How To Simplify Christmas This Year

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9 Insanely Simple Ways to Simplify Your Christmas Season This Year.

You’ve been there, haven’t you? The day after Christmas, you look around your home, new toys and gadgets strewn everywhere. You want to simplify Christmas but you aren’t sure how.

The crafts, decorations, and goodies you made this season sit on the kitchen counters and you realize you did not get to enjoy your Christmas season because you were to busy trying to live up to what the world’s image of what a “perfect Christmas season” looks like.

As moms, we want to create memorable Holiday seasons and simplify Christmas for our family.

But in doing so, we sometimes forget ourselves in the process. The activity and commitments often leave us feeling drained and cranky.

The Christmas season, the whole month of December, is a trigger for me.

Not only do we have Christmas to celebrate as a family, two of our children have birthday’s in December.

On top of the celebrations, our angel son, who passed away in 2011, has his birthday and the day he passed in December.

I learned early on that I need to preserve my energy and time in December in order to be there for my family and not become overwhelmed.

I want to be able to enjoy the Holiday season and I know you do too, don’t you momma?

Maybe you are asking yourself, yes I know the problem, I know I need to simplify Christmas, but how do I fix it?

If you are like I was a couple years ago, you may be feelings defeated at the thought of trying to simplify your family’s Holiday season.

I mean, the idea sounds good, right? But there’s no way it’s even possible.

The truth is, yes it is possible to simplify your Christmas season this year! All you need are some ideas, time and a plan to move forward. Maybe some strong coffee too.

Becoming burnt out during the Holiday season happens when we take on too much.

We see what society expects of us as moms and decide we are going to do it all.

Our children will have the perfect Holiday season; the best toys, fun activities, crafts and make amazing memories. Regardless if we break our backs doing it.

But what if I told you that your children can have a memorable Holiday season and make those incredibly memories, even if you don’t go overboard and jam pack your season?

Being overwhelmed and burnt out is not what Christmas is all about. You do not need to go to every activity, make all the crafts and buy all the toys in order to have the best Holiday Season.

In fact, you may find when you simplify the Christmas Season for your family, you will ALL enjoy the Holiday so much more.

9 Incredibly Simple Ways to Simplify Your Christmas This Year.

Purge Your Child’s Toys

We get suckered into the toy vortex right before the Holiday season starts.

Commercial after commercial bombarding the best and shiniest toys to your children. Then it starts “Mommy, can I have that? Mommy. I want that!”

If we are not careful, it’s easy to go overboard.

Then a couple of days after those bright and shiny new toys are unwrapped, they get shoved into the back of the closet, never to be seen again.

These toys are money pits. Sucking your hard earned money right out of your wallet.

A great way to start your Holiday season off more simplified and peaceful is to purge those toys that sit and take up room. This may be hard for you, it was for me, because it’s difficult to admit you wasted money on something.

“No, I can’t get rid of this toy, I spent $50 on it.” Or “No, Aunt Bee bought this for Becky, I can’t toss it.” And so the toy sits. Taking up valuable space in your home as well as your mind.

This year I decided to purge my kids toys once and for all. Do you want to know how I did it? I bribed them.

Yes I know, parent of the year right here.

A few weeks ago I read in a magazine tips on how to de-clutter your child’s room. The author suggested bribing your children with dollars.

Because I did not have any dollars on hand, I grabbed our piggy bank of coins and used those instead.

As I was de-cluttering my child’s room, I gathered all their toys, besides a few automatic keepers, and placed them all together in the middle of the room.

I handed my child 20 coins and told them each toy is worth 1 coin. If they wanted to buy back a toy, they had to give me 1 coin back.

I thought this task would be hard for me and them, but honestly it was so easy.

They picked what they wanted to keep and I gathered everything else to be donated.

Ask Family Not to Go Overboard On Toys

It’s easy to go overboard on toys for your children. But we all know the result of this. Toys that take up to much room and suck money from you.

You can make your Christmas season less overwhelming now by asking family members not to go overboard on toys for your children.

Now I know not all family members will listen, however, if you are asked what your children need or want for Christmas be practical and direct.

