I hear people complain about the commercialization of Christmas all the time. They mention how early the displays go up in the stores or when the Christmas music starts playing and how they are fed up with the emphasis on buying and getting gifts. Through the years I’ve heard these complaints from the halls of church to the halls of school- even in the stores as the gifts were being bought.
It seems to be a universal discontent.
However, there is one simple thing we can do in our own homes to help combat this materialization of the holiday. Yet few people I know do it.
For almost twenty years since the start of our own family’s traditions, we have waited to put presents under the Christmas tree until after the family is in bed on Christmas Eve.
Why? Well, there are actually some very good reasons:
- It helps take the focus off of the gifts, leaving time to focus on the more important aspects of the holiday.
- It doesn’t tempt the kids to be sneaky and try to open or discover what the gifts are – “outta sight = outta mind”
- It allows a big Christmas morning “wow” moment- the kids wake up and see not only full stockings, but lovely wrapped presents.
What do we put under the tree instead?
A battery operated train occupied the spot all the years our kids were growing up.
This was a special “Christmas Train” that came out only for the holidays, so it remained something to look forward to seeing each year.
Now that the kids are older, a large tree skirt will fit under the tree since there are no train tracks in the way.
I know that for some people seeing the presents under the tree gives them a sense of accomplishment- they’re that much closer to completing one of the major tasks of the holidays. But how about just using a paper list that you check off when the gift is wrapped and put away in the closet (or under the bed…)?
Still others wrap their packages with coordinated papers and bows and want to “decorate” with them. I think that having a few empty boxes wrapped for decoration on a table, by the hearth, or even under the tree (if you just can’t let it go….) would satisfy that desire and yet still help instill in our children than the season is not only about the gifts.
And that’s a very good thing.
What do you do to combat the commercialization of the Christmas season?
And we go out in the woods and get our tree on the 24th, put it up on the 25th and leave it up for the 12 Days of Christmas!
[...] bloggers around the world bemoan either the audacity of Christianity or forgetfulness thereof via commercialism. I’m not a Jew for Jesus (just a Jew), but I’m a big fan of positive moral messages [...]