new pj's are special. This also was good for photos Christmas mornings. After bath time, she was allowed one more gift to open, it was always a book. She could have warm milk & cookies while looking at the new book and knew bed time was near. Lastly, she got to hang "Santa's Magical Key" on the exterior door knob. That's how Santa gets in when there's no chimney, an old skeleton key with red ribbon. Then bed time!
We always had a real tree. Now they are so dried out and expensive. When my adult kids all come home we still haven’t one. If it’s a quiet one I pull out our 24”tabletop…that’s ok too. At 67 I’m purging my decor, it’s just too much. I’m giving away a sentimental crèche my father built before he died. It’s beautiful just too big. Lady coming tomorrow to get it…out of 7 people I picked her because she said she loved it, and it was beautiful. Now I can let go.❤🇨🇦
I just know you are blessing that lady with the beautiful items made by your dad. @@andrewmichels7804
The reason I don't like Christmas is because of all the money you are expected to spend on gifts, decorations, the tree, the meal and on and on. Thank you for this reminder video
Every year on Christmas Day my grandma would make lasagne and we would drink Martinellis sparkling apple cider. Such a great memory!
Thank you. My life is overwhelming right now and I feel like I'm failing as I see all the perfect holiday decor and spotless houses. After using the same old artificial tree for years and fighting with the branches and lights, I gave it away and splurged on a new prelit tree. I kept it under $200. But it is so easy to get caught up in the glamour of it all. I miss the old days when it was more unique to everyone. Now everyone has the same stuff. Simple is the way to go so that you can enjoy your family.
This year I'm giving cozy socks and yummy treats from Trader Joe's to my daughter and son in law. The grandkids get socks, Christmas tshirts, and an ornament each. Budget has shrunk now that I'm retired. Food is always a hit! 🌲💖
In addition to the Want need read list I add a Do. Christmas day they need a toy or something to play with. So coloring books, Lego sets, puzzles etc. A new family game. You get it.
I LOVE the "want, need, wear, read" mindset of gift giving!! Simple and practical, and helpful in avoiding going crazy and getting too much, which I did in the beginning when my kids were little. I didn't realize that I was inadvertently teaching and promoting materialism. You're so fundamentally grounded and I love it, and your kids will thank you for it someday!! 😊
Less is more. Merry Christmas to you and your newborn, one year old, three and six year olds. Hubs too.🌲💖
“Swapping, rather than adding” is a great concept … a real way to reduce the stress and the feeling of being overwhelmed by decor!! Be happy and grateful for the holiday moments … Merry Christmas to you and your family🎄🎅😊
I've always done this and use the tubs of Christmas stuff to put my regular decor in until I undecorate. M
My way of simplifying is Christmas dinner... is just dinner. Maybe it's spaghetti and meatballs, maybe it's chicken/potato/vegetable, but the point is, it's not terribly different than any other good meal we'd have on a regular night. I was amazed at how much stress this eliminated!
A couple of years ago my daughter and I decided to simplify our Christmas meal by making it a 'finger food' snacking brunch. The girls were more interested in their new toys than sitting down to a big formal meal, which we had at Thanksgiving. This worked out so well we're continuing it. I had passed the torch of holiday cooking to my daughter about 7 years ago but still help out with it. They have a large home that's great for family gatherings and mine is a very small one.
Real tree growing up in the midwest where is gets cold in winter- fake tree now that I live in Florida! One thing that resonated with me watching your video is your message to not compare your decor/holiday season to others- especially by what you see on social media! I truly do think this is big one as I see friends around me spend money on things they really don't have but feel like they must live up to all the trends they see on social media! DO you & make your own traditions. Keeping it simple and focusing on the true meaning of the holiday can be a game changer.
I've done similar gift giving guidelines for kids in the past. Something I often do for adults - especially for couple/family gifts is use elements as your guide...Earth, Wind, Fire, Water. For example:
Earth - a plant, flowers, some kind of wooden decore item.
Fire - a candle, something for the grill, or something that simply that produces thoughts of heat or warmth.
