You keep your home
green cleaned and simplified and now it is Christmas… Are you ready for "stuff" to
re-enter your home? How much
"stuff" are you purchasing
to fill your family and friends' homes?
Why do we, as a society, throw the switch ON and over-spend and over-indulged when it comes to gifts at Christmas?
Two words…
Habits. Expectations.
Habits--
--from childhood. As a child you probably made a list of all
the things you wanted Santa to bring you.
--as parents. You
are now in the driver's seat telling your child to make his/her list for Santa.
Now I am not against letter writing to Santa, however, the
often portrayed long lists to Santa should probably be re-considered. Teach your children the value of contentment
with less. Perhaps Santa only needs to
know one or two things your child would really like for Christmas, afterall, he
does have many stops to make!
Teaching your children the value of contentment goes a long
way in their lives. My husband and I
began this journey with our children when they were 4 and 5 years of age. Today as young adults and teenagers, they are
content in their everyday lives, and seek to make purchases out of need rather than
desire. Sure there are times when they
desire something special, but they work to earn it, rather than make purchases
out of compulsion. When it comes to Christmas, our children ask for practical
things they need! Contentment
counteracts whining, complaining attitudes too!
Expectations—
There is a societal
expectation to gift to others in monetary proportion or above to the gift
they gave you. Phrases like
"keeping up with the Joneses" falls right in line with our Christmas
gift-giving exchanges.
If this societal expectation alone was irradiated, household debt around the holidays would drop
significantly!
The advertisement and entertainment industries have great
expectations!
They have it down to a science with their creation of
"needs" and "desires".
We see—therefore we want. You are
lured into a store because of a door-buster deals and before you know it you
have spent much more than intended! I
have been found guilty of this, myself!
After all, who doesn't love a great deal? To a certain degree our holiday spending is
like being intoxicated only to wake up the next day wondering what have we
done! Those great deals add up quickly
in expenses and you "wake up" to that January credit card bill
wondering "what have I done!"
So what's a person to do?
Let's get practical—1.) Set spending price limits! And stick to them!
2.) Share with your kids that even Santa has limits. Begin teaching your children contentment with less.
3.) Purchase practical gifts. Bright, green clean gifting! Harmony Aromatherapy Cleaners, Harmony
Essential Oils and Harmony All-Natural Air Fresheners. Any of these would make perfect gifts from grandparents to grads!
4.) Purchase gifts you can do together. Tickets to a concert, ballet, symphony, or
movie; any of these would be great gifts to do together!
5.) Purchase consumable gifts. Gift cards to your recipients' favorite
restaurant, specialty adult beverages, and homemade delectable goodies. Homemade jams and jellies make great gifts
too!
"Possessions seem
to hold strange scientific properties—they expand to fill the space you provide
for them."—Madeliene Somerville (the Guardian)Set an example to others by purchasing gift ideas from the list above. When asked what you or your children would like for Christmas, share ideas that reflect the list above.
"When we are bold, it gives others courage to make
similar decisions. We may inspire them
to rethink the expectations they have also been struggling to meet." --Robin Shilakhau of Simplify & Pursue
Focusing on giving and receiving practical, sustainable gifts that are useful and necessary goes a long way toward protecting homes from
being over-taken by "stuff"!
May this holiday
season be filled with less!
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| Joshua--HG Labs' fan |
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