"Can we try to be thrifty for Christmas this year?" I asked my spouse as he thumbed through the Red Envelope catalog. The truth is I don't know if I can work up the energy to do much in the way of shopping. I'd much rather spend a whole day baking Christmas cookies with the kids than go to the god-awful mall to look for yet another piece of plastic crap that has no meaning.
I usually love Christmas, especially now that I have kids. But, for some reason, this year I am having trouble getting into the spirit of the holidays. Personally, I don't need or want anything. In fact, I'd prefer to get rid of things this year. I've been thinking a lot about how to live life more simply. I would like to subscribe to my friend BJ's philosophy of the gift of nothing but I have a feeling that most of the other people in my life won't understand why I'd want to do this.
I'm not a total scrooge. Santa will visit my house. My daughters have already made their lists. Rita says she wants, "some toys." and Nina tells me, "I placed an order with Santa for a My Little Pony movie." I had no idea that was possible. But, still, I'm going to try to do a little less this year. They are so young and will get so many gifts from all of our extended family, they won't notice if Santa doesn't bring a ton of presents. I hope they will only remember the joy.
A few years ago, when I only had one child, I found the energy to make a bunch of my dad's favorite meals, which I then froze in individual serving containers and presented to him in a big cooler with a bow on it. That was one of the best gifts I've ever given. How can I compete with that this year, when I am exhausted from finishing up all of my course work for the semester on top of everything else?
Maybe I'll get some of that energy and spirit back -- and maybe I won't. Maybe it's time for a change of holiday traditions. If it were entirely up to me, I'd focus more on spending time with the people I love instead of purchasing stuff that they probably don't need or want. Maybe I'll broach this subject with my family on Christmas this year. There's a chance they might feel the same way, right? There's a chance that we can all consider embracing the gift of nothing.
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