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Christmas Shopping Challenge 2023 Week #1
I thought it would be a fun idea to have a Christmas Shopping Challenge this year to help those of us who don’t shop all year long.
Many people haven’t even had Christmas crossed their minds yet, and truthfully, the thought makes them gag a little bit.
I am here to encourage you to take a deep breath and grab my hand.
Together we can do this little by little and with a lot of savings this Christmas.
Let’s go!
Stocking Stuffers
Most people typically leave the stocking stuffers for last.
As a matter of fact, it usually plays out like this:
Oh, my goodness! I forgot to do the stockings!
I say, let’s get the stockings out of the way first thing.
Keeping it Simple
I am always so surprised to hear parents say they put expensive presents into their children’s stockings.
I can’t help but think about Laura and Mary, from Little House on the Prairie, opening up their Christmas stockings and being excited to find a penny, a pair of homemade red mittens, and a cookie sprinkled with sugar on top.
Laura and Mary were so excited and in awe to get such wonderful gifts for Christmas.
That was it. There weren’t any more gifts to open, and they were happy.
The world has really turned crazy over the last few years.
It is the perfect time to slow down and rethink the way we celebrate anything, including Christmas.
It’s time to simplify Christmas.
Treats
My kids know exactly what they will find in their Christmas stockings each year.
You might think that sounds boring, but they are literally excited every single year.
They can’t wait to open their stockings each Christmas morning.
So what could make them so excited?
Little Debbies and a juice pouch.
Yup, that’s it.
It has become a tradition at our house to only get some Little Debbie snack cakes and a few juice pouches in everyone’s Christmas stockings.
There are no other gifts in the stockings.
My kids know I am not going to be fixing a big Christmas breakfast on the morning of December 25th.
They are fine with that. They just want to open their stockings.
Their stockings, whether they are small stockings or super huge stockings, end up with the same things stuffed inside of them.
I pick up two or three big boxes of Little Debbies, then divide them up between the stockings.
It usually doesn’t equate to a lot.
Typically, each child would get about four Little Debbie cakes in their stockings.
The kids were always excited to get these special treats, plus they thought it was super cool to be able to eat Little Debbies for Christmas breakfast!
Of course, they need a drink to wash down their Little Debbie snack cakes, right?
I typically buy boxes of CapriSun and divide the pouches up into the stockings.
They would typically get about three juice pouches each.
One year, I bought each of my 12 children a nice travel cup and filled them up with juice myself.
That’s it!
Seriously, that is all my children get in their Christmas stockings.
You don’t have to do Little Debbie snack cakes and juice pouches, but I do encourage you to simplify stockings this year.
Don’t overcomplicate Christmas this year.
With so much chaos going on in the world, now is the perfect time to teach your children to be content with less.
The truth is, the children most likely won’t have a problem with simplifying Christmas.
We are the ones that struggle.
Either way, it is time to pull back and do less this Christmas.
Christmas Shopping Challenge 2023 Week #1
Make sure everyone has a stocking, choose something simple to put into the stockings, then buy or make whatever the stocking stuffers are for this year.
*Of course, this won’t work if you are making baked goods, but at least make a plan.
Finally, leave a comment and let me know what you will be putting into your children’s Christmas stockings this year.
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