The Perfect Christmas

Every year people talk about how early the store put out the Christmas propaganda and it seems as I get older that as soon as Halloween is done everywhere you look screams "BUY ME". Well this year I am taking a stand against all the madness, the buying, and the silliness of the season. Now, don't get me wrong... I get excited when I see the wreaths out, hear Santa Baby on the radio, and smell cookies and hot cocoa. But it is because I associate those things with family get togethers, dinners with relatives long distance, and watching my kid's faces light up when they hear that Santa is watching. I have been thinking a lot about what my ideal Christmas would be and how to achieve it, what the holidays mean to us (great food and family!), and what my kids will actually remember come Feb when all the lights are gone and all the wrapping paper is put away. Here is my plan:

No Black Friday Shopping- Really, who needs to sit in line to checkout for hours with a bunch of Chinese-made plastic toy that their kids are going to break in the first hour of play anyhow?? I am doing all my shopping online as much as possible from Etsy and stores like that.

I am putting a stop to all the crazy gift giving for the girls. Instead of trying to get them everything they (and we) think they want/need I am limiting it to 4 things: one they want, one they need, one to wear, and one to read. (Thank you Wondertime Magazine for that idea!) We are going to make sure that presents given by family are also beneficial, no more nonsense that doesn't have any use after the initial 5 minutes.

Stockings are going to have coupons good for things that are more time oriented, like a Day With Daddy for Gabby and a Day of Video Gaming for Klint, along with some little things from World Market like foreign candy and bangles from India.

Well, that is all I can think of for now, I am sure that there will be more things but at least those items hit on the things that make me the most nutsy. What things are you going to do to make the holiday season a little bit simpler and mean a little bit more?