Keeping Christmas Simple

Probably not the topic you were expecting a week before Halloween, but I’ve got the holidays on my mind and in all honesty, I’m done shopping for B. (!)

As I’ve gotten older and (ahem) responsible for keeping a house somewhat decent, I’ve shifted my thoughts significantly around gift giving, shopping in general really. It’s not about what’s under the tree but who’s around it – I think we can all agree after having a virtual holiday last year, right? We are buying less and less for our home and we’ve been particularly “good” about this now having a child. It has been a forced reset button, not only evaluating what we have but how it is stored. It’s not like I want you to walk into my house and think we don’t have a kid, I just want it to look like a kid lives there and has a place for their belongings.

That being said, Christmas was pretty magical for me growing up and I’d love for B to experience that as well — more Santa talk in a later post. So for now, especially while B is young and doesn’t fully understand the holiday, I’m going to set the tone for what the future may bring.

If you’re following along on IG then you know that I’m in the process of knitting my first sock! This rather large sock will be B’s Christmas stocking. I’m not going to make him a new one every couple of years as styles and decor changes, this will be his F-O-R-E-V-E-R. Ha! I’ll share the stocking and everything that I’m going to stuff into it in December as Christmas gets closer (read: I haven’t finished making some items / not everything has arrived) but I figured I’d share what we are gifting him to maybe spark some inspiration for the little one(s) in your life.

I wanted to follow the 4 gifts idea – you know, WANT, NEED, SURPRISE and READ – but he’ll be 17 months old and this’ll all be a surprise to him.

Read: I am a Bunny by Ole Risom – This was a book B enjoyed when I borrowed it from the library and I scored a copy secondhand for $5.46 including shipping. Highly suggest using your local bookstore or Thriftbooks.com, but if you prefer Amazon, the link used is affiliated at no additional cost to you. This is a gift I will wrap for B to open.

NEED / SURPRISE: an entryway / space to store his outdoor belongings – Right now if you ask B where his shoes are, he’ll run over to the door and bring you his backpack, a spot I often stashed his shoes when he didn’t wear them regularly. Now that the seasons are changing and he’ll need to wear appropriate footwear, I figured no better time to create a space just for him to get ready to go outside. Here’s a great post talking about the benefits of creating this space in your home. This will be a gift we will install Christmas Eve, so that when he comes down the stairs, he’ll see it as it is to be used.

What we’re giving him:

• A peg rack for his coat, backpack and new hanging basket
• A hanging basket to house his mittens, sunblock, bug spray etc. – I scored a handmade basket at the Adirondack Wool and Arts Festival back in September from the Raisin’ Cane / Mt. Rutsen Studio for $25!
• A small, wooden chair – I found one on the side of the road (free!) while pregnant, it’s finally coming out of the attic
• A small basket to house his shoes – I found one on clearance at HomeGoods
• And if I have the time, I’ll knit him a pair of wool socks using some stashed yarn

I’ll surely share photographs following the holiday – I just can’t wait to see his reaction!

I can hear my mom in my head, “it’s Christmas! Give him something fun!” But the practical Jona is thinking two things: waste and space. I’d love to hear from you – are you already thinking about the holidays? What was one of your favorite gifts to give a toddler?