Reclaiming the Wonder

Recently, the Greater Kansas City Mothers of Twins Club asked me to write an article for their newsletter. They feature a blogger from their club every month, and I was excited to be the December blogger! Since many of you aren't in the group, I thought I'd share it here as well. Enjoy!

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Reclaiming the Wonder

Confession: Overall, I don’t like the Christmas season.

In recent years, I’ve found December to be exhausting… and not in a good way. I don’t like the stress of making our families happy with enough get-togethers, the commercialism that is everywhere, the crowded stores, the grouchy customers, and the cold temperatures.

Yep, I’ll go ahead and say it, “Bah humbug.”

Lest you think I’m the female version of the Grinch, please know that I really truly do want to enjoy the Christmas season! I want to look forward to family time, special memories, and quiet evenings at home drinking hot chocolate and watching the snow. But I feel like Christmas as it is today has crushed any semblance of “love, joy, and peace” that I can muster up.

This week, I’ve been thinking back to my childhood and what I remember about Christmas mornings with my parents and five younger siblings. What was it about those Christmas mornings that made them special? I remember Dad blasting the Manheim Steamroller Christmas CD as we all came down the stairs, the special reading of the Christmas story before we did anything else, my siblings all scrambling to sort the presents into piles, and the orange Danish rolls out of a can that my Mom would buy just for Christmas morning because we would beg her for them.

Do you know what I don’t remember? I don’t remember what was in the presents. I remember a few special items over the years: a “grown-up” Bible, an American Girl doll, a dulcimer…but the vast majority of the gifts, I simple don’t recall. It’s not that I’m ungrateful. It’s just that the special family moments of the day seem to have edged out the “stuff” that I was given.

I think a common complaint about the Christmas season is the stress to financially, physically, and emotionally meet every need that commercialism throws at us.

Well I, for one, am not interested in dreading Christmas any longer. This year will be our second Christmas with kids. I don’t want to continue to passively wish the season away, so I’ve decided to actively change my perspective in an effort to reclaim some of the special wonder that has left over the years.  Hopefully, a few changes toward the simple will reduce our stress and increase the joy!

1.      Sean and I are discussing Christmas plans with our respective families early this year. We’ve decided that we want to enjoy part of the day with just our kids, so the morning will be spent at home, just hanging out together. We’ve also decided that instead of trying to do both grandparents’ houses in the same day, we will do our Christmas celebration with them on two separate days. It will be less stressful for us and much less stressful for our kids. Truth: We don’t have to celebrate Christmas on Christmas Day for it to count!

2.      I’m not going to brave the mad rush at the stores to buy gifts. We shopped early by hitting consignment sales for items that the kids might like. We kept it low key (they can only handle so much stuff!) and inexpensive. All of my Christmas shopping and most of their birthday shopping (in February!) was done by September. All I have to do is wrap the gifts with last year’s clearance wrapping paper. Truth: The kids won’t know how much we spent on them, and honestly, they prefer not to wait for us to undo all of the packaging that comes with new toys.

3.      Since we are Christians, we want to make sure that Jesus has a special part of the day…it is His birthday after all! We will still read the Christmas story aloud before we get down to the gifts. As they get older, I look forward to making birthday cards with them, and counting down the days until we can celebrate!  Aren’t homemade memories some of the best kind of memories out there? Truth: Will they understand all of it this year? Probably not. But it is a great tradition to start early!

4.      I love to start new traditions with our family! This year, I’m going to continue with decorating our yearly ornament with special things we did and accomplished, and light luminarias down our driveway. I’m also looking forward to watching a Charlie Brown Christmas, driving around looking at Christmas lights together, and watching the snow fall outside our window as a family. Our December adventures will be spread throughout the month so that we don’t feel the stress of trying to experience it all at the last minute. Truth: Traditions are things that become the markers of the Christmas season. It’s also the special things that kids take with them when they leave home.

5.      And because there are just certain things that mean Christmas to me, you better believe that I will pop open the can of Orange Danish rolls on Christmas morning! Watch out kids! You have no idea what kind of treat you are in for! Truth: Orange Danish rolls are a necessity for a perfect Christmas morning (okay…maybe that’s not a truth, but it’s a darn good opinion!).

My kids are young enough that some memory makers will be on hold for a year or two (think: Christmas cookies!), but I want to make sure that as we establish what Christmas looks like for our household, that we put the emphasis on family, experiences, and the Reason for the Season rather than on all the stuff that has become the norm. Long-term, our kids will remember more about Christmas and be able to look back fondly on family memories if we don’t contribute to the harried, stressful season that it has become.

What are you doing to Reclaim the Wonder for your family?

Recently, the Greater Kansas City Mothers of Twins Club asked me to write an article for their newsletter. They feature a blogger from their club every month, and I was excited to be the December blogger! Since many of you aren't in the group, I thought I'd share it here as well. Enjoy!

****************************************************************************************** 

Reclaiming the Wonder

Confession: Overall, I don’t like the Christmas season.

