I never celebrated Christmas as a kid.

My parents ditched the consumerist holiday by the time I was 3 years old for personal religious reasons. That means that, until I moved out of the house, I never had a Christmas tree. I never believed in Santa Claus. I never tore into a bunch of gifts on Christmas morning. That just wasn’t normal in my house.

Growing Up Without Christmas

A lot of people were deeply saddened by my parent’s decision to skip Christmas. I understand their reasons now, but I didn’t really get the drama as a kid.

At the time, we didn’t mind much. Sure, there was the allure of the presents. After all, we were kids. But since that wasn’t a part of our childhood, we never knew what we were “missing.”

How We Celebrated

Even though we didn’t celebrate Christmas, we did celebrate the end of the year. We just did things a little differently than most families by creating a New Year’s Eve tradition.

These are incredibly happy memories for me, probably similar to your childhood memories of Christmas.

Thinking about those New Year’s Eve celebrations, I realize that all my favorite parts of Christmas are hidden within our old New Year’s Eve tradition.

For the Jones kids, New Year’s Eve was a time to:

Share simple experiences. We all slept downstairs on New Year’s Eve – the six of us lined up in sleeping bags on the living room floor. We ate our meal in the living room, too. And of course, we got to stay up until midnight – though few of us actually made it that far.

Indulge in moderation. New Year’s Eve was a day to eat and bake and indulge our sweet tooth. It wasn’t a whole season of it.

Exchange simple, homemade gifts. In the beginning, we didn’t go shopping for New Year’s Eve gifts. Instead, we sewed each other dolls. We made up our own paper board games. We wrapped up our favorite treasures to give away. The few years Mom and Dad bought us a gift, it was something useful, like a wooden jewelry box. We never expected a pile of plastic presents.

Creating a New Wish for Christmas

Once I moved out of the house, I started to celebrate Christmas in the traditional sense. I went a little bonkers for it, actually. Today, I want to share a new Christmas wish:

Take the focus off giving and getting presents.

I feel lucky (now) for the way my parents celebrated this time of year. It was never about the presents. It was about a fun day together, making memories.

Now that we all celebrate Christmas again – and give plenty of gifts – I realize that we got it right the first time.

I’ll still buy my kids gifts this year. But instead of a pile, they’ll get a few useful, thoughtful things they need. I’ll still get a few presents, too. But I definitely won’t make that the focus of our holiday.

The Non-Alcoholic Christmas Hangovers

A lot of Americans spend this time of year feeling hungover, and it’s not just from guzzling wine.

hang-o-ver

3. Any aftermath or effect from a distressing experience

They’re:

• Stressed
• Flat broke
• Tired
• Unhealthy
• Depressed from feeling inadequate

I know from my childhood – the best gift you can give to your kids can’t be found at the store.

Instead, give them the gift of meaningful memories. Take care of yourself so you can enjoy the season, instead of running yourself ragged at the malls. Buy them one or two gifts that mean something.  Christmas is not about getting stressed out or feeling you need to keep up with the Joneses.

Dos and Don’ts to Cure Christmas Hangovers

• Don’t buy piles of stuff. Instead, use the decorations you already have. Bake something. If you want to buy presents for your kids, make sure it’s something useful;  support a local artist or small business. Read Leo’s case against buying presents and Matt Madeiro’s one and only birthday wish for more inspiration.
• Don’t eat sweets everyday. You’ll gain weight and feel gross. Join a fitness challenge instead!
• Don’t drink yourself silly.
• Don’t say yes to everything. Guard your time so the holidays don’t become a season of rushing from one activity to the next.
• Don’t bank your happiness on a holiday. I love the holiday buzz as much as the next person. But focus on feeling good and happy everyday. The holiday buzz is just a bonus.
• Don’t go into debt. Read my post on holiday spending here.
• Don’t do something out of obligation. For instance,  I don’t send out Christmas cards anymore. I never liked doing that. Still don’t.

• DO create family traditions that don’t center around giving gifts. Even if your kids still hone in on the gifts under the tree, make a point to do some other fun things like sing carols, light a Christmas candle or let them sleep downstairs. Trust me. They’ll remember those things.
• Do enjoy experiences together. Go out to dinner, plan a weekend visit, see a concert.
• Do relax and renew your soul.
• Do as Courtney said and boycott perfection.

It’s time to be bold, just like my parents were more than 25 years ago. Cure the hangovers of financial, mental and physical stress. Avoid senseless consumerism, debt and eating more junk food. Take back the holiday and focus on building meaningful traditions. Visit your family and friends. Like Katie said, what the world needs is love, sweet love.

Today, on Christmas, and all year long.

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Photo by Flying House Studios