This post was written for inclusion in the Mindful Mama Carnival hosted by Becoming Crunchy and TouchstoneZ. This month our participants have shared how they stay mindful during the holiday season. Please read to the end to find a list of links to the other carnival participants.
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It is often difficult to remain mindful in the holiday season.
However, some of the ways in which we as a family naturally interact with our society help maintain mindfulness during the holiday season.
Not as a rule, but just as a habit, we don't really watch TV in our home. We have a TV, and I do love to watch Biggest Loser (it's my TV weakness!), but other than that and the occasional episode of Wheel of Fortune, we don't really watch TV. This helps with not having to watch commercials that tempt us with ideas of material things we do not need.
Additionally, both my husband and I loathe shopping. I do not enjoy wandering around stores perusing items or snagging deals or any of it. I only go out when there's something I need. This helps greatly because being out in the stores is where many of us become aware of items we want or think we need.
Not watching TV and not shopping are not exclusive habits for the holiday season for us, we simply just don't think about doing them. These habits help us remain mindful all year long, but especially during the busy time of Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's.
Last year was our first year with a baby in the family for Christmas. We decided that we would not be doing "Santa" and that gifts from us to our children would include Christmas outfits and an ornament for the tree. Thankfully, we come from a large family in which Burkley and our future children will have grandparents, aunts and uncles, and friends who will dote on them. Our children will never be lacking for toys, books, games, clothes, etc. So, knowing I don't have to shop around for gifts for my children really helps us too.
On my husband's side of the family, to increase mindfulness, we have a fun tradition. We used to do a gift exchange with all of his siblings and their spouses, but the past few years we have not. Instead, we pool our resources and have an annual Gingerbread House contest! It provides fun times together, great memories, and a cheap alternative to expensive gifts. Additionally, for both sides of the family, I try to make our gifts as often as we can.
On my side of the family, we get up on Christmas morning, enjoy a breakfast together at my parents' house, and then open gifts. We do a drawing at Thanksgiving determining which sibling we will be buying for. We keep it a secret until Christmas morning and it's always fun to find out who was buying for us and to reveal the person for whom we bought! This is really helpful because then we each are only buying for one person, other than our parents. Otherwise our Christmas list would be so long and it would get confusing, stressful, and expensive.
For us, Christmas is about celebrating the birth of our Savior, being with family, and enjoying each other's company. None of that has to include gifting, but giving gifts is a fun part of the traditional Christmas celebration. I do enjoy giving gifts, so I don't want to take that completely out of the picture for our family, but I do want to minimize it. This will help us remain mindful throughout the season.
However, some of the ways in which we as a family naturally interact with our society help maintain mindfulness during the holiday season.
Not as a rule, but just as a habit, we don't really watch TV in our home. We have a TV, and I do love to watch Biggest Loser (it's my TV weakness!), but other than that and the occasional episode of Wheel of Fortune, we don't really watch TV. This helps with not having to watch commercials that tempt us with ideas of material things we do not need.
Additionally, both my husband and I loathe shopping. I do not enjoy wandering around stores perusing items or snagging deals or any of it. I only go out when there's something I need. This helps greatly because being out in the stores is where many of us become aware of items we want or think we need.
Not watching TV and not shopping are not exclusive habits for the holiday season for us, we simply just don't think about doing them. These habits help us remain mindful all year long, but especially during the busy time of Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's.
Last year was our first year with a baby in the family for Christmas. We decided that we would not be doing "Santa" and that gifts from us to our children would include Christmas outfits and an ornament for the tree. Thankfully, we come from a large family in which Burkley and our future children will have grandparents, aunts and uncles, and friends who will dote on them. Our children will never be lacking for toys, books, games, clothes, etc. So, knowing I don't have to shop around for gifts for my children really helps us too.
