It's easy to get wrapped up in the hype of Christmas season shopping. These books help inspire the reader to not give in to the materialism of the season, and focus on what's important: time with family.
It's my son's first Christmas and I feel the stress occasionally creep into my mind at night: what do I get my son for his first Christmas? It has to be the perfect present, otherwise, I'll feel like a bad mom. (It's so easy to feel mom-guilt these days.) One can easily get lost in the ads for Christmas shopping, the screaming commercials, and I often catch myself endlessly scrolling through websites for the perfect gift.
I recently read a few books this year from my childhood to escape the times we are currently living in, and while enjoying them, I was reminded of how beautiful and simple the holiday season can be without the stress of gift-shopping.
My first book I would recommend reading to inspire you for this Christmas is the classic Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. Following the story of four sisters as they grow into women during the times of the Civil War, the girls learn to live happily with little means - giving plays in homemade costumes and handmade props because they had little else, or playing outside with their neighbor Laurie. Even though they were living during difficult times of war and sickness, the characters still found ways to make magic out of nothing, including the main character, Jo, who wrote stories and plays to entertain her family. With so much to worry about nowadays, Little Women is the perfect book to read to inspire you before the holidays, especially since the characters lived through so much and yet managed to have meaningful holidays with so little. And if you have limited time, watching the movie is good, too.
The next book or books I recommend reading is the Little House on the Prairie Series, which I believe is an excellent read before Christmas. In the book, On the Banks of Plum Creek, Mary and Laura learn to enjoy making presents for their little sister, Carrie, such as a button string which is simply a string of buttons from their mother's button collection. By teaching them to make presents instead of asking for them, the girls derive pleasure from the act of giving, instead of just receiving. On that same Christmas, in order to afford horses to work the fields for their wheat crop, Ma asked the girls to wish for the horses from Santa instead of presents in order to help Pa raise a field of wheat. When Laura runs out of the house and sees the two beautiful horses in their stable Christmas morning, it gives her a sense of ownership and pride because instead of asking for things she just wants, she helped her family by wishing for what was best for all of them. Although we won't be needing horses for plowing fields, I'll pocket this little tip for future use if we ever need to be scrupulous around the holiday season.
With Covid-19 changing so much about how the holiday season typically goes, why not change some things for the better? In recent years, I always felt burnt out by Christmas morning from all the stress associated with the season -- stress from worrying about buying the perfect gifts, fighting crowds of people in stores,
worrying about finances, and making sure that everyone is happy. This year, as a new mom, I've decided the most important gift this year is that I give my son a happy mom. With these books as good reminders as to what is really important, I hope to create a holiday season that is more meaningful, creative and more in the moment than ever before.
Comments