I know you’re drowning in toys and you don’t want any more STUFF coming into your house. I totally get it. But here’s the thing: you can be minimal (or minimal-ish) in just about every aspect of your life, but please, not during the most wonderful time of the year. IMO, Christmas shouldn’t be minimal.

Do the math

My number one reason for going all out during Christmas is that the years of magic are so few. Consider that children have no idea what’s going on in terms of Christmas or Santa until about age 3, and they stop believing around age 8. That’s only 5 years of magic!

According to a study by the University of Exeter, “Belief peaks at around five years of age and tapers off significantly by the age of eight or nine.” That means that you really need to make those years between 3 and 8 count!

Do you remember that feeling of going to bed on Christmas Eve and just knowing you’d hear the reindeer? Do you remember the nervous anticipation? I do! I remember sitting on the steps waiting for my father to set up the camera and make the coffee and sending one more quick prayer: Please, let Santa have come! Please, please, please, I hope he brought ___! Do you remember that feeling?

Think of the brain

Research shows that magical thinking promotes creative and divergent thinking. We also know that the first eight years of brain development is the most intense and very important for setting the child up for success later in life. Combining this explosive period of brain development with the benefits of magical thinking is a win-win.

Remember Christmas Past

Chances are you probably remember a few stand-out toys over the years, but the real memories are how Christmas felt.

I remember my mom pinning jingle bells into my dress so I jingled when I walked. I remember the fancy coat, shiny shoes, and Christmas hair bows, and how beautiful I felt in those special clothes.

I vividly remember running bare foot down the snowy driveway in my nightgown just to see my house shining with thousands of Christmas lights.

I remember baking all day with my Gran, and how her dining room table was full of tins and boxes and ribbons and tags, and how proud I was to hand out those homemade treat gifts.

I remember my Poppy looking around the room at his gathered family as we listened to a record of The Christmas Carol - a tradition he kept going for decades.

I remember the special soup tureen used on Christmas Eve, filled with a soup my grandmother made only on this day, and she had little butter pat molds in the shape of roses every year.

6-year-olds grow so fast- it’s not minimal to have a fancy coats for them. It’s not minimal to store bins of Christmas lights in your basement for 11 months out of the year. It’s not minimal to have a table full of disposable bakery boxes and ribbons, and it’s not minimal to store a record, and record player, and a soup tureen, and butter molds for 364 days a year and bring them out for one day. But those things are the stuff of memories. Of magic. Of love.

We keep our house pretty minimal for 11 months of the year, but I love how special Christmas feels. I love piling on the magic and the decorations, and having the special things.

It can be both/and

Your house, your rules! You can be as minimal or maximal as you want, and you can mix and match. You can skip the things that seem like too much and go all in on the things that make your heart full. And you have permission to change your mind from year to year. At the end of the day, it really is all just stuff, and what matters the most is that you and your family feel the love and joy of the season.

You’ve got this, mama.