Wind - Windchimes, wind socks, fans, kites...things that make you think of or that requires wind to work, or makes you think of wind.
Water - a tabletop fountain, floating candles
in display container, things used in water like swimming/floating item for the beach or pool.
Obviously not everything can be as directly linked, like candles and wind chimes, but just think about the vibe you want your gift to give. I love being able to use themes in gift giving. It makes it more about curating rather than just shopping. 😊
I do a scavenger hunt for my kids. I make little small riddles that give them clues of where to look. Each gift has a new clue on it leading to all their gifts. It typically takes at least an hour for the kids to complete and they love it. Before they could read I would draw pictures of where they should look and they would go find them. It made christmas feel really special every year.
I love this idea!
Brilliant idea.
OMG I LOVE THIS! And has the kids get older they can set them up too. i used to love making those as a kid
@thatpracticalmom I have a 15 year old and a 7 year old. My 14 year old helps me come up with the riddles and make the clues, and he also helps his brother sound out and read the words. You can also come up with a lot of riddles through pintrest. Just look up "Christmas scavenger hunt riddles."
Although, I bet chat GPT could help a lot with this.
We do this with our young adult kids. Scavenger hunt for gift cards…
I wanted to cheer when you mentioned starting to make lasagna for Christmas. Me too! I started making lasagna a few years ago for the reasons you mentioned. My daughter-in-law says that she looks forward to this throughout the year and that she prefers it to turkey. Traditions can change!
I always tried to keep a small limit per child. And try to keep that to only one gift from the parents and one gift from Santa. Keeping in mind that children get gifts from other people a.k.a. grandparents, etc.
I love that you’ve decided to do a simple Christmas and focus on the tree itself. As an empty nester now, I only put up a tree and a wreath. I love the simplicity of it.
A real tree!! Nothing better!! Picking it out, bringing it home, for us it was always the Friday after Thanksgiving, at night. Christmas music, hot chocolate and getting the tree up with the lights on was the goal. It was our annual tradition and we always did it all as a family.
The next day was when I would pull out all the boxes of decor and decorate the house, and because I started this tradition when my girls were babies, I would do all of the decorating and by the time they got up from their nap that afternoon, I would have everything else done and cleaned up, and the only thing left would be to put the ornaments on the tree. The girls and I would do that together, then Dad would come in and put the angel at the top.
Hi there from Bulgaria! I totally agree with your point about the build up to gift giving and how it feels like empty, almost dissatisfied at the end. We have a big gathering at the 25th, so it's not all about the presents, but still. Thank you for the advice for something to do - maybe this year we can make cookies with the kids (2yo and 7mo) or something like that. Here in our country we rarely buy as much new decorations and actually, accept for the Christmas tree, we don't decorate all that much. It's still festive enough and it doesn't add too much clutter. But to be honest we live in tiny one bedroom apartment, so we don't have much space anyway. As for the gifts - my girls get one from Santa, one from us, one shared gift, and a lot from relatives. They're not even that expensive and when they grow up they wont remember what you got them, but will remember how they were happy, the activities that you all did, the traditions that you implement. Just try and make the day special and spend some quality time together! ❤❤❤
Thank you for this...I've been simplifying over the years, and even more this year. Trying to focus on what's important to us and not what others are doing!
Love the idea of doing something other than presents in the afternoon of Christmas! Also for us the Jesus bit of it helps keep things in perspective and with a different reason behind the hype which helps.
Thank you for not making us feel everything must be perfect as you influence. I love your advice.
A tradition I started years ago with my kids to make the magic last longer on Christmas Day was to do a treasure hunt for the stockings. We had clues that led all over the house and ultimately brought them to their stockings that were all in one place so we have to do the treasure hunt as a family. Nobody can go do their own thing or get ahead of everybody else. One year every kid had a color of yarn to follow, and it led to puzzle piece and everyone’s puzzle piece was needed to make a map of where the stockings were. We started this when our kids were about the same age as yours and now my oldest is 20 and the kids still look forward to the most on Christmas Day.we haven’t had much to spend and I’ve worried that the day wouldn’t be magical and it turns out they love the stocking the most!
