Holiday, Christmas Tips For Mom, Holiday Gifts, Christmas Presents Delivered

For a moment or two, indulge the ghost of Christmas Past. What memories immediately come forth that evoke a fond nostalgia? For me, it isn't the gifts or the shopping or even the parties. It's rocking my infant, alone, by candlelight, to "Silent Night." It's letting the 2-year-old crack the eggs for the cookies, and seeing the pride on her floury face.

Decide what the holidays are to you. Then make a plan to weave more of those activities into your holidays, and reduce the rest.

3. Deck the Halls with Light and Love.
Don't let commercialism spoil your fun.

Make the simple promise to yourself that, this year, you'll enjoy your holiday shopping. Brainstorm ways you can make this happen. 

For me, the mall is a giant energy drain. The look of worried resignation as a shopper hands over her credit card tells me that she's shopping out of a sense of obligation and not one of joy. And it sours my holiday spirit.

Instead, I carve out an afternoon all to myself. I put on an Andrea Bocelli CD, sip Chai tea from a giant mug, and curl up with a fleece blanket to surf the Internet and page through catalogs. That's how I find just the right something for everyone on my very short list. When it ceases to be fun, I stop.

I so enjoy shopping this way that, throughout the year, I bookmark sites that offer just the right items. Sites such as GAIAM, which couples a commitment to sustainable commerce, the environment, and personal health with natural products for relaxation and self-care.

If you find the materialism of the season draining your energy, commit to making an attitude shift. If you want things to be different this year, only you can make it so. Take the lead for your family, and live in such a way that you prove less stuff really does equal more fun.

Maybe you'll take the money you usually spend on one-too-many toys and enjoy, instead, a weekend family getaway. Maybe you'll make homemade goodies, such as picture frames, home movies, or goodie baskets, which the whole family helps to create.

Maybe you'll bag the traditional gift-giving and start a new tradition. In our family, it goes like this: Each guest brings a wrapped gift of roughly the same dollar value. We sit in a circle and each person, in turn, has the option of taking a gift that's already been opened or opening a new one. It's fun. It's festive. It gets everyone moving and talking, and it switches the focus to the relationships and the event…not the gifts.

One of the best ways to avoid commercialism is to simply turn off the TV and its advertisements for the newest plastic plaything. Return instead to the educational standbys…books, blocks, water, sand, and time with mom and dad.

Momscape humor columnist Linda Sharp once asked a group of kids to name one thing they'd like from their parents that wouldn't cost a dime. The answers: "Listen to me, please," "Teach me to cook," "Stop being so busy," "Hug me more," "Read to me…"
Hard to wrap, but easy to give.