Comments on: Come As You Are: Christmas Without the Frenzy

By: Kelly

Kelly — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 00:34:35 +0000

I look forward to reading more of your posts on this. What a wonderful topic. I have definitely been trying this in varying ways over the past several years and have felt/seen improvement but am also still experimenting. Kelly
Kelly´s last blog post ..12 more days . . .

By: heidi @ wonder woman wannabe

heidi @ wonder woman wannabe — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 15:35:22 +0000

I have been hearing/seeing more and more of this simplify idea, and it echos my own heart desires – I am really excited about narrowing our gift giving attitude. We are only giving our chilren 3 gifts
like the 3 gifts of the wisemen
1 – something they want
2 – something they need
3 – something to read
stockings are from santa but we emphasise that the reason we (and santa) give gifts are to celebrate Jesus. We have an advent calendar and this year we are reading a little at a time from a childrens nativity story each night after dinner to go with the calendar

By: Still

Still — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 07:05:17 +0000

[...] decision to not get organized for Christmas has been good so far. This is the first year in a really long time that my holiday success [...]

By: Steph @ Problem Solvin Mom

Steph @ Problem Solvin Mom — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 03:19:48 +0000

We are simplifying the gift giving aspect quite a bit, but trying to make this and future holiday seasons rich with meaningful and fun traditions...this being the first year that our daughter will start to understand what's going on, we will likely make many revisions over the years. I put up a holiday activity garland, each link in the chain that we'll pull off to count the days until Christmas has a simple but fun activity (listen to Christmas music & drink hot chocolate, take a drive to look at lights, etc). I'm hoping this helps me schedule what we want to do in little bits without feeling overwhelmed. It may end up being to constraining, and if so, we'll adjust... great post! Steph @ Problem Solvin Mom´s last blog post..Friday Funnies - A What The? Moment and Flashback

By: Leah

Leah — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 18:01:30 +0000

We are definitely going simple this year. Instead of getting lots of presents, we’re only doing stockings, with a twist. Each stocking will contain: 1 DVD, 1 CD, 1 food item, 1 book, and a wildcard item. We think it’s going to be fun!

By: Deb

Deb — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 04:28:24 +0000

Wonderful. I'd encourage you to still be intentional about what you do. I took a non-planning approach to Thanksgiving this year, and missed out on some of the things that make good memories. For Christmas I'm going to plan for the most important things and let the rest come as it may. Deb´s last blog post..Rethinking Christmas: Tough Decisions

By: Vicki

Vicki — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 03:27:42 +0000

I'm beginning to think I'll just bake up a storm & wrap some "yummy" packages & call it good. :> I'll be decorating a bit around the house but I think we'll be doing more family activities like driving around to look at Christmas lights & baking together more than anything else. Vicki´s last blog post..All things clean

By: laura

laura — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 23:56:10 +0000

an excellent resource is a very small book packed with great information called The Hundred Dollar Holiday by Bill McKibben. It’s philosophy fits in well with this blog.

By: Renee

Renee — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 21:51:04 +0000

This all sounds too wonderful. What I wouldn’t do for a more simple Christmas. I am guilty of spoiling my girls at Christmas with everything they ask for. How do I stop? I don’t think I could handle the disappointed faces on Christmas morning.

By: Laura @ move to portugal

Laura @ move to portugal — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 18:25:23 +0000

Hi Rachel, this post echoes what a lot of us are feeling.

I believe most of the stress of Christmas, the whole buying, cooking thing, is bought on by oursleves anyway, so this year I’m taking a real step back and I’m looking forward to it more than ever.