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| This was one of Burkley's outfits last year. We get one for Christmas Eve, which is more dressy, and one for Christmas Day which is more comfy and loungy. And, also a pair of Christmas pajamas. |
On my husband's side of the family, to increase mindfulness, we have a fun tradition. We used to do a gift exchange with all of his siblings and their spouses, but the past few years we have not. Instead, we pool our resources and have an annual Gingerbread House contest! It provides fun times together, great memories, and a cheap alternative to expensive gifts. Additionally, for both sides of the family, I try to make our gifts as often as we can.
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| Early on Christmas Eve, a few of us assemble houses. |
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| Then later that night, after Christmas Eve dinner and the kids have gone to bed, the adults get to work creating! We randomly draw partners (so there can be no planning ahead of time!) and with a one hour time limit, we get to work. Then, my brother comes over to my in-law's house and judges (with a rubric and everything!) and announces a winner! |
On my side of the family, we get up on Christmas morning, enjoy a breakfast together at my parents' house, and then open gifts. We do a drawing at Thanksgiving determining which sibling we will be buying for. We keep it a secret until Christmas morning and it's always fun to find out who was buying for us and to reveal the person for whom we bought! This is really helpful because then we each are only buying for one person, other than our parents. Otherwise our Christmas list would be so long and it would get confusing, stressful, and expensive.
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| Last year, my mom got my dad, my bro, my bro-in-law, and my hubby tickets to a game (Gosh, I don't even remember- was it for The Bulls?). They had fun going together! |
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| My sister made me some ornaments! They are on our tree this year. :) |
For us, Christmas is about celebrating the birth of our Savior, being with family, and enjoying each other's company. None of that has to include gifting, but giving gifts is a fun part of the traditional Christmas celebration. I do enjoy giving gifts, so I don't want to take that completely out of the picture for our family, but I do want to minimize it. This will help us remain mindful throughout the season.
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| This is the first year Burkley is actually noticing the tree. Rather than putting all of the ornaments high up out of his reach, I put Burkley-safe ornaments at the bottom-- jingle bells, fabric/cushiony ones, etc. He enjoys it so far! |
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Visit The Mindful Mama Homepage to find out how you can participate in the next Mindful Mama Carnival!On Carnival day, please follow along on Twitter using the handy #MindMaCar hashtag. You can also subscribe to the Mindful Mama Twitter List and Mindful Mama Participant Feed.
Please take time to read the submissions by the other carnival participants:
- Enjoying Busy Times Moment by Moment Amy at Peace 4 Parents offers a handful of simple pointers to make the most of any busy season in your life.
- Staying A Mindful Mama During The Holiday Season Terri at Eco-Crazy Mom shares her thoughts on being a mindful mama, while keeping your sanity throughout the holiday season..
- Holiday Parenting: The Gift of Natural Play Moorea at MamaLady shares her holiday plan for mindfully spending time with children in her extended family.
- The ABC's of Mindful Parenting Jennifer at Hybrid Rasta Mama provides a comprehensive list of Mindful Parenting Resultions for 2012. In addition, she briefly reviews her mindful parenting journey for this past year.
- The 123's of Mindful Parenting Jennifer at Hybrid Rasta Mama shares part 3 of her Mindful Parenting series (Link will be live tomorrow, Dec 14).
- Mindful Mama Guest Post from Hybrid Rasta Mama Zoie at TouchstoneZ is honored to share Part 2 of Jennifer's series on staying Mindful for the Holidays.
- Saying No to Plastic Toys Nada at minimomist and her husband Michael, have certain rules when it comes to toys for their daughter Naomi. Here's how they deal with well-meaning gifts that don't quite work for their family.
- Can you LOVE WHAT IS at Christmas? with so many expectations and no many people's needs to accomodate, Patti at Jazzy Mama has decided to simply accept what can't be changed and love whatever happens.
- Minimal Temptation, Minimal Gifting Adrienne at Mommying My Way shares how not exposing herself to tempting purchases, as well as having fun family traditions, helps keep her Christmas list under control.
