When I was a child, I was so excited, I could hardly sleep
Now that i’m an adult with children of my own Christmas is stressful and incredibly wasteful. I remember buying cheap useless trinkets just to make the tree look “full.”
The lines, the pressure, the demands, the parking!
After it’s all over, then you are tasked with creating space to store all of the new stuff you’ve acquired. Consider this, We’re constantly acquiring stuff, but never discarding it.
Did you know,
*Back in 2013, the LA Times reported that the average American home has over 300,000 items in it and there are over 50,000 storage facilities nationwide (and this is the fastest growing real estate segment!).
*At least 1 in 10 of us have a storage unit to store our excess stuff.
*There are five times more storage facilities in the U.S. than the number of Starbucks!
*There is enough physical space for every man, woman, and child in America to stand in U.S. storage facilities — all at the same time!
The AVERAGE family spends $1,700 on clothes annually while giving or throwing away over 200 pounds of clothes per year.
Only 3% of the world’s children live in the US, but they own 40+% of the world’s toys!
Many studies have shown that material possessions do not equal happiness and that experiences are much more intrinsically fulfilling that things.
Why
They basically concluded that people tend to get less happier with material purchases over time, and more happy with experiences. They speculate that this is because we adapt to physical things, so even the nicest car or newest phone becomes commonplace after enough time, while memories tend to get fonder over time.
This year our family has adopted the 4 Gift Rule. We’ll give each other something we want, something we need, something to wear, and something to read. Then we’ll exchange “experience gifts” we’ll play games, bake cookies, read the Christmas story and cuddle on the couch with popcorn to watch a movie.
Shared family time and experiences have been linked to:
*bonding within the family
*fewer behavioral problems in children
*a stronger sense of identity
*a sense of security for children
*higher rates of academic success
*lower rates of violence
This holiday season, as you make your lists and check them twice, consider replacing needless trinkets with an experience that will last a lifetime.
Your family will thank you for it.
https://wellnessmama.com/62144/give-experiences/
Gwendolyn J. Jones 