What We're Doing This Year

Tonight's errands confirmed for me that I made a good decision with my husband this year.

This year, I have a little poem that I wrote that I'm living by. I call it, "Christmas For Real." (Those of you who watch the Food Network probably have seen Sunny Anderson's show, "Cooking For Real." It's where I got the idea for the title.)

Christmas For Real

By Kimi Crombie

Instead of spending time,

Getting tied up in store hopping,

We're going to save the headache,

And forego the Christmas shopping.

On brand new toys, clothes, and random gifts, 

We will not spend a penny, 

Because the blessings that we already have,

Are so very many!

We want to show our love and care,

To those who love us so,

Therefore this year instead of shopping,

It's homemade and home-baked we go!

This year we're trying something new,

Without the holiday stress,

And instead we're going to make or bake,

All our gifts to give the rest. 

To give you some reasoning, I got the overwhelming conviction early on this holiday season (before Thanksgiving), that seeing what the Christmas season brings out in people is genuinely a gross display of selfishness, greediness and impolite behavior towards the general public.

One example is what happened to me today. I was in a crosswalk, walking from my SUV to a store, and traffic heading one way had already stopped for me. A woman in a sports car was racing through the parking lot and barely screeched to a halt about 3 feet from me (again, I'm already halfway through the crosswalk), and I yelled, "What are you doing?! Drive slower! You could kill someone!" She was shocked; I saw it on her face, but as soon as I started to continue walking, she stepped on the accelerator. She almost hit me not once, but twice. 


Now you tell me: Is it really that important that she beat the next car (you know, the one that stopped for me), or is it more important that a pedestrian's safety be preserved? I don't really want to answer that based on my experience only. But it is disgraceful.

So here's what I've come up with:

We're not shopping for everyone. Family and a few close friends - that's it. We've already bought each other our gift - a new TV. Everything we give to others will be homemade or home baked. Period. This can be anything altered or made to look new, but it cannot be a store-bought only item.

I must say that even at this point in the season, I'm still thankful that we've made this decision. I don't feel pressured to buy things, I don't feel like we're so pressed for time that we have none to ourselves, and our wallet doesn't feel crunched, either. We've discussed this many times, and we are certain that we're enjoying this year's Christmas season more than years past. It's too early to know if it's because of my policy this year that Robert whole-heartedly agreed to, but still - I'm loving it.

I would encourage you to try the same thing. Just see what happens when you open yourself up to it!