There are free Christmas treasure hunts that you can find online and just print them out and hide the clues accordingly to keep it simple and easy for yourself as a busy mom some years I have used the free ones online and other years I’ve made up my own. Some years I had a newborn or was due with the baby and other years I was not, and I had more energy to be creative in the area.
I am so overwhelmed this year already!
I just rescued two adult male cats from the shelter and I’m keeping things pretty easy. My usual 9 foot Christmas tree is being replaced by a 6-1/2 foot that I can tie to the window to avoid crashing. I’m also using picks instead of ornaments (so far). I have a 3 ft tree decorated with leaves and berries for Thanksgiving and they have shown no interest in it. Hoping the smaller Christmas tree fares as well. I’m doing something on the mantle, the dining room table (already made) and maybe a couple of things in the kitchen, but all the insane decorating I usually do down the stairs, around all the door frames, etc. is taking a rest this year. Hope you and yours have a wonderful Christmas. You are a sport with all those Little’s!
I feel like the true meaning of Christmas has been lost for years now. It's all about decorating and presents and less about love and family. We have had both real and artificial, I'm team whatever works. We have also streamlined gifts too. Great ideas as usual Kallie. ❤❤🎄🎄🎁🎁
I love getting our real tree every year. They smell amazing!
I grew up with no tree at all! It was sad but at the same time it made me see that side!😜
Team live tree!!! That is how I grew up and that brings the best memories( smelling evergreen) of a magical time! To this day smelling evergreen trees brings me back to Christmas as a child!! Kallie, you are such a great Mommy!! Your head is on straight!!😉🎄♥️
You may not want to do much for decorations, but don't take what you have for granted. Our house caught fire and we lost everything. I lost my Christmas village, decorations, things I'd been collecting for years. I'd be glad to have even a few things back.
Sorry for your loss.
Love this video, thank you!
Our finances are very tight this year, to say the least. So we are focusing on making homemade treats for friends and family as gifts, and we will be driving around the neighborhoods with hot cocoa looking at lights with the kids. Also really trying to focus on the true meaning of Christmas. 😊
That sounds beautiful ❤
Grèat advice! Our kids are grown and out on their own now with their own kids. They want a traditional Christmas and they want their kids to experience a traditional Christmas too. I love Christmas and all the business that comes with it, but at this stage of my life its too hard to do everything, so i have started roasting my turkey a day or 2 in advance. I cook it, slice it and make the gravy and store in the refrigerator. On Christmas day i wrap the turkey in tin foil with a sprinkle of water and heat it in the oven, and the gravy gets heated in a pot on top of the stove and voila! Ťhis makes life so much easier and the turkey tastes great, it doesn't taste like leftovers!
We watch "A Christmas Story" during the day, but I like the idea of making the gingerbread after presents. We usually do our gingerbread before Christmas, but I think we'll try doing it after presents this year. Thanks for the suggestions in this video!
Christmas before Thanksgiving - I’m allll for this. I’ve always hated having to stress right after a day we simply stuff ourselves with food. It’s crazy to be doing all this decorating while we also struggle with winter weather, kids being out of school for holidays, biggest shopping season due to deals, having to work OT as coworkers start using up unused days off before the new year rolls over..
AND I just love our Christmas tree. I want to see it for more than 3-4 weeks! 😭
I used to be annoyed when it was pushing thanksgiving out of place, but I actually love it now. I start decorating as soon as Halloween is over, and slowly add in things. So for example. Out tree goes up BEFORE Halloween and we do a Nightmare Before Christmas tree with lights and paper (Cricut) ornament cut outs of bats and characters in ornament circles. After Halloween we take the Halloween cutouts down and add in handmade ornaments from kids. As the weeks go on we add the more “pretty” stuff. After thanksgiving is when we go all in with the santa, snowmen, snowflakes, etc that the kids love.
I really wish more ppl would embrace this and enjoy their home a lot longer.
Last year I wasn't ready to give up our tree yet, but it was a real tree so couldn't stay in the house longer, so we took the decorations off, left white lights on it and sat it on our deck right outside our living room window. We left it there until March, lit up at night, and it was beautiful!
