Part of our minimalist journey is saying NO so we can say YES.
The Christmas season has been ever evolving for us over the years. Before kids, we traveled to family. After our first baby we still traveled. Then we had twins, TWINS! And we traveled less, but still traveled. WHAT?!!! WHY!!! Our Christmas quickly became a busy day with a late night of cranky little ones. It was a bit miserable to say the least. We realized after that Christmas that we really wanted a Christmas that was enjoyable for our family, that didn't end in cranky little ones (and a cranky tired mama).
So we finally said NO to travel. It was hard. Super hard. Many family members didn't understand and were disappointed. And being a people pleaser, I had a hard time with that. That first Christmas I felt more guilt than joy even though I knew we made the right decision for our family.
Now, two years later, we were presented with the option of travel again. In so many ways it seemed nice - seeing family I haven't seen in a while, being with loved ones on a special day, and watching aunties, uncles, cousins, and my parents enjoy our girls. It sounds lovely, right? But it would come with 4 hours of travel in one day. I knew that wasn't how we wanted to spend our Christmas. While we would miss the time spent with our loved ones, my husband and I were craving a relaxing Christmas at home.
With recognizing our needs and desires for a stay-at-home Christmas, I also realized that other than a relaxing morning of opening gifts and eating a laid back breakfast in PJs, I didn't know what our Christmas would look like. We didn't have anything to look forward to. What would we do with our day? So I made a decision to make a general plan for our day that would bring us a day of joy together.
The first thing I did was ask my girls what they want to do on Christmas. Their answer:
Make Christmas Cookies and a Birthday Cake for Baby Jesus!
I'm not much of a cook or baker, but for my girls I could dedicate our afternoon to baking! Then we planned out our meals. Breakfast: Donuts and Orange Juice. For Lunch....Once again, not being a cook, we decided to look on Pinterest for Christmas themed lunch box ideas. From this we came up with Tortilla Roll Up Bites laid out on a tray in the shape of a Christmas Tree, star shaped pretzels, and red and green grapes. For dinner I found an easy Christmas Tree Pizza Recipe using frozen dinner rolls! Super easy and fun!
I knew what I wanted to do to end our night. I have dreamed of a Living Room Sleepover Christmas Night for years. We would pop in a fun Christmas movie, have sleeping bags and popcorn, and just enjoy this throwback to childhood sleepover days. We don't have sleeping bags or air mattresses at the moment. So my husband said he would brings the girls' mattresses and blankets down to the living room and set it all up. SO AWESOME! And my husband and I will utilize the couch and share cuddles with our girlies! AND THE JOY I FEEL IN MY HEART IS OVERFLOWING JUST THINKING ABOUT THIS HAPPENING!
Saying NO to travel for family has been a tough journey. Saying NO isn't easy. But we knew that traveling on Christmas would lead to stress and resentment. Saying NO meant that we are saying YES to our stay-at-home Christmas and I am finally looking forward to creating a Christmas Day that our little family can fully remember enjoying. I'm sure it won't be perfect, I will have a messy kitchen, and there may be temper tantrums, but it will all be a messy kind of wonderful because we are following our hearts and remembering the birth our of Lord Jesus.
No comments:
Post a Comment