So many wonderful posts about winter holidays: preparations and decor, spirit or lack thereof, holiday blues and holiday happiness. Being an elf or a grinch about gifts. I am ALL in with those posts and enjoy them so much. I figured I’d explore how our family does Christmas, things we do and things we don’t do.
I learned about the enormity of American Christmas after moving to the US back in the early 2000s. Winter holidays in my family were a very modest affair. One gift for New Year’s, some winter theater plays or a concert, a holiday movie or two, skating and sleighing in -20 C weather, as well as long winter walks in snow-covered woods. We didn’t decorate a lot, not many cards, and not many events to go to.
Fast forward 25 years, and here I am on the Christmas bandwagon myself! Decorating, and shopping, and singing and… Stressing.
I am happy to report that my own family’s consumption have been reduced through the years. I remember a few Christmases of years past where there were so many gifts, we could not come close to the tree.
For the past few (I wanna say, 6-7?) years, we started building “a fence” around each Christmas. Purchasing less, and purchasing things that are durable, can be used up, or eaten.
Each Christmas is a little bit different but this is what we do overall:
- Gifts are purchased for our kids only. T and I are not exchanging gifts this year but purchasing living room couches instead. Last year we did exchange gifts and, I begged him to not go overboard, and thankfully, he didn’t.
- Our extended families are tiny, and live far, far away, so do not receive gifts but money. My parents live in Russia and that is currently a very hard place to send things/money to.
- The tree (fake) is put up on or around December 1st.
- We have one long string of lights that goes on the mantel. Also December 1st.
- A door gets a big wreath (fake), windows on the front get a smaller wreath each (fake). Around mid December.
- T usually orders a natural wreath from his home state – Maine
- Four Santa hats come out, we take a family photo with them (see #9)
- We make sugar cookies on the week between Christmas and New Year’s.
- Take a family picture on or somewhere around Christmas
- Teachers gifts are shipped for about a month in advance. Both kids write cards to the best of their ability.
- Letters to Santa are written and placed into a mailbox in our town.
- Some kind of winter holiday play/concert/event at the theater. This year is was TWO: the Grinch with L, and Cirque Musica with R. Last year was the Nutcracker.
- A friend get-together with my three sister friends
- A small Christmas Eve get together for people like us, whose families live far and/or unreachable. Usually neighbors and some of our friends come.
- Gift cards to garbage collectors and our mail person.
Awesome things other people do that we don’t do or no longer do:
- Send cards. Only T’s grandma and his mom get a physical Christmas card.
- Go see huge Christmas lights displays (think PNC Arts center or NY Botanical Gardens) – would love to, don’t have the bandwidth now
- Secret Santa/White Elephant gift exchanges. Actually, T maybe still does at his job, but I stopped participating.
- Cookie-making paloozas. I really wish I could fall in love with baking. I can’t. We make sugar cookies once, clean up, and put everything away for next year.
- Movie marathons. We watch holiday movies but no marathons. No one in my family has the attention span but especially me.
- Advent calendars. Did one for each kid last year… R – match box cars, L- jewelry. SO. MANY. CARS. So. Many. BEADS. If we ever do one again, it’ll be an edible one.
- The Elf on the shelf.
I am sure I am forgetting more things we do and more awesome things that other people do that we don’t do. But will end here.
Let me share with you some pictures of Christmases past, below.
Pic on the front of the post: my dad with a new born L (2017).
Mom of Children 