Minimalism Week #8- Christmas Conundrum

We celebrated Thanksgiving this past weekend.  (It was Canada's Thanksgiving weekend.)  Hubby was home so we enjoyed a ton of family time and we were able to get a few things done around the house.  We spent Thanksgiving with family, talking to Hubby's family on Skype and enjoying dinner with my parents at their house.  It was such a lovely weekend and I was thankful to be surrounded by the people that we love.

Thanksgiving brought us to the realization that Christmas is fast approaching.  My husband and I have discussed the obstacles to our minimalism that we encounter with the holidays.  When we discussed the "important" aspects of the holidays, gift giving never came up.  The most important thing to us is spending time with our families and celebrating the birth of Jesus.  We both agreed that we didn't need gifts in order to enjoy our holiday.  Miss. E is far too young to understand the holidays and she won't notice an absence of gifts.

We decided to speak to our families.  I broached the subject with my family and my husband with his.  We requested that we not do adult gifts this year.  We did note that this is Miss. E's first Christmas and acknowledged that the Grandparents would likely want to do a bit of shopping for her.  We requested "practical" gifts, like clothes.  She will definitely get use out of clothes!  We also would appreciate books, as we are avid readers and read to Miss. E often.  We were surprised that we were met with relief over the prospect of no gifts.  It truly adds stress to the holidays for most people.

I also broached the subject with our adult friends that we have exchanged gifts with in the past.  We decided on a set gift for the children (one pair of jammies and one book) and we also decided to not do Christmas gifts with the adults.

My husband and I are excited for the holidays, knowing that our minimalism will be respected.  We want to put the emphasis on the important parts of Christmas: faith, family and fellowship.  We plan to make donations to a few causes close to our hearts.  I look forward to the holidays and embracing the "true" spirit of Christmas.