In recent years, I’ve found December to be exhausting… and not in a good way. I don’t like the stress of making our families happy with enough get-togethers, the commercialism that is everywhere, the crowded stores, the grouchy customers, and the cold temperatures.

Yep, I’ll go ahead and say it, “Bah humbug.”

Lest you think I’m the female version of the Grinch, please know that I really truly do want to enjoy the Christmas season! I want to look forward to family time, special memories, and quiet evenings at home drinking hot chocolate and watching the snow. But I feel like Christmas as it is today has crushed any semblance of “love, joy, and peace” that I can muster up.

This week, I’ve been thinking back to my childhood and what I remember about Christmas mornings with my parents and five younger siblings. What was it about those Christmas mornings that made them special? I remember Dad blasting the Manheim Steamroller Christmas CD as we all came down the stairs, the special reading of the Christmas story before we did anything else, my siblings all scrambling to sort the presents into piles, and the orange Danish rolls out of a can that my Mom would buy just for Christmas morning because we would beg her for them.

Do you know what I don’t remember? I don’t remember what was in the presents. I remember a few special items over the years: a “grown-up” Bible, an American Girl doll, a dulcimer…but the vast majority of the gifts, I simple don’t recall. It’s not that I’m ungrateful. It’s just that the special family moments of the day seem to have edged out the “stuff” that I was given.

I think a common complaint about the Christmas season is the stress to financially, physically, and emotionally meet every need that commercialism throws at us.

Well I, for one, am not interested in dreading Christmas any longer. This year will be our second Christmas with kids. I don’t want to continue to passively wish the season away, so I’ve decided to actively change my perspective in an effort to reclaim some of the special wonder that has left over the years.  Hopefully, a few changes toward the simple will reduce our stress and increase the joy!

1.      Sean and I are discussing Christmas plans with our respective families early this year. We’ve decided that we want to enjoy part of the day with just our kids, so the morning will be spent at home, just hanging out together. We’ve also decided that instead of trying to do both grandparents’ houses in the same day, we will do our Christmas celebration with them on two separate days. It will be less stressful for us and much less stressful for our kids. Truth: We don’t have to celebrate Christmas on Christmas Day for it to count!

2.      I’m not going to brave the mad rush at the stores to buy gifts. We shopped early by hitting consignment sales for items that the kids might like. We kept it low key (they can only handle so much stuff!) and inexpensive. All of my Christmas shopping and most of their birthday shopping (in February!) was done by September. All I have to do is wrap the gifts with last year’s clearance wrapping paper. Truth: The kids won’t know how much we spent on them, and honestly, they prefer not to wait for us to undo all of the packaging that comes with new toys.

3.      Since we are Christians, we want to make sure that Jesus has a special part of the day…it is His birthday after all! We will still read the Christmas story aloud before we get down to the gifts. As they get older, I look forward to making birthday cards with them, and counting down the days until we can celebrate!  Aren’t homemade memories some of the best kind of memories out there? Truth: Will they understand all of it this year? Probably not. But it is a great tradition to start early!

4.      I love to start new traditions with our family! This year, I’m going to continue with decorating our yearly ornament with special things we did and accomplished, and light luminarias down our driveway. I’m also looking forward to watching a Charlie Brown Christmas, driving around looking at Christmas lights together, and watching the snow fall outside our window as a family. Our December adventures will be spread throughout the month so that we don’t feel the stress of trying to experience it all at the last minute. Truth: Traditions are things that become the markers of the Christmas season. It’s also the special things that kids take with them when they leave home.

5.      And because there are just certain things that mean Christmas to me, you better believe that I will pop open the can of Orange Danish rolls on Christmas morning! Watch out kids! You have no idea what kind of treat you are in for! Truth: Orange Danish rolls are a necessity for a perfect Christmas morning (okay…maybe that’s not a truth, but it’s a darn good opinion!).

My kids are young enough that some memory makers will be on hold for a year or two (think: Christmas cookies!), but I want to make sure that as we establish what Christmas looks like for our household, that we put the emphasis on family, experiences, and the Reason for the Season rather than on all the stuff that has become the norm. Long-term, our kids will remember more about Christmas and be able to look back fondly on family memories if we don’t contribute to the harried, stressful season that it has become.

What are you doing to Reclaim the Wonder for your family?

Fall Consignment Sale Finds!

We just finished up our Greater Kansas City Mothers of Twins fall consignment sale today. Whew! It's a fun weekend, but a lot of work. Tons of prep time goes into pricing things, but it's totally worth it in the end. And the weekend out of the house is a nice perk too!

May I just say, I LOVE consignment sales! Especially ours! Our sale is known to have some of the lowest consignment prices in the metro area and pretty strict rules for the condition of the items being sold. It's so nice to get the kids' clothes in one spot, all at once, at affordable prices, and know that they will be in good condition.

At this point, I never pay retail prices for clothes. Awesome!

So I thought I'd share a little look at our consignment sale, complete with before and after photos! And I have to tell you about some of the great deals that I found as well! I'm excited, so thanks for humoring me! :)

The empty room at 2pm on set-up day!

And five hours later, it's completely transformed!

