How can I make a lower-key Christmas feel special?

[bisous]

Last year was so over the top for us. DSs got a Switch. DD received some giant ride on toys (that were given to us for free) including a motorized ride on. My family bought us a digital piano. We never spend anywhere CLOSE to this at Christmas time. And even though we didn't technically spend much over our budget it sure felt like more because of the generosity of others and/or our good fortune in being the recipient of some very exciting toys!

So, this year I really DON'T want to be have Christmas be this big. First of all, we don't really even want or need anything else. How can I make this year exciting while making a conscious effort to do less. Does that make sense?

We have always done few but meaningful gifts. Some things we are planning on giving include Nerf for the whole family (after my older boys and DH had the best time ever in a huge battle--we've never really gotten into Nerf). So everyone would get a Nerf gun and ammo. And we have tickets purchased on a screaming deal to a local trampoline park. If I can get myself together, I think I want to finish baby books this year (DS1 is 16!!!) So that will be meaningful, right?

My goal is not only to save money (though there is always that) but to fundamentally simplify Christmas because last year was so mega. Does that make sense? I need to get back to our normal without it feeling like a let down.

TIA!

[newnana]

hmm, I'm kinda over the top on Christmas, but for me it's the season, not just the day and it's not about the gifts, it's the memories we make. Advent calendars are lego so we have something to do along with the electronic gift ones from friends we listen to together. We do a Christmas puzzle together throughout the season. We read a Christmas themed story together at least weekly in our jammies even though DD has been able to read for over a decade. We have a few traditional things we bake. We decorate a gingerbread house together. We figure out a service project we can do together as a family to make Christmas more special for someone else.

This year, DDs gift is huge, but not a thing to use/have. It's a trip over her spring break. Way bigger than we normally do, and basically our family vacation for the year, but not a thing to use until we go on the trip. To extend the joy of getting it, I'm making the "unwrapping" a scavenger hunt to extend the magic a little bit. She will be over the moon with the gift itself, but this will take it over the top for her. She loves scavenger hunts and if done right will extend the unwrapping into more than 5 seconds.


There are other traditions important to us day of: breakfast casserole, a game together, my friends always find a place to launch rockets together as a family like these: https://www.rocketarium.com/Rockets/1

Is there something your family would want to develop as an idea together to do day of that is maybe repeatable? Something that could be fun/meaningful? Maybe keep a bunch of extra cardboard in the garage and spend part of the day making nerf gun battlefield obstacles with the cardboard for the nerf battle that afternoon? https://i.pinimg.com/originals/1d/2e/0f/1d2e0f64e8964382cac41996728d7c14.jpg

We also like to bake day of. Something we haven't had a chance to make all year and nibble on while we play. We generally hope for snow and spend the day sledding, but that's not always an option

[KpbS]

I would schedule activities for Advent like baking cookies and delivering them to the mailman/local fire station, volunteering as a family one evening or afternoon, making Christmas crafts, going to a live nativity, making a gingerbread house, caroling, etc. Do your kids buy presents for one another? Mine started 4-5 years ago buying food presents for each other. They can be a favorite food or a treat food but these have been a big hit here since they don't cost much, are picked out by the individual kids, and are consumed, not stored. :)

hth

[bisous]

Thank you so much for your ideas! I think I really need to think through what makes Christmas feel special for me. I think I want to interview the kids and find out what they really love and remember. Its funny because I think I'd answer differently now rather than when I was little. I definitely remember making a gingerbread house to be a highlight whereas now that gives me anxiety, lol, even though I pin pictures of gingerbread houses on pinterest all year long! Please keep the ideas coming. I'm making a file and I'm definitely in the planning stages right now. I hope to have a "vision" by the end of Thanksgiving next week!

[truly scrumptious]

One advent idea which is a huge hit with my kids is to wrap books for them to open each day. They look forward to opening a book everyday and it really helps build up to Xmas.
Here’s how I do it:
Buy a bunch of used books online at Better World Books or my local FB (I buy a mix of books based on my kids ages, a mix of graphic and chapter books, usually between $1 and $3 a book.)
Wrap them without labeling or anything (usually in tissue or brown paper)
Display them in a prominent place.
Each day the kids get to pick out one book to open (together!) They make a big production of choosing whether they want a heavy or light book, big or small, etc. They then open it and decide who gets to read it first etc.
One year I was short of books and didn’t want to buy more so I took some of the kids books and wrapped them up among the lot. The kids were actually excited to see whether it would be a new book or one they already had, and trying to guess which one. (This went over WAY better than I expected.) They also re-read their own books as a result.

[ang79]

We have traditions that we started when the kids were little and sometimes add new ones and the girls always look forward to those things and won't let me skip out on any of them! For Advent we make an Advent tree and I have a couple different sets of paper ornaments, each having a scripture verse to read and discuss together. They like to help make Christmas cookies. We used to read a Christmas book together every evening when they were little. Now that they are older and busier, it doesn't happen every night, but maybe once or twice a week, and they take turns picking the books. Some are picture books and a few are short chapter books. They love snuggling on the couch to watch Christmas movies together, some favorites are the Micky Mouse holiday movies, and classics like the cartoon Grinch, Frosty, Rudolph, Prancer. We have a local county park that decorates with tons of CHristmas lights, trains, etc. that they like to visit each year. And we make Christmas gifts together that they give to other family members. We always go out to eat and then to Christmas Eve service together, then come home and hang the stockings, put out Santa cookies, etc. We hang a glass pickle on the tree and the first person to find the pickle gets to open the first gift nn Christmas morning. We always plan a special food for Christmas morning to eat after opening gifts, like Baked French Toast casserole or sticky buns and fruit. I think doing these little traditions means more than stacking lots of gifts under the tree and its stuff that they will want to continue when they have families of their own.

[gatorsmom]

Lots of good ideas here already. Based on the last 3 months at our house, I have a couple of suggestions. We have been having the kids help make family meals on the weekends for all of us to eat the rest of the week. Essentially, each kid is responsible for making an evening meal each week. Dh thought for sure the kids would whine and try to negotiate their way out of this chore each weekend but instead they love it. And we have found that we really enjoy working together in the kitchen. We have also found that the kids love doing nice things for each other for gifts( cards, handmade crafts, etc.

So here’s my suggestion: explain to the kids that your really want to manage your money well and cut down on Christmas spending. If they winge, explain the finances to them. Explain why you are trying to save, how much money you still owe, etc. Then explain that the true spirit of Christmas is giving to others; not thinking about what you personally will get. So, each person in the family is either A- going to draw a name from a hat and make a special gift for that person or B- each person in the family is going to make a small gift for everyone else. Though, there isn’t much time for them to make lots of things.

Then for Christmas morning, have them help with the food. Plan together ahead of time who is going to cook what, who’s helping the littles with which recipe, who’s shopping for what and when. Then plan out the Christmas feast and everyone work together.

the kids will he so proud of what they did and excited to give their gifts. Hopefully the excitement will come from the doing and giving instead of the receiving.

[Daniel596]

Try to organize Christmas for the kids yourself. Gather them in the backyard, invent a competition or invite someone to help you. Children do not need expensive gifts, they need to be properly carried away and interested. Their fantasy is much more than we have adults.