Minimalist Christmas Traditions

I would say I come from a tradition-loving family. Every year, a big hoopla was made over watching our extensive list of favorite Christmas movies, putting up a lot of Christmas decorations, eating lots of sweet, and the list goes on. As I've begun building my own family traditions, I have found that our lifestyle doesn't mesh too well with the traditions I grew up with.

At first, I found this a little disheartening. What traditions makes sense for a family that tries to be frugal, not create a lot of waste or take up space, and keep things simple? Here are the traditions we have chosen as fitting with our family lifestyle:

Cleaving and Becoming An Adult

There is an awkward stage that every young adult goes through where he goes from being a child to being an adult. It's awkward for both the parents and the child, because there is a combination of still wanting to parent/be parented and yet wanting to make decisions that will impact the future you wish to have.

I knew from an incredibly young age (around 8) that I wanted to be a wife and mother. I never wanted to be anything else. I planned on getting married the day I turned 18 and popping out babies every year or so while my husband worked and I stayed at home. To me, this described the ideal life. My parents were supportive. They knew how important a wife and mother who stays at home can be, and they believed I was following the natural path for the majority of women.