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Do Less this Christmas

by theminimalistmom |

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Welcome to the world little man! Our third son was born just a few weeks ago and we are thrilled to be a family of five.

As I planned and expected it’s been a very low-key couple of weeks that should continue to be quiet right into January. I planned to take to my bed and try not to do too much after this birth. While I didn’t arm myself with much stuff for our third child I did commit to doing less: fewer holiday activities this year, a break from swimming lessons for my oldest and I even pre-ordered most of our Christmas day meal, sides and all, so that we’d only have to roast the turkey.

Life happens when you’re making plans, as they say.

Despite all of my intentions for a quiet few weeks post-birth, it all fell apart in week two when I got a severe case of mastitis and was hospitalized for four days. We were fortunate to have friends help out and great medical care but the ordeal has left me even more aware that I need to Do Less this holiday season.

dolesschristams

So far that means:

  • Our Advent calendar was completely outsourced. Thank you Playmobil. This year I decided to, gasp, get an advent calendar that we could reuse each year to make a Christmas scene. We don’t have a lot of Christmas decorations and I was drawn to this Playmobil set because it was small, I could take the pieces out of the packaging and put them in our own pocket Advent Calendar and, mostly, I thought my kids would love it. Note: they do love it and spend a lot of time looking at the scene and moving the pieces around. Originally I intended to add some extra sparkle with daily additions to each pocket, a chocolate or note about something we were going to do that day, but, nope, that’s it. We also started it late because I was in the hospital for the first few days of Advent. Our five year-old asked where the chocolates were the first three mornings but soon got over it.
  • We’re delaying getting our Christmas tree. Fewer pine needles to vacuum and it should keep the Santa hysteria at a lower volume.
  • My husband and I aren’t exchanging gifts this year. We decided this a few months back and I’m grateful for it right now. No stress there.
  • We’re celebrating in easy ways. Easy ways that don’t involve buying tickets or making something or leaving the house. Our oldest and middle child are thrilled with ‘Christmas breakfast’: eating breakfast by candlelight with Christmas songs playing. We’re reading a lot of Christmas stories and have already watched the Polar Express movie.
  • Saying no. There are so many things to do at this time of year. Even in my small corner of the world there are enough holiday related activities to fill every weekend in December. I know my older two would love to go to every Santa train and party that they can but with a new baby and a parent still recovering from an illness, we’re doing a lot less this year.

Jo is also doing less this year. For her it’s about trying something new and seeing what her family enjoys and what they miss from their regular Christmas traditions. I loved that she said she was surprised how good she felt about going out for Christmas dinner instead of making it herself. Me too! A few clicks on the Marks and Spencer website and our Christmas dinner for six was done. A huge relief as I want to spend the day relaxing with my family.

Has anyone else decided to Do Less this year? It could be a new tradition, a decisions to not exchange gifts or even a holiday escape. I still remember our first Minimalist Christmas in Edinburgh: one toy for two year-old Henry to open on Christmas day and lots of time walking the beautiful parks, castle and streets of Edinburgh.

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  • Congratulations on #3 – and as my third is a 12/1 baby I totally remember going into Christmas with a newborn and two others under 5, as well. You’ll make it. 🙂 Sorry also about the mastitis. I know you know that it means to rest, rest, rest – although that’s waaaay easier said than done.

    I’ve said this here before but remember also that Advent calendars are at heart about waiting for and preparing for Jesus’ coming into our hearts and lives on Christmas morning- that means they’re about WAITING – we don’t need to make them full of toys, or activities, or gifts, or even chocolate. A sticker on each day, a scripture or prayer if that’s how you roll, something simple – but the act of putting the stickers or velcro ornaments on the calendar each day is *itself* the act that helps kids wait and prepare for Christmas. That’s the main event. We don’t need to make all of December a full month of activities and gifts. Holy cow, we’ll go nuts, and broke. Advent is a season of waiting…..it’s okay to help kids learn to wait. It’s good for them. 🙂

    If you don’t do the whole Scripture thing, you can do a Christmas sticker on each day of the calendar and talk about waiting, or about doing kind things to help you wait – but let kids learn to wait. We baby them too much and then complain that they have no patience. 🙂 (I’m right there too, just as guilty!)

    • Thanks, Erika. Great reminder about the patience of Advent. Something we are working on with our five year old at the moment. Have a wonderful Christmas! Cheers, Rachel

  • Congratulations on your little blessing! I was very sick after my third was born, I spent 3 weeks recovering in bed and dealing with my first case of mastitis also. Not something I look back on too fondly, and it nearly kept me from having more. But we are a happy family of seven and I didn’t experience the same issue with #4 or #5. I hope you and your family enjoy this Christmas season and thank you for your writing in this space. It’s much appreciated!

    • Thanks, Melissa. It’s helpful to hear that someone else has gone through this – with their third no less! I was really surprised because I’ve never had mastitis before and nursed my other two for a year+ each. Have a wonderful holiday season – Rachel

  • Firstly Rachel I hope you are feeling better. I sincerely sympathise having had it myself, but not to the degree you have. It really is painful.

    My decision to take Christmas off may have been a premonition. I’ll e-mail you separately as this isn’t the place to share. Whatever happened, be it fate or what I’m so glad we are doing less this year.

    Take care and speak soon x

  • Congratulations on the birth of your third totally cute boy! Mastitis s-u-c-k-s. So sorry to hear you went through that. It sounds like you’ve got a great plan to really enjoy the holiday season!

    In my experience, for us, Christmas is so much more fun when we MAJORLY simplify the shopping and decorating and let the activities happen more organically and spontaneously. We LOVE Christmas here and wouldn’t want to do it any other way.

  • Merry Christmas! I’ve met you a couple times when you lived in Vancouver and Henry was just a tiny guy! My husband used to play with Chris in the Clumsies and we just had a baby boy in October. we’ve always tried to keep things simple for the holidays but even more so this year with a newborn. We veto gifts and just enjoy experiences like a Christmas concert and even busk playing Christmas music which we then give that money to our homeless shelter. Christmas morning has stockings stuffed with yummy treatsd and chocolate, and we are content! We do christmas cards for family and friends and keep the focus on simplicity and the spirit of the season. Congratulations on your little one and have a wonderful Christmas!

  • Congrats, he’s BEAUTIFUL! I know from experience how brutal mastitis is; hope your recovery goes quickly and smoothly. It’s our first Christmas with 3 children so we are also doing less this year. For me that means barely decorating, just gradually letting the kids choose things to put up each day as we feel inspired. We’re also delaying the tree, as our third is crawling now and I don’t want to feel stressed about chasing after her! All the best to you and your family.

  • Congratulations on the birth of your son. What a beautiful gift, and sorry about the mastitis…I too had that. I was inspired to research the Playmobil advent set as my adult son (age 26) loved his Playmobil as a child. I have ordered it in hope of using it for grandchildren some day! We too are trying to have a more meaningful Christmas with less. Enjoy your time with the children and your husband.

  • Congratulations – lovely news and a new baby at Christmas time always feels special! My youngest child is now 17 but I can remember hosting Christmas for a houseful of guests when she was only 4 weeks old – after that I started ordering food from Marks and Spencer at Christmas time and haven’t stopped yet – its lovely to take the strain out of the day and has enabled me to enjoy the weeks before Christmas, especially as I work 3 days a week in an office and now have adult children (and their partners) to host! I do make the desserts, and everyone brings something, but I don’t see the point of being stressed about it if you don’t need to – and Marks & Spencer make it so easy.

    • Marks and Spencer is wonderful. Fairly affordable for good premade ‘fresh’ meals. We don’t really have options like that in Canada. Last year I did a mix of scratch, Marks and then prepared a few sides in the weeks ahead and froze them. It worked really well for a more relaxed day in the kitchen.
      Have a great holiday season 🙂

  • Audio advent (sparkle stories) has decreased the crazy. And can be reused. Last year we did a craft or activity a day and it was lovely but I’m glad not to this year.

    Congrats on baby 3!!

  • Your baby is beautiful, and I’m so sorry to hear about your mastitis, especially with such a young baby.

  • Best present ever!
    So sorry about the mastitis; I have personal experience of it w having no family around to help.

    You can always have a busy Christmas, home-make all foods, visit relatives and friends, but can never have your three boys so small around the Chtistmas tree again.

    • This is my first bout of mastitis – terrible! I’ve never been that ill before. And yes, not having family around made everything harder to manage. So thankful my husband booked a second week off of work.
      Have a wonderful Christmas over there! Fingers crossed we get some clear weather. 🙂

  • Congratulations! I love your approach to Do Less. This year we actually decided to Do More. Last year we had such bad weather that we were stuck in the house every weekend when it would have been nice to see Christmas lights, maybe even visit Santa, etc. Working full time and having a little one, the weekends are the best time for us to enjoy holiday activities outside of the house. Our Do Less approach is less homemade gifts, online shopping when possible and saying “No” to events that are not speaking to our hearts. Our Do More is enjoying holiday events like driving around to see Christmas lights with another family, taking our grandmother and son to see the Nutcracker and baking cookies with another grandmother. This way we are enjoying our time with our favorite people and doing holiday activities that are important to us. So far this approach is working for us and hope that when we get to the other side of the holidays we have felt that we were able to strike a balance over this season. Merry Christmas!

    • What a great strategy for enjoying the holiday season, Valerie. I also ended up buying gifts online. Originally I had wanted to buy locally and second hand but as I am still in recovery mode I knew I needed to stay home and get things done quickly. So easy and quick!

  • Yay, so happy for you, and your little boy is adorable! In our house, “do less” is the new normal. And we’ve found that it makes what we do that much more homespun, simple, and meaningful. Enjoy your more laid-back Christmas (oh, except you have a newborn!). 🙂

  • Congratulations on the birth of another son! I am so sorry that you had to be hospitalized for mastitis. Your low key holiday plans sound nice. We’ve been doing low key Christmases for almost a decade now. I love our simple holidays.

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