Toys! I do all of my Christmas and Birthday shopping at consignment sales. I've found absolutely awesome toys for the kids in near perfect condition! Some of my finds from this season were the Little People Dollhouse, Little People Three Level Garage, and The Little People Airplane and School Bus. I saved at least 50% on each if not more!

My set-up job for this sale was to help organize the books, DVDs, puzzles, and games. I picked up a few new board books for the kids for $0.50 each, along with some $0.25 coloring books, and a *new* mega pack of playdough for $5.00! It's such a bummer that our second lockdown is on the horizon, but I'm looking forward to doing some crafts with the kids to pass the long wintry days.

Bigger items are kept in a second room. I grabbed a step-stool (gotta work on hand washing with the kids!) and a pop-out tunnel in this room. Our occupational therapist brings hers over for the kids to crawl through sometimes. A friend pointed out the tunnel to me and I snatched it up! I paid $4.50 for a tunnel that normally retails for $20! I love finding great deals on things that will help the kids' development and that are fun!

And, of course, the main event is the clothes! I'm able to completely outfit all four kids at this consignment sale for such a small amount of money! I routinely find shirts for $1-$1.50, pants for $1.50-$2, dresses for $2-$5, and shoes for $2-$5. These are really nice clothes too!

At this point, between kind folks who have passed on their outgrown kids clothes to us, and this sale, I think we are in pretty good shape for the fall/winter/early spring season! Yay!

But my very best find was a Little Tikes Table with Four Chairs! Little Tikes tables with two chairs start around $45 on their website. I paid $8 and got two bonus chairs! And that, my friends, is a perfect example of why I love consignment sales. We now have a little table to sit around on snowy days while we color and play with playdough. Perfect!

Whoever invented consignment sales has my undying thanks! We keep a separate fund for consignment sale shopping, and my goal is to simply break even with what I sold. Once I get my check for the items I sold, we put that money back in the fund to replenish it so that  we have money to spend on the next season's clothes. It takes a little planning, and a willingness to work with what is available, but we are able to save quite a bit of money this way. Not to mention that it is a very gratifying adventure!

Have you ever tried shopping at a consignment sale? Did you find anything amazing?

We just finished up our Greater Kansas City Mothers of Twins fall consignment sale today. Whew! It's a fun weekend, but a lot of work. Tons of prep time goes into pricing things, but it's totally worth it in the end. And the weekend out of the house is a nice perk too!

May I just say, I LOVE consignment sales! Especially ours! Our sale is known to have some of the lowest consignment prices in the metro area and pretty strict rules for the condition of the items being sold. It's so nice to get the kids' clothes in one spot, all at once, at affordable prices, and know that they will be in good condition.

At this point, I never pay retail prices for clothes. Awesome!

So I thought I'd share a little look at our consignment sale, complete with before and after photos! And I have to tell you about some of the great deals that I found as well! I'm excited, so thanks for humoring me! :)

The empty room at 2pm on set-up day!

And five hours later, it's completely transformed!

Toys! I do all of my Christmas and Birthday shopping at consignment sales. I've found absolutely awesome toys for the kids in near perfect condition! Some of my finds from this season were the Little People Dollhouse, Little People Three Level Garage, and The Little People Airplane and School Bus. I saved at least 50% on each if not more!

My set-up job for this sale was to help organize the books, DVDs, puzzles, and games. I picked up a few new board books for the kids for $0.50 each, along with some $0.25 coloring books, and a *new* mega pack of playdough for $5.00! It's such a bummer that our second lockdown is on the horizon, but I'm looking forward to doing some crafts with the kids to pass the long wintry days.

Bigger items are kept in a second room. I grabbed a step-stool (gotta work on hand washing with the kids!) and a pop-out tunnel in this room. Our occupational therapist brings hers over for the kids to crawl through sometimes. A friend pointed out the tunnel to me and I snatched it up! I paid $4.50 for a tunnel that normally retails for $20! I love finding great deals on things that will help the kids' development and that are fun!

And, of course, the main event is the clothes! I'm able to completely outfit all four kids at this consignment sale for such a small amount of money! I routinely find shirts for $1-$1.50, pants for $1.50-$2, dresses for $2-$5, and shoes for $2-$5. These are really nice clothes too!

At this point, between kind folks who have passed on their outgrown kids clothes to us, and this sale, I think we are in pretty good shape for the fall/winter/early spring season! Yay!

But my very best find was a Little Tikes Table with Four Chairs! Little Tikes tables with two chairs start around $45 on their website. I paid $8 and got two bonus chairs! And that, my friends, is a perfect example of why I love consignment sales. We now have a little table to sit around on snowy days while we color and play with playdough. Perfect!

Whoever invented consignment sales has my undying thanks! We keep a separate fund for consignment sale shopping, and my goal is to simply break even with what I sold. Once I get my check for the items I sold, we put that money back in the fund to replenish it so that  we have money to spend on the next season's clothes. It takes a little planning, and a willingness to work with what is available, but we are able to save quite a bit of money this way. Not to mention that it is a very gratifying adventure!

Have you ever tried shopping at a consignment sale? Did you find anything amazing?