No Giving Crap this Year!

Christmas is not going to be the same this year.  The economy has really made my husband and I look at things a little different this holiday season.  I am actually really happy about Christmas for the first time in a long time.

I didn't come from a family that received TONS of gifts on Christmas even though we were well off.  "Gifts aren't the point of Christmas," my mother would say.  I would just be irritated because I didn't get everything that I wanted.  I really didn't "get" it back then.  Now, living in Silicon Valley and hearing all the gifts that kids get around here makes me ill.  To say I "get" it is an understatement.

The mere fact that their are 13 year-olds walking around with iPhones, when I can't even afford and iPhone is crazy.  16 year-olds getting BMW's for birthdays is insane!  Families that come home from Christmas with an SUV packed to the hilt with gifts is not something that I understand.  We are already busting out of our 1200 square foot house, I don't need more crap to make me happy.

This year is going to be the perfect time to make memories and not give "stuff."  My daughter has a million toys but her favorite thing to do right now is play Monopoly Junior with her dad and I.  She would rather sit at her little table and draw silly pictures with mommy.  She wants to play dress up with her Vovo (grandma).

The budget this year is small.  Very!  Less than $50 will be spent on my daughter.  Everyone else in the family????  Less than $25.  Instead we will be doing movie days, beach trips, taking lots of photos and giving lots of hugs and kisses.  We will be making memories that we will have forever instead of "crap" that we will donate to Goodwill in a few months.

This is an original post to Silicon Valley Moms Blog.