Simplifying Santa Baby
Happy New Year and Welcome to 2024!! If your house is anything like mine, Christmas is put away for another year and the living room may be looking nice and tidy, but if I am being honest, a little bare too. As I was putting Christmas away, I started to think about my take on holiday gift giving to my "three little wise men" (aka my kids).
Have you ever listened to the lyrics of the timeless Christmas song "Santa Baby"? That little lady sure had a lengthy Christmas list! A light blue convertible car, a yacht, the deed to a platinum mine, a duplex, money, decorations from Tiffany's and a ring...which we can also assume that she would request the ring to be purchased at Tiffany's. I suppose it's easy to make those extensive Christmas lists when you're just a kid who believes in Santa and magic. Santa doesn't get into credit debt afterall. The Elves make all this stuff...right?
My daughters have given Santa some pretty hefty Christmas lists and not only is it tough to be able to afford everything on them; it also begs the questions of where do we put it all and gosh, do they really need this stuff? Are they completely spoiled? The house is only so big and we accumulate so much stuff we don't really need.
I remember one Christmas when the girls were young and I went to a toy warehouse to put a dent in my Christmas shopping. I filled the cart with toys and gifts and the receipt was actually as tall as I am! It took me days to wrap it all and it took the girls hours to unwrap it all. Christmas morning was spent watching them unwrap gift after gift and they would tear into the wrapping paper, casually look at what they got, toss it aside and put their hands out for the next gift. I didn't feel great about the present festivities that morning. I felt gluttonous. I regretted it all to be honest. The girls were young and of course it wasn't their fault that they didn't seem overly appreciative of any of it. It's the nature of kids and Christmas morning can be overwhelming. But I remember deciding right then and there, sitting in a sea of toys and crumpled up wrapping paper, that I would never again live another Christmas morning like that! And fast forward several years to now, I am proud to say I haven't. And the kids still believe in the magic of Christmas.
I stumbled upon a Christmas Present Challenge and I was just a few words into reading about it and was sold. The idea was simple. It was a challenge to simplify gift giving by choosing four meaningful gifts. And I absolutely loved it. I'll admit that I love putting together the "Stocking" gifts, so I have adapted this challenge to "Four Meaningful Gifts + A Stocking!"
I put this challenge into practice the following Christmas and I was surprised because I didn't spend less money than I had the previous year. Which was totally fine. Saving money wasn't exactly my reason for implementing this new style of gift giving into our Christmas morning. My main reason was to put a lot of thought into what I was buying and for my kids to appreciate what they were receiving. That Christmas morning was a total hit. I don't remember exactly what gifts were purchased that year, but I do remember their "Need" gift was some nice sleeping bags. I also remember my stepdaughter had requested a "box to keep her things at our house" (and I think out of the hands of her little sisters!!) I wanted to make it a meaninfgul gift and ended up finding an antique Lane Cedar Chest in beautiful condition and thought about how much this gift would mean to her when she was older. She is an adult now and I hope cherishes this cedar chest. This has been my style of playing Santa ever since and my kids seem to love it!
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Christmas 2023~I bought some reusable cloth gift bags this year and I loved not having to wrap Christmas presents!
We are a bigger family this year, hosting our Exchange Student Rio, from Japan.
She had so much fun experiencing her Canadian Christmas!
Safe to say that Izzy LOVED this gift!
Izzy's 2023 Christmas Haul:
Want~A Victrola Record Player and some records
Need~New Bedspread set and sheets
Wear~Taylor Swift dupe cardigan, shorts and Puma socks
Read~Shatter Me series
Delilah modeling her new Weeknd crewneck!
Delilah's 2023 Christmas Haul:
Want~A Roku TV for her bedroom
Need~New Bedspread set and sheets
Wear~Weeknd crewneck (custom made), shorts and Puma socks
Read~Avatar: The High Ground Series & The World of Avatar: A Visual Exploration
Orry looking cute under the tree, among the presents!
Orry's 2023 Christmas Haul:
Want~Magformers Magnetic Tiles
Need~Amazon Fire Kids Tablet for learning games
Wear~Ten Tree Sweatsuit, Hatley Campfire Hoodie, some new pants
Read~Love You Forever and a Robert Munsch Hardcover Treasury and an Usborne Phonics Collection
I know the year will come when one of my daughters (likely Izzy!) will ask for a convertible or a yacht. She's very clever and will say "But it's my want...." and I will laugh and ask for some other ideas. In the meantime though, I am enjoying putting a lot of thought into each gift that is brought into our home and I know my kids love our Christmas present tradition.
From my family to yours, I wish you and your family a very happy and healthy 2024.
Brooke
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