- Choice And Consequence In Conscious Mindfulness Luschka at Diary of a First Child shares her realisation that consciously monitoring our thoughts have a powerful effect on our lives, regardless of circumstances or influences.
- A Light in the Darkness Sylvia at MaMammalia writes about overcoming holiday blues through the miracle of motherhood.
- Nature-Inspired Christmas Tree Kerry at City Kids Homeschooling describes how she and her children discovered the beauty and simplicity of a nature-inspired holiday tree.
- Giving The Gift of Life Free Range Mama at My Healthy Green Family shares about teaching children how to look beyond the well-wrapped box and learn how to give. .
- Can a collection of moments be more than the whole? Tat at Mum in search asks how do you turn a holiday from hell into a series of beautiful moments?
- Flying Through the Holidays Jenn at Monkey Butt Junction discusses how a simple organizational plan has kept her holidays balanced.
- Celebrating Advent week to week Lauren at Hobo Mama finds that counting down weeks instead of days helps children with the long wait.
- 5 Ways to Stay Mindful This Holiday Season Charise at I Thought I Knew Mama shares ideas and photos that help her stay mindful throughout the holidays.
- Simplifying the Holidays Mandy at Living Peacefully with Children shares how simplifying the holidays has made them more special for her.
- Mindfully Managing the Mania Erica at ChildOrganics fights against "the gimmes" and shares strategies for staying balanced during a time of year when it's easy to overindulge.
- Six Ways to Enjoy the Holidays Without Losing Your Mindfulness Rachael at The Variegated Life shares tips on thinking less, planning less, doing less, and remembering.
- The Gift of Presence Darcel at The Mahogany Way explains how important it is to be present for and with her family during the Holidays.
- Mindfully meditating on celebrations Dionna at Code Name: Mama hosts this guest post from Child of the Nature Isle about desiring meaningful celebrations for the whole year.
- What Does It Really Mean? Staying Mindful Through the Holiday Season Kelly at Becoming Crunchy talks about how she stays in touch with what the holiday season means for her and her family, in spite of all the temptations to do otherwise!
I love it Adrienne!
ReplyDeleteI wish I could be part of your Christmas--it sounds like so much fun!
Joy to you and yours!
A gingerbread house contest is an awesome and fun idea!!!! This is really something a large family could have a blast doing. Our family is so teeny tiny that there would only be two gingerbread houses in the contest. Yeah - boring! ;) Can we just come particiate in yours???
ReplyDeleteThank you for participating in the Mindful Mama Carnival!
ReplyDeleteKeeping the focus on family and togetherness for the holidays is so important. It sounds like with your big family, you've got it all covered. It's easy to fall into the huge gift-giving, especially with a large family. These strategies are a good way to plan out mindful, personal gifts while not stressing out.
I'm glad I'm not the only one who doesn't enjoy browsing in stores much. I like to get what I'm there for and go.
Duh, I'm going to move some toddler-friendly ornaments to the bottom of our tree. I don't know why I was locked into the idea of keeping all the ornaments out of reach (except the fancy shmancy ones that won't be on a tree for at least another decade. sigh)
And, yes, can we please come to the gingerbread house competition, too?
We avoid shopping and commercials too, and we also buy minimal gifts for Baby. We have the same situation of knowing other family members will be buying him plenty, no matter how much we try to limit them!
ReplyDeleteWe got rid of our tv this year and I agree that not having commercial influences, even minimal ones, makes the holidays much more satisfying and enjoyable!
ReplyDelete-Kerry @ City Kids Homeschooling
I loved reading about your fun family traditions, Adrienne. :) Thank you for sharing how you enjoy the season with homemade gifts and activities that bring about laughter and togetherness. :)
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your Christmas traditions, I really enjoyed reading them. I love the gingerbread house contest idea, and I hope when my kidlets are grown we will be able to enjoy traditions such as these.
ReplyDeleteSmiles,
Terri Babin
@EcoCrazyMom