Tis the Season: 10 Steps to Simplify Homeschool Christmas

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I am a former Martha Stewart soiree enthusiast and am going to write about simplifying the holidays? Insert laugh emoji here.

So how to simplify homeschool Christmas…

Top five things you don’t want to hear your kiddos say that’ll surely not simplify Christmas…

5. Mom I need a reindeer outfit for the pageant…tomorrow.

4. I told Santa I wanted a Saint Bernard.

3. I’m wrapping your present. I can’t get him to hold still.

2. I told the Pastor you’d direct the Christmas play. I’m gonna be a wise guy.

1. Bring the candle over, Jimmy. Let’s see if this tree really is fireproof.

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Simplify homeschool Christmas, or any soirees, hasn’t been my thing.

Some years ago, I hired a clown for a thirty-person party. I handmade circus invitations. I spent hours placing the red and white tent over our backyard playground. My daughter was turning three and wouldn’t remember any of it.

I’ve been slowly unwinding that party approach ever since.

In the last few Christmases, I have heard loud and clear that many people feel overwhelmed by details this month: “Have you got it all done yet?” or “Are you ready?”

The message is clear.

There’s not enough time to sit back, relax, and enjoy the process, because there’s too much to do. 

So much angst for one day. Let’s simplify homeschool Christmas.

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So my goal is now to enjoy the process. The ten things I’ve learned to help simplify my homeschool Christmas…

1. Simplify shopping.

There’s a clear shift in seasons around these parts: the season of production in our Western world turns to the season of materialism.

I am taking part, of course.

Perhaps it feels a bit more pronounced as our trips to the developing world remind me that the majority of the world hopes for the basics: healthcare, clean water, and basic nutrition.

Just like you, I’m sifting through the endless barrage of holiday deals arriving in my email inbox and trying to buy just the right candy for my kid’s stockings.

Yep, I’m doused in the comfortable culture of excess too.

In our culture, where we have a hard time gift shopping for each other because we already have everything we need, minimalism is challenging.

Perhaps the emphasis doesn’t have to be on what we buy, rather why we’re buying it. Because we parents know we’re all wishing for delighted little faces to shine like tree lights when they unwrap our offerings, we sometimes get caught in a rut. The rut of attempting to satisfy the unsatisfiable.

I giggled when I saw a Pin that told me how to do Christmas ‘minimalistically(ish)’:

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“…something they want.. something they need… something to wear… something to read.. something to make.. something to eat… and one more thing.”

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This is actually how I have done it for years to simplify homeschool Christmas.

I marvel when I hear families purchasing one gift for each child. Or even forgoing gifts altogether for charitable reasons.

You do you, girlfriend! I know we all do different things for different reasons, but I am truly in awe.

However you choose to pursue Christmas minimalism, remember that our kids will be happy with whatever we give them if we sit down to play alongside them on Christmas day.

FYI For years my son would eagerly receive gifts that he could build, ya know, things like Lego sets and so I put together a post detailing his very favorite gifts.

If your kiddo is a builder too, I’ve got Homeschool Christmas Gift Ideas for A Builder-Based Learner.

Consider why you’re purchasing what you’re purchasing: this is my first step to simplifying homeschool Christmas.

2. Don’t shop with the kids.

If there’s any disadvantage of homeschooling, Christmas shopping with your constant companions is a disadvantage.

There was a time when Christmas shopping was simpler.

Not much effort was required to distract and toss things into the cart piling our winter jackets on top when they were three, but now that they’re older, those days are gone, baby. My kiddos can sniff out deception an aisle away.

When they learn of your sneaky strategy, you must swear them to secrecy not to share your approach with the younger kids, or you have to leave that kiddo at home to babysit their siblings. Or find a friend to look after the kids in late November/early December while you grab a peppermint mocha and wander the mall or local craft fair.

3. Lower your decorative expectations.

I don’t feel inclined to load my cart with the purchase of fancy gift tags or groom the tree in the latest theme colours found in House & Home magazine. I prefer decorations with memories attached not expensive price tags.

Once upon a time, I sold our pre-lit tree in favour of a fresh tree.

A tree that isn’t as full and groomed as our department store and certainly not pre-lit. But I’m just thrilled to cut a fresh tree from our homestead where Christmas trees will be available for years to come.

Not one of them looks like they’re hearty enough to withstand more than a line of lights. But that’s okay, that’s my very least enjoyable holiday tradition anyway.

You too?

Or is standing in the post office line your least favorite holiday tradition? That day of the year always takes my Christmas cake for the worst day of the year. No matter whether Charlie Brown’s Christmas CD is playing in the background or not. Bah humbug.

I have an entire holly tree in my front yard. Not the prettiest in the summer season, but convenient for the front door Christmas swag.

A few boughs from the backyard trees, carefully placed candles, and a few sprigs of holly, and I have my dining room table décor complete. Ta da.

And since this is all very crafty, we always did it as a homeschool activity.

Then when the house and tree are all decorated, I’d sit at the piano and practice my Christmas carols (the one time of year you’ll see me tapping the keys of the piano). In a previous post, I shared how I enjoy Christmas in our Homeschool through Four Christmas Carols.

But you should know, I intend to enjoy the process and be present in my Christmas activities, so no flurry of activity for me. I don’t tell myself that when the Rubbermaid totes of Christmas decorations come out they all have to be set up in a day. Decorating takes me days to weeks to finish decorating. But I enjoy it!

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4. Don’t attempt to conquer your Pinterest boards or compete with Instagram posts.

Allow Pinterest (and all forms of social media) to amuse & inspire you.

Think of social media as a free magazine subscription where you get to choose the articles & the content.

There will always be more crafts than time.

There will always be more ideas than creation.

If I don’t think I have to cook everything in a magazine subscription, then I also don’t have to complete everything on my Pinterest boards. Neither do you.

Enjoy what others do in their holiday season. Let it delight your eyes as sugar plum fairies dance in your kids’ heads.

Then allow yourself to go back to your regularly scheduled program of just doing the laundry so kids have clean socks for their violin recital or cooking and cleaning because that won’t stop for the season.

Lean into living a real-life approach to Simplify Homeschool Christmas Expectations. (ps I shared an audio story about living out real life during the holiday season in the Patreon Homeschool Mama Support Group).

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5. Simplify your baking. 

Certainly, my body doesn’t need daily sugar additions in the form of gingerbread and lemon bars. So intentionally reserve baking activities for the weekend, a weekend baking tradition, to sample the season, and hopefully, reserve eating those treats on the weekend too.

I hope it’ll teach me Dr. Daniel Amen’s words: “Why do we need brain doping, nasty foods for every occasion?”

And my husband’s wisdom too: “It’s like we create occasions just for the consumption of foods that are no good for us.”

So when he falls asleep, I’ll sneak into the kitchen for that final star-shaped chocolate almond mocha shortbread.

6. We don’t have to succumb to the latest Christmas trends.

For a long time, I didn’t purchase the $15 chocolate advent calendars. