Unpopular Holiday Opinions | Take your holiday's back | Mom deserves joy too 

We share so many similarities- spoiling at Christmas, no wrapping, etc.

Good on you, Momma!!! I am so proud of us moms taking back our time and energy, and rejecting this idea that moms should absolutely kill ourselves to make holiday magic for our families. This is an expectation that is NOT placed on men/fathers. Since my divorce 5 years ago, I have a whole list of things I don’t do anymore. I don’t make a huge deal out of shopping/gifts. I hate wrapping gifts (and it’s very wasteful- wrapping paper cannot be recycled and doesn’t biodegrade well), so I use reusable cloth gift bags. My “wrapping” is done in 10 mins. (Also, I focus on “experiential” gifts- shows, concerts, trips to the aquarium, etc.) I don’t freak out about holiday meals- I realized a few years ago that there’s about about 5 things that my kids like to eat anyway, so there’s really no point in making an enormous spread when half of it will go bad before we can eat it. Also, we are atheist and only celebrate the “togetherness” part of the holiday, not the services/religious aspect, too. I do love Christmas concerts, but I only go to them if they fit into our schedules.

We keep our decorations simple too.

Forgot to add- I also do simple decorations, too. I do the tree, stockings, and a few pieces that go on my mantle that bring us joy. I refuse to kill myself to decorate everywhere only to take it down (and STORE it all! 😱) a month later. I also don’t really decorate for any of the other holidays at all. I find it too stressful. And I refuse to bear the weight of my (ex) in-laws’ expectations. They had their families and made their decisions and crafted their memories. Now it’s my turn. 🤷🏻‍♀️

I agree. We don’t do most of those things either. BTW we don’t start Christmas until 9am. I did all the things but with 6 kids it got to be too much. We have turned Christmas into family time and enjoying each other. We do travel to my MIL’s house and she hosts both my family and hers. 5 of my kids are adults now and time with them is more important than anything. I will order all my gifts and adults don’t get gifts. Ok maybe 1 small thing to open for my kids and their significant other. We enjoy eating, games, driving to look at lights, crafting, watch movies, if we shop it’s for ourselves. We have the same view on Santa. My daughter 8 doesn’t believe anymore. My daughter moves her own elf. 😂

You are fantastic!

Loved this video. Definitely worth reclaiming our holidays to focus on what matters most. We’re the same in some ways. I avoid shopping during the holidays. It’s madness! We don’t use new wrapping paper typically. I usually like the reusable bags or use giftbags that had gifts gifted to us. I hate to waste as well. Just subscribed. I also have a channel and would love to be friends and connect here.

We have 2 trees because I love them. One for the family room and one for the loft so the kids can redecorate that one. We keep our Christmas lights up all year long so all we need is to plug them into an extension cord 🤣. We also take time to get up on Christmas morning and we take time opening presents too. I also don't give my kids needs as gifts. I buy tons of toys for them and October we must dump 2-3 laundry baskets full of games and toys but I don't donate them because I don't have the spoons to donate them so I just dump it into the garbage. We reuse the gift bags. I can't remember the last time we bought some. We write to Santa and we might do a video call because I love the idea of Santa but not having my kids stand in a long line to sit on some strangers lap.

I love you… So much. LOL. I found much of this to be how we do Christmas! 🚫we’re happy with our ELF-free zone

I used to go ridiculously overboard - for me I think it stemmed from having a very dysfunctional and abusive childhood, I wanted my kids to have everything I didn't have. We don't do a tree, we have a dead branch in a nice pot on our nature table and it is decorated with the seasons throughout the year. We are Heathens so we don't do Santa, we celebrate the seasons so our feasting day here in the southern hemisphere is the Summer Solstice - usually on the 21st. I used to spend a fortune which would take months to pay for. One fateful year I had 5 kids, and my then partner had been in hospital for a year, and was still in a wheelchair. One day I was walking down the hallway and I tripped on a toy that had spewed out of their very messy toy/school room - I hurt my back, and I realized that if I got seriously hurt = well that just couldn't happen! It freaked me out - I said that's it, you have till midnight to get that room functional or I'm canceling the laybyes = that stuff will just end up on the floor and broken too, then I said something like I'll spend all that money how I want too. They got the room spick n span and then they said - but what would you spend all the money on mummy, if you didn't buy toys? I said we would go on a holiday, and do all the things we can't usually afford to do. They said yes, let's do that instead, so I canceled the laybyes. I bought them one present each, and then we started our hat tradition where they got to pull someone's name out of the hat and I gave them money to buy that person a present = the gift of giving, and *that is their favourite part of the season. That year we had an amazing holiday, and went to all the attractions. Now those kids are older and I just have my youngest at home, he gets a few presents - but now the day is more about presence, I spend the day before cooking all the older kids favourite childhood meals and we head to a creek somewhere for the day, boxing day is set aside for creek stomping with one of my sisters and her partner. Any gifts are handmade.

we don't undecorate\put away the tree right after Christmas. It stays up till at least January 6 (Orthodox Christmas). We don't do gifts at Christmas, but instead, do them on New Year's Day. We don't do socks\stockings\elves on shelves\Santa as we do believe that all this Santa theme is man-made and over-commercialized. We do have St. Nicholas (Svyatyy Mykolai) and Father Frost (Did Moroz) traditions for younger kids but around age 10 they go away naturally, and we just exchange gifts because we want to.

Advice needed/wanted for telling family that we would just like it our little family during the holiday?? What kind of outcomes came out it. Did you lose relationships?