Ask your family members not to spend their hard earned money on toys that will just sit there. Tell them an item that your child is in need of; a new pair of boots, a coat, etc. Or tell them something your child will actually use and love. A good idea is investing in experiences instead of toys. A family membership to a museum or zoo. A craft or activity box subscription, etc.

Instead of spending a ton on toys, use the 4 present rule.

For the longest time, I avoided the 4 present rule. There’s no way 4 presents are enough, right?

Wrong. 4 presents per child is absolutely enough. If you don’t know what the 4 present rule is it’s this:

Each child receives 4 presents. One present the want. Another they need. Something to read. Something to wear.

This works for us because we are a growing family, and honestly we can’t afford to get each child 10+ things. I improvise a little, because each child also receives a “bigger” gift from us every year as well as a group gift. So really, they receive 6 presents. This will help reign in the gift overload children often feel on Christmas morning.

Break out your calendar.

It’s easy to forget our calendar’s during the Holiday season. Oh we don’t need that, we will remember everything we have to do.

But then middle of December quickly comes and you realize you have double or triple booked parties or activities. Or booked activities back to back, leading to exhaustion and less enjoyment for everyone.

Before the festivities begin, grab your pen and pencil and calendar. This will not take long and trust me, it’l be worth it!

Write Down the must do’s.

With a pen, write down all the must do’s for your Holiday season.

For us, we have two birthday’s, so I would write those parties in as a must do.

Some other must do’s are family obligations like Christmas dinner or a school concert. Figure out what is necessary for your family, or a tradition that you do every year and write them down.

Pencil in your maybe’s.

After you write in your family must do’s, start penciling in your maybe’s.

What is something your family wants to do but you aren’t sure you can this year? Do you want to bake cookies or watch a certain movie? Pencil it in. It may sound silly, but you will be grateful for the reminder.

This will also help you to take a step back and see if you are overbooking your family. That’s why you use a pencil!

Create a Family Bucket List.

Have you done a family bucket list? It’s a lot like a summer bucket list or a life bucket list. Sit down with your family and ask them what they would like to do this year. This will help you come up with activities for your calendar and see if you need to scale back a bit.

Some fun traditions my family love are riding around to look at Christmas lights.

Watching a Christmas movie with hot chocolate.

Baking Christmas sugar cookies.

Family bucket lists are a fun way to include everyone in deciding what festivities your family take part in.

Only pick activities that bring your family joy.

Be sure to only pick activities your family will enjoy.

There’s no point in scheduling something in that you all hate just because society or your town tells you that you need to.

When you are creating your calendar be sure to take a step back and really ask yourself if the activities you have chosen is something you will all enjoy as a family. If the activity isn’t something your family will enjoy then scratch it.

Celebrate the true meaning of Christmas.

It’s easy to get sucked into what you think your Holiday season needs to look like.

Commercialism has stolen so much joy from us as a society.

Families feel pressured to have the perfect Christmas season, decorations, activities, etc. That it becomes easy to forget the true meaning of Christmas.

When you put the true meaning of Christmas at the fore front of your mind and center of your Holiday, it will become easier to simplify and enjoy your family this season.

Do you want a Simple Holiday Season but you aren’t sure how to achieve it?

Even if it doesn’t feel like it, you can have a more simplified Holiday season this year. Forget the commercialism of the Holiday and spend time celebrating the true meaning of Christmas with your family. With just a few simple steps, a plan, and some time, you can make this the most enjoyable Holiday season yet!

Planners make life easier as a mom! A wonderful planner I just recently discovered is by Erin Condren. She has a variety of planners to chose from that will fit any need and lifestyle. You can check her Erin Condren LifePlanner™ out here. Right now she is having a Holiday Sale for 20% off her entire site. Start shopping here and make your life as a mom even easier. —-> 20% OFF SITEWIDE SALE.

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Jenna Jury( Creator of the Peaceful Nest Blog )

Hi there, I’m Jenna! I am a devoted mommy and wife. As well as an advocate for children and creating a peaceful atmosphere for those we love. I co-wrote Faith Actually: Living Life After Tragedy with my husband. I have my Bachelor’s Degree in Biblical Studies and currently working toward my Master’s in Positive Psychology. My number one desire is to create a peaceful home life for my family. My second desire is to share with you the tips I learn along the way!