@ that sounds amazing! I’ve come to leave ours up and make a Mardi Gras tree, as we are in Louisiana and I’ve seen that done everywhere.
I cannot believe the craziness I see online with Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas... soooo many decorations bought new etc. We only celebrate Christlmas where I live and all we have is a tree, a few tree ornaments and some lights. Zero seasonal decoration stress.
@ ok now don’t get me wrong. I’m pretty darn near poor, which is why we do paper cut out ornaments on my friends Cricut haha
And I think having the tree out all winter season kind of helped with seasonal depression and gloomy feelings because of cold dreary days. That’s what my husband suspects is going on lol. I also started to realize how much my kids loved it when we would raid a Goodwill for discarded Christmas decorations 😆.
I do admittedly feel like I would want to go to a more simplistic way such as yours, but for now, this seems to be keeping everyone in an upbeat mood around here.
And well, our Mardi Gras tree covered in parade beads is just fun 😆 I’ll defend that decision on top of a mountain hahah
I am glad you know what works for you guys though, and maybe when my kids move away, I’ll adopt the same streamlined approach.
Almost a decade ago we started to order pizza or Chinese for Christmas day supper. My family was so turkeyed out by Christmas night they didn't want a large turkey dinner. My family loves this tradition and with my health issues (who knows how I am going to feel one day to the next), I don't have to worry about making a large dinner when I can barely get out of bed.
Shannon, I did the same thing a few years back and my family has loved it ever since! 🥡🥢🥠 Not having to worry about cooking and being able to put the food out straight from container to the table hot and ready to serve has been a treat and something we all look forward to. 😊 It’s also takes so much stress out of the day and allows us all to be able to focus on each others company and having fun laughing and playing games together instead of on the food. 🎄Plus we love reading and sharing our🥠 cookies at the end of our meals as an exciting way to get a glimpse into where each of our New Year’s may lead us next!💛 Have a very Merry Christmas Shannon and a happy and healthy New Year.🎄 God bless🙏
@@Goldenheart2911 Absolutely, I found Christmas Day Dinner just too much. My extended family has 4 appetizers six desserts and perogies, cabbage rolls, 3 sides, a ham and a whole turkey dinner to boot. It is too much to actually enjoy. So the month of December I make that stuff but I may make one thing for that day. We seem to enjoy them more this way
@@shannonbrice8012 Good Morning Shannon☀️ I absolutely love your idea of making one of your favorite Christmas food items throughout the month.💛
I can see how it is much more enjoyable that way. Even if you do one side or dessert it helps to keep the enjoyment of the Christmas season going throughout the month instead of for only one day.🍽️
My family loves to all come around the table and do the big meal with all the trimmings on Thanksgiving and that has become enough for me. 🦃🥘🍲
Thank you for your reply Shannon. 😊 After Thanksgiving I’m going to sit down with my kids and have us write down 24 Christmas foods that we would like to have during the month of December leading up to Christmas Day, fold them up, randomly pick one each night and then make it the next day.🎄🤶 I love trying new things and I’m looking forward to this one.💛 God bless and have a Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas.🙏🦃🎄💛
Such a great video…love the whole simplify concept. I host the holidays too which makes me happy, but when someone asks what they can bring, I give them something that makes it just a bit easier for me and works with the meal. We don’t exchange gifts anymore ( except grandkids), as most of us are retired, empty nesters and truly don’t need more stuff. There is music, smiles and laughter at every holiday…so much better.
I have one room that is “Christmas all year. “ I leave everything up. I don’t have to put up/ take down or store items. It makes me happy year around. Also, I can see that I have plenty of Christmas decor and don’t need to buy more.
I grew up with real trees. We would go together and get the tree. That was one of our traditions and when I got married, my hubby and I would go. Over the past 5 years or so my hubby does not want real trees anymore so we did get a fake one. It is beautiful but I really miss the real tree, it was part of the lead up/tradition and I really do miss it! Happy Holidays everyone!!
