Monday Musing: Gifts

What does Christmas mean to you? That is what today's musing is all about. I confess, I do celebrate Christian holidays. It's the way I was raised, and my family is centred about them. I believe most of them are Christian, though I'm not sure that they actually go to church... anyways, I digress.

Christmas, to me, is about family. It's about spending time with loved ones and sharing a meal. Full of meaningful discussion, yes. Occasional personal attacks that were not intentioned to be hurtful, absolutely. That is only part of what makes my family so exceptional.

There is one thing that I don't agree with them on, at least as it relates to the Christmas-gift-giving-ness. That is, children under 18 get gifts no matter what. Teens/adults/etc above 18 get something if something happens to catch someone's eye.

Why do I not agree with this? Kids get enough crap. That's why. Children and tweens and teens almost always get more crap/stuff/junk/paraphernalia than they will ever have use for. Most of which is fad-based or advertisement-based.

I will let you in on a secret... I didn't buy any of my younger cousins any gifts this year. I bought a little something for each adult though. Why? Because they are just as important as their children, and yet they are left out year after year in lieu of garbage gifts for their children. (Disclaimer: if any of my family members reads this, not all of the gifts are garbage... but some of them are)

When kids get everything they ask for, and other assorted advertised big name junk... they expect it next time. They don't respect the meaning behind the gifts, or the thought that goes into them.

Now, I may be making my cousins sound like spoiled little brats. They aren't, at least not all the time. Every kid acts like a brat sometimes, and I was no exception. But feeding that attitude will only make it worse. So when you're buying for younger children, you don't have to skimp or give them gifts they won't enjoy just because they're 'eco-friendly'.

But buy something that they will enjoy, something that will force them to want to use their brain but keep them interested at the same time. If you're not sure what that is, talk to them. Ask them what they like. Then ask why they like it, or what kinds of games they can play with it. If it's a doll, ask them how they see that doll and what kinds of scenes can they imagine the doll in.

Dig deeper and you will provide more meaningful gifts.

Handmade cards with thoughtful words in them always help. Cards just get chucked the week after Christmas by most people anyways, put some thought into them and at least the thought will be remembered.

Peace and serenity

Simply Me

Enjoy the Monday Musing series? Here's the rest of the posts:
Gardens
Happy thoughts
Automatic negative reactions
Thanksgiving
Sustainable eating
Contentment
Crutch or reason?
Work

Holidays are inching closer!

This is just a friendly reminder that CHRISTMAS IS COMING!!!

We started our shopping a few weeks ago, and did some more yesterday. We're sharing a lot of simple things, and I plan on making quite a few gifts too.

So here is your reminder that if you plan on making any of your gifts this year, better get started! There is a wealth of information and ideas out there, but here are a few if you're still stumped:

1. Jam and/or other preserves
2. Vanilla extract
3. Scarves/mittens/hats/anything knit or crocheted
4. Hand decorated picture frames
5. Premixed cookie/cake/baked good mixes, just the dry ingredients, with a tag for cooking instructions and which wet ingredients to add.

If you have any other ideas, or any other gifts that you have made previous years or that you plan on making this year or any upcoming years, feel free to share!

Peace and serenity,

Simply Me

Wednesday's Small Steps: Buy one thing per grocery trip organic or local

One small step towards sustainability, sometimes they are very small.

This week, our small step is:

When you go to the grocery store, buy one thing that is either local or organic instead of the regular one you usually get. That doesn't mean just to grab something that is organic/local that you normally wouldn't get. It means to replace something that you buy regularly with an organic or local counterpart.

This week, after I had already bought my butter, I found organic butter. Next time I need some, I'm getting that. I also have replaced regular peanut butter with the organic version (actually tastes better!) and strawberry jam, until I learn to make my own, has been replaced with organic as well. Just this past shopping trip, I got organic yogurt, since I haven't gotten around to making my own (I only just got a thermometer, throw me a bone!)

My jam-y goodness! So tasty

Give it a try, help your local agriculture and economy, and improve your health too!

Let me know what you try to replace, and keep me posted. Maybe you'll find something that I don't know of yet, or maybe you can learn from the other comments!

Health and vitality,

Simply Me








Enjoy the Small Steps series? Let me know what you think below.

Saving the world during back to school? Why not?

Inspired by The EcoDiva's 16 green back to school tips, I am going to share the green back to school things I did this year for my daughter (who is starting grade 1 in September), as well as the things I plan to do throughout the school year.

Green things I did:

• Bought pencils in bulk
• Purchased a fabric pencil case, even though the list said to get a hard plastic one (no way!)
• Only got one box of freezer bags, and will send them as needed, instead of blinding sending 2 full boxes as requested
• Reusing previously purchased scissors/crayons/markers from her art collection and last year
• Picked the paper duotangs instead of plastic
• Got a paper 2-pocket folder, instead of plastic
• Avoided purchasing a pack of pencils wrapped in plastic, in favour of a box slightly more expensive packaged in cardboard with no plastic window 
• Continuing to reuse her stainless steel water bottle, she loves it, it's covered in monkeys

 Green things I wish I did:

• Not bought pre-cut tennis balls (turns out it was a waste of money, and they're useless for anything aside from putting on chair legs)
• Shopped around for PCRM** in her duotangs/folders/pencils/etc
• Not done any shopping at Walmart (damn the convenience of that hated store!)

 Green things I plan to do:

• Look around for good deals on stationary and school supplies at all stores, including second hand stores
• Check the internet for any deals at any of my favourite green shopping websites, and look for new favourites
• When she needs clothes, head to the 2nd hand store up the street for clothes instead of Walmart/Childrens Place/etc
• Repurpose her smaller clothes with long sleeves/pants that still fit around into t-shirts/tank tops and shorts (done once already this year)
• Educate her on the perils and concerns with using hand sanitizer (especially since I'm sure the school has them ALL OVER THE PLACE!)
• Keep talking to her about advertising, since she seems to be a royal sucker for TV ads ("you need to get Bounce dryer bars, they're the best! The TV said so!" Oysh, thankfully we are watching more movies lately)

How about you, other lovely people? If you have children, what things have to done to lessen the impact of the dreaded back to school shopping without busting either your wallet or the environment?

And those of you without kids, do you take advantage of back to school shopping season to stock up while the awesome sales are going on? Buy up your favourite clothes, stationary, backpacks, etc?

Any new ways of taking advantage of the sales that are out there are always appreciated and will be spread to friends and family.

Love and serenity,

Simply Me



**Post Consumer Recycled Materials