Keep it simple

With the busyness of life these days it has become increasingly important to Adam and me that our life become as simple as possible.  This isn't always possible as we are involved in so many different things.  Take yesterday for example, Alexa's school sent home a paper for the PTO meeting that was LAST NIGHT!  I actually found out the night before when an automated call came through, and later also received an email.  Who gives 1 day notice for that type of thing?  This morning when she brought the note from school to me she informed me the class with the highest attendance got an ice cream party.  Great, now I feel guilty for not going.  Do you think if I buy her ice cream it will make it all better?  Fat chance!

A simple life.  Sounds lovely to me.  And so simple.  But if you walked into Alexa's room right now, you would see anything but simple!  Her room is not very large, and her furniture takes up a good portion...but on top of that, she has more toys, books, and papers (I'm raising a pack rat, she wants to keep every scrap she cuts and every piece of something she finds) than one child house should be allowed.  And the stuffed animals OH MY!  I swear they take over her bed at night and I'm honestly not sure how she sleeps with them beside, behind, under, and on top of her!

It seems like every year around her birthday and Christmas we clean out and give away, and yet with each event it seems the pile has grown to even greater proportions.  After reading some different blogs we decided this year would be different.  For Christmas she will receive 4 gifts from us, and they will fall into the following categories:

1. Something she wants
2. Something she needs
3. Something she wears
4. Something she reads

Obviously it is easy for us to control what happens at our house, but that's not the only place she receives gifts, and let's be honest, as her mom I don't want to give her practical gifts and gifts of necessity while everyone else gets to give her fun stuff.  So, I decided to write a letter to our family and ask them to partner with us on this venture.  After all, there is so much more to Christmas than presents.  Now that we are 9 hours away we cherish the time we spend in SC more than ever and see that time as a gift.  And of course without the gift of Jesus we wouldn't have anything to celebrate.  I am so thankful my Savior came to earth all those years ago knowing he would die on a cross for my sins.

You might notice in the letter I only listed 3 options instead of 4...this was by design!  The whole point is to cut down on the number of toys she receives.  If I gave the fun option to everyone, they would choose fun, and once again I would be stuck with practical and necessary.  NO THANK YOU!  I accept that this is probably an flaw on my part, and that I should probably work on it, but if the whole point of this exercise is to help control what she receives I have to limit it in some form...admitting you have a problem is the first step, right?

I would love to hear your thoughts on our letter.  It will be interesting to see how this first year goes, but our plan is to continue this for the years ahead.  That doesn't mean there will never be an exception, but certainly at this point in our journey this is the best way.  Are you looking for simplicity in your life?  What have you found that works for your family?  Please come and share with us!