I grew up with artificial trees. Starting with silver one. My father was an electrician. He felt electric lights on a tree that's getting dryer everyday was a recipe for fire. That was the late 50's early 60's and quality and safety has vastly improved!
My BIL and his family come visit for the holidays every other year and whenever they visit, a lot of time is spent over at my in laws to maximize the time we can spend all together as a family. But, because we have young kids, we will often spend the whole day at my in laws only to come home for supper and then bed for the kiddos. These visits have become one of my prime "meal prep and freeze" events where I'll cook a double meal once a week for the 4-6 weeks before Christmas just so our freezer is fully stocked and I'm not scrambling to cook during these visits. And tbh, I sometimes do this even when they aren't visiting so I can take a "cooking vacation" during the holidays.
Swapping instead of adding decor really helped me cope with Christmas.
For the lazagna: cook it a day or two before and refrigerate it. Heat it up on the day and it will be easier and neater to cut and serve.
Although it’s more work for me 😊, we started having a Christmas scavenger hunt. My adult kids and their wives love it and look forward to it!
@jenm220 would you mind sharing how you did this? We were just discussing doing this this year, just not sure exactly how. Thank you 😊
Oh wow! What does that look like?
I have strict rules around Christmas in order to prioritize family time rather than busy-ness. All Christmas decor goes up between the end of Black Friday shopping and bed on Saturday. That way we wake up the first Sunday of advent, ready to celebrate the birth of Christ. All Christmas presents have to be wrapped by a week after cyber Monday. And these are non negotiable. If I get sick over thanksgiving and can’t put up Christmas decor, that’s ok! We just skip it. December is jam packed with school plays, concerts and Christmas parties. I don’t want to show up dragging to my husband’s work party bc I was out shopping. I want to be present and engaged in everything. Boundaries help me do that with 5 little kids.
My advice for anyone: don't do things for the sake of social media! You'll be amazed at how much more relaxed the season is by that alone. Your house doesn't need to be perfect, and you don't need to take a picture of everything. I like what she said about planning something for later on Christmas day. Something we like to do is make popcorn and hot cocoa and watch a Christmas movie together or play a family board game (usually a new one that was received as a gift).
This year I will get out and decorate the trees and mantle along with my handmade quilts pillows and table runners …THEN add maybe a few extra items here and there. This will help in minimizing w/out all the store decor I’ve collected over the years
When i was young, my family would go to find a tree and saw it down. Once it is cut down, dad would lay down, and we would put the tree laying across him and take a photo with him. It was a tradition for my family, and we kids loved it.
That is too funny. I love it!!
We always get a real tree. I do agree with you when you say you put so many things up then having to take them down. Les is more sometimes.
You can do experiences as well for gifts. Just go somewhere. We went to New York City and ice skated in Rockefeller Center on Christmas morning. That was the best Christmas ever. Sometimes Christmas can just be going somewhere special and not stuff. Thanks for the video. This year my daughter and I are going to London England to celebrate her 21st birthday and Christmas. Sometimes you can just plan ahead and just go somewhere special.
Great advice! I especially like the part about making Christmas Day about more than just the presents!
I love the swap idea. That way I can decorate for every holiday. Pot holders, pillow covers and lots of things like that are easy and inexpensive to make
Lasagna is a great idea for Christmas. Thank you for these tips.
Last year for Christmas, I cooked my ham in my crock pot(I have a big crock pot). Then later all I had to do was the sides. It was such a huge time saver and made life so much easier. Not sure what I'm doing this year but something easy for sure. And for Christmas morning, I usually make French toast casserole the night before so that I just have to pop it in the oven in the morning. I do make some eggs and bacon as well but it still means less time in the kitchen for me:)
Aren’t crock pots wonderful? 😁
I love your gifting ideas for kids. That sounds like such a fun, anxiety free Christmas morning.
I gave up sending Christmas cards & family newsletters when my kids were little. It was too much stress and they just get thrown away anyway!
