Last week I loaded up the minivan with all three boys and headed to Target.
“Why are we going to Target?” Mr. C hollered from the back of the minivan.
“To get birthday party invitations for your birthday party later this month,” I told him.
“But Mamaaaa, we already have paper and crayons and envelopes, why do we need to buy invitations?”
I felt like I had just been simultaneously doused with cold water and kicked in the stomach.
“Well,” I replied, “I didn’t know that you would want to make your invitations. There’s a lot to make. Are you sure you want to make them all?”
“YES!” they both replied.
And so, I turned the car around and went back home.
Sometimes it’s our kids that bring us back to what’s important.
It’s easy in our fast-paced adult world to lose focus of what we value and we’re striving towards.
Of course we can make our own birthday party invitations.
Why?
Because our focus should be on:
Limiting consumption
I know it’s hard. It’s hard because companies spend billions upon billions of dollars to make it hard. How can you compete with that?
Here’s what I do:
1. I limit my exposure to advertisements. That means not watching live TV or listening to radio. I also don’t buy magazines.
2. I shop online. I bought some laundry detergent from Amazon the other day, and when it arrived I told Chris, “I just saved us $80!”
“I don’t understand,” he said.
“Well,” I proceeded proudly, “if I had gone to Target for just laundry detergent, I easily would have spent $100 (because we all know the price of entry to Target is always $100) on stuff that I suddenly felt I needed.”
Just buy what you need online and eliminate the urge to impulse buy.
3. Try to remember 5 things you bought at this time last year. I bet you can’t. (Unless it was an experience). If you feel yourself really needing to buy something, see if you can make it, borrow it, or go without it instead.
Alternatively, one of my favorite things to do is to add items to my Amazon wish list and then just leave them there. This is a win-win for 2 reasons:
– it gives me time to really reflect on whether I want or need the item. If I’ve forgotten about it in a few days, nothing lost, I just don’t buy it. If I’m still thinking about it, I can easily find it and buy it.
– when my birthday or Christmas rolls around and people need ideas, my Amazon wish list is full of ideas!
Keep it simple
We are so overwhelmed daily with images and articles and ideas about all the things we could be doing (DIY-ing curtains, scrapbooking, taking trips, 15 things to do with a pumpkin instead of carving it) that sometimes it feels like if we’re not moving, we’re not succeeding.
I will give you the permission now – it is okay to not do any of the stuff.
Just don’t do the stuff.
See the stuff, appreciate the stuff, then go sit on your back patio and watch the kids play soccer.
It’s okay to not have a fall bucket list. It’s okay to not go to all the Oktoberfest celebrations and pumpkin patches and birthday parties.
I know it feels like it’s not, but it is. I promise.
Make frozen waffles for dinner if that’s what you have. Buy one pumpkin to carve and just make two awkward triangles for eyes, one for a nose, and then cut out a crooked mouth.
Who cares?
What’s important is that you keep it simple.
I know you have your own items of focus for your own family. We would love to know what they are and how you accomplish them. Leave us a comment below or send us an email.