Minimizing Christmas Consumerism

Does the amount of stuff on Christmas make you cringe a little? The garbage generated in such a short time? The boxes, the bags, the tissue paper, the plastic, the packaging. Plus the gifts themselves. Think about how much of what gets bought for Christmas actually gets used past January. A lot of families go big for Christmas, which is bad news for the Earth and probably not the best thing for our children either. That’s why, after a few crazy overboard Christmases, we started making an effort to minimize the consumerism.

Now I am not little Miss Earth. I order from Amazon far too often and use paper plates way too much. But I am somewhat conscious of being a responsible human for our planet’s sake. I’m not trying to be a bah-humbug about the Christmas gift thing. Or judge anyone by the glorious pile of presents under their tree. I’m just sharing one idea that I think has made our Christmases more special and saner.

Here’s the tip that changed our approach to Christmas:

• Each child gets 3 gifts, just like Baby Jesus got 3 gifts from the Wise Men.

I overheard a woman talking about this at a party and I liked the idea. The woman who shared it said it didn’t necessarily cut spending. It cut back on the craziness. The frenzy. The glazed there-can-never-be-enough look that can take over a child’s eyes on Christmas morning. Her kids were not deprived, she was not cheap. It was a way to curtail the overdoing most of us do.

The woman mentioned it in passing when talking about going Christmas shopping, but a few of us jumped on the idea and asked questions. Most of the women were intrigued but didn’t really go for it. Something about it really felt right to me. I had always stressed about buying presents- what should we get, how much is enough, how much is too much? I went home and told my husband.

My husband LOVED the idea. He hates stuff, he hates clutter, he hates the consumerism in America. The constant buying of plastic crap that ends up in landfills. The cute little plastic thing that catches a child’s eye for all of two minutes and ends up in the garbage. So he was all, “Hell yeah!” Even while I was a little bit, “Yeah, but…”

What about the pile?

I admit on some level it sounded scroogy to me. What about the ginormous pile under the tree? How will we make our kids feel happy and bring them joy? Will they feel less loved? How will it work when they hear and see what other kids got?

I’ll get into how I fudged it a little to make myself feel better. But let me tell you- there is still a ginormous pile under the tree. Our kids feel just as happy and loved as any other family on Christmas morning. They are not overwhelmed. They appreciate their gifts. And I don’t think they realize that they get fewer gifts than other families.

Trust me, my kids get plenty of gifts. Aside from Christmas morning, they get gifts from my family and Secret Santa gifts from my husband’s family. Plus they’ll get gifts from aunts and uncles and cousins. We are blessed and they have plenty.

Here’s how we (or I) have adjusted to make it work for us:

• Each child gets 3 gifts, just like Baby Jesus got 3 gifts from the Wise Men. These are the gifts Santa brings.
• Each child gets 1 gift from Mom and Dad.
• Sometimes gifts are bundled in themes. (This is my fudging so that I can sneak in more presents.) For example, when my son got a set of plastic dinosaurs for his 3rd Christmas, he also got a dinosaur stuffed animal and dinosaur books in the same box or bag. Still counts as one present!
• If there’s something one of my children really, really, really wants and I can’t fit it in, I ask my sister to get it 🙂

And this idea is as much for our children as it is for the Earth. Our children don’t need to be spoiled with stuff. They also need to have a healthy respect for things.

If you have a hard time with they buying-fewer-presents thing think about this:

• how many toys does your child have and how many toys does your child actually play with?
• can you think of toys you bought that your child never played with?
• have you ever bought something random to even out the kids’ piles? or because you felt like there wasn’t enough?

There are so many Christmas season lessons from keeping the gift-giving from going overboard. I don’t want to get into all that here, but I do think about how much we have and how little some people have. Something about the stuff-mania at Christmas just doesn’t feel right.

If you have already started the craziness in past Christmases and feel like it’s too late to change, it’s not. Our elf arrived years after most families got theirs. Santa sent a letter with the elf explaining why he didn’t arrive sooner. You can explain it, either through discussion or through a letter from the big guy. They’ll be thrilled to get a letter from him before Christmas! Or don’t even tell them about the 3-gift thing, just use it to guide your shopping and keep you saner.

To be honest, though, my kids have never asked how come they only get 3 presents when their friends get more. Probably because they still get so much. The only time it comes up is when they make their Christmas lists. I’ll hear them say, “We get three presents from Santa.” I also think they get it, though, on some level- especially the two older ones. They get that too much stuff is just not good. Not good and a little silly.

I know lots of people will have a hard time with this 3 gift thing. I’ve mentioned it a few times to other moms, casually. Just kinda like- wow I heard this great idea and it’s what we do and it’s really nice. I remember one mom looked at me like I was a horrible, terrible person and I’m pretty sure she actually took a step away from me. But I’m just throwing this out there and maybe it will resonate with somebody.

Do you ever feel overwhelmed by all the stuff on Christmas?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

P.S. This doesn’t mean I don’t want presents 🙂 I love presents!

P.P.S. Share this with someone who might like the idea…