We also celebrate the 12 days of Christmas (Christmas Day is actually the first day of Christmas!) Each day we do a fun thing as a family or the kids get a small gift. Examples are: reading holiday books, drive and look at holiday light displays while listening the Christmas music, baking cookies, going to a holiday concert, visiting our local reindeer farm, or playing music together. We fast for 40 days before Christmas from meat and dairy so we wait to do all of our baking and meat eating until the 12 days of Christmas, so good eating is definitely part of the fun of these days!
All great tips and I’m feeling the simple vibes this year too! All of your kids are adorable but I’m sorry, olive at the holiday dinner table was my favorite. Lol
Happy holidays!
Swaps is a great idea! I used to thing it was pointless to buy holiday versions of things I have, never thought of it as preventing holiday clutter.
Last year, I started a new tradition of family games at our family Christmas. I got on tiktok and found silly games that everyone can play and it was so much fun! It kept everyone engaged with family and off electronics.
Nice job on addressing this issue.
What we started years ago when kids were young & mom wanted to be with everyone opening gifts. We started steaks on the grill with baked potatoes. The men like to grill after gifts are open & the potatoes are in the
oven while the gifts are being opened. No fuss & fewer dishes.😊😊
Since we had our children (now 19 and 16) we've had our Christmas dinner at 6pm on Christmas Eve. Takes a lot of the stress out of Christmas day! This year, we have ordered our meal from a local hotel and I can't wait to not have the food shop stress.
A live tree. If money is tight, I choose among the cheapest available. With lights, even the saddest looking tree looks great.
God bless you. Thank you for making life easier and helping us see it's ok to simplify and minimize.
We play games every year. Also, everyone participates on buying a gift on a budget like $10 or $20 we wrap it and we write numbers down and put in a cup and we start from 1- however many people are playing. etc
Yes and yes! Red/green pillow covers, switching my photo gallery to Xmas pics, and a beautiful tree. That's it and my teens love it. Plus, take the burden off yourself and go look at other people's Xmas displays in their yards. We'll have a great time walking around Xmas Tree Lane in a neighboring city and none of those decorations live in my garage -- a win win 😊
I grew up ALWAYS having a live tree that we either cut down ourselves or dug up ourselves to later plant in our yard. I have such fond memories of hiking back down the mountain with our prize pick of a tree every year. And my parents continued to have a live tree even after they became empty nesters, until they passed in their 70's. My dad continued to cut their tree every year, with the help of my brothers when he got older. There's just something about a live tree and that amazing pine scent, and the making of wonderful, treasured memories. 🤗
GREAT video, just what I was looking for. I have been campaigning for years with my family to downplay the gifting. Growing up, the volume of gifts was out of control. We are a small family and it's easy to overdo. When we had kids, they reluctantly agreed we would do gifts for the kids only. (not all of my family comply; my sister and mother just love gift-giving and are tooo good at it! Argh.) Even still, we struggle when my kids see their cousin get more gifts than they get. Work in progress.
Team Real Tree. Having a lit-up plastic tree in my house strikes me as weird somehow. Living trees are special, and I do have guilt about cutting them down for the sake of holiday decor. I didn't bother having a tree at all, until my twins were old enough to care about such things. Now they are 13, and last year we opted to skip the tree again. It takes effort to set it up and decorate it and then take it all down again... That said, I always love our tree when we do have one, and we always decorate the house. I love bringing out the keepsakes from when the kids were little, and I have framed some of the holiday-themed art they made back then, which are some of the most precious decorations I have.
To simplify I limit to 5 or 6 types of cookies. Sometimes I will make double batch of cookie dough making 1 chocolate chip and the other m&m. This really helps on time.
Great idea for parents! I think just getting the one thing they really wanted and a few more things is great...they won't remember the other stuff we bought...saying this from a mom of two...As a grandma aged person.
Christmas 🎄 decorating passes time in Pennsylvania while we wait for spring! Happy Holidays ❤
We found a bird’s nest in our live tree one year when I was a kid. We bring it up every year when we look at our tree. We get a live one every year. One of our only traditions.
My first baby is due January 14th so this is for me! Minimal compared to my usual winter wonderland style. Tree and some garland and stockings.
I would also say teach all our children and or grandchildren to give to kids and others that have nothing at Christmas !
We had a real tree that my parents put up on Christmas eve after my sister and I were asleep. We woke up to a miracle!
Beautiful. I'm a Nana, mom of 5. Christmas is about memories, not stuff. We make cookies and movies with grand babies. When kids were little, we made snow flakes, ornaments & snow fights. The morning of was pancakes or cinnamon rolls. One year, we decided to have a large sub for dinner, so we didn't have dishes.
We use to have a real tree growing up until we finally figured out my mom’s “Christmas rash” was from being allergic to the pine. Artificial since then. We did buy real when first married, but ended up doing some much traveling to families, we went artificial to not worry about it drying out. Love your ideas😊
Want, need, wear, read! Love this!
When my youngest (of 3) was a year old, we put up the tree with lights only UNTIL Christmas Eve. That way we didn't have to worry about young children taking off ornaments.
My kids are a bit older (9 and 12). I bring up the storage totes from the basement and they put the decorations out. They love getting the house looking festive, and if I'm being honest, the holidays have been difficult for me the past few years so having that taken off my plate is so much more helpful than they realize.
I love the idea of swapping versus adding in. So I just put the swapped items in the Christmas storage totes and then swap back after Christmas. No need to find separate storage during the Holidays.
You do you, but I love Christmas perfectly! I’m an empty nester, so it’s all just for me, and any guest I may have. It’s my season and I fully enjoy it, every moment! As for the cost, been there, done that, still doing it. Made many changes years ago and have kept it simply since.
Yes love the real tree! I did it as a kid and now my kids love it, it’s definitely one of the best parts. We also decided a few years ago that gifts were for the kids only and adults didn’t need to exchange anything. It ends up being just a gift card swap at the end anyway. I nice meal and spending time together is all we need.
Love this! Doing this with just me & my dogs this year🤗 this gave me good ideas thank you!💡 ❤️
Best wishes to you and your dogs! x
We're moving this month while I'm very pregnant this year, so we're just doing a tree, some outdoor lighting (that's the husband's thing) and our vintage Christmas village
I grew up with a real tree. I'm getting a real tree this year for the first time in years. Thank you for your helpful tips!
Great ideas. Simplifying Christmas has helped me to enjoy it so much more.
I am older than you and your lovely family..I grew up with a real tree every year So many fabulous and cherished memories and let us not forget the vacuuming of pine needles after! We did eventually turn to an artificial tree and it was beautiful too!
Wise words!
I don’t get any pressure fr social media. I love looking at everyone else’s decor, it doesn’t make me feel any less. The pressure this year is coming from my 7year old’s winter activity list 😂😂they aren’t asking for presents this year but rather, they want to do ALL the activities. Which I’m 100% for. I know next year may be a lot harder to coordinate I’ll have 4 kids spaced similarly to your kids), so I’m trying to help my 7yo and 4yo knock out their Christmas/winter to do list (they made it on their own)
Thanks Kallie. You remind us of the true meaning of CHRISTMAS🤶🎅🌲🧑🎄🎁
Great ideas with wonderful tips. I had a water leak recently and all my floors are being replaced. Therefore all my furniture other than 1 recliner and TV is in storage. I will not be decorating as usual other than a tree. I'm kind of looking forward to it. Blessings to you from Texas.
Thank you so much! What a helpful video. I feel much better about making Christmas this year🎉
we used to get a real tree until we realized family members were getting sick during the Christmas season from the strong smells - turns out lots of allergies, so switch to artificial tree. we always decorate the Friday after Thanksgiving because of all the December activities that arise. One thing we started with our family was - give each child a Christmas ornament and some cash. then when that child created their own home - they got to take all their Christmas ornaments with them. It made gift giving much easier and each of the children enjoy putting "their" ornaments on the tree. would use a marker and put their initials on the bottom of the ornament so we could remember who owns that ornament.
We celebrate Christmas the weekend before Christmas with my son and his family they have so many other places on the 24&25. We have had Christmas Lasagna for the last 2 yrs and are having this years also by request from my daughter n law. Then me and my mom have steaks baked potatoes salad and wine on Christmas just us