How many presents is TOO many?
Ah, Christmas. The season for GIVING. Right? Right?
Giving and giving and giving and giving and giving.
Family. ✅ Friends gift exchanges. ✅ Obligatory work presents. ✅Postal worker...aye. 🤦🏻♀️ Oh yes, I need to do that, too.
But then when it comes to your kids, how many presents is too many?
I grew up in a house with 9 people living in it. PLUS our house was destination for Christmas day for extended family and friends.
We had a 12' Christmas tree 🎄with 30' ceilings with presents big and small CASCADING all the way out into the middle of our living room. 🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁
My mother would even wrap batteries that would go with our Walkman separately so we would have more presents to open.
It was in a word: magnificent.
I have so many cherished memories of endless people coming to celebrate with endless gifts for us all.
When I had Danny (my firstborn, now 9 years old), I wanted to continue that tradition.
And it occurred to me, why am I filling the tree with a preposterous amount of presents for a 1 year old to recreate some warm memory?
The push and pull with spoiling the child with gifts and loving their faces as they open the presents vs. "teaching them stuff shouldn't matter" always seems to add a level of tension and dissonance in my mind.
And it really has nothing to do with having (or not having) the means to spoil them...but the guilt that pushes us to bend and stretch to give more.
More, more, more.
As usual, I don't have answers but if you feel me on this one, I'll be glad to be riding on this guilt float with you.
If you'll excuse me, I have to go wrap some more gifts so the tree doesn't look so bare.
In the meantime, I am honored to re-release the interview I did with the legendary great Seth Godin (and one of my personal heroes).
Unlike me, he happens to have A LOT of the answers we constantly seek so I was glad to bring some to you!
Listen here:
MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY HOLIDAYS! xo
Allison
P.S. Holidays can be as stressful as they can be enchanting, amirite? THIS blew me away.
P.P.S. If you don't know who this guy is, he will blow your mind real quick. What a great perspective. Also, this.
P.P.P.S. Well, if this couldn't sum up my whole blog post even better. 😂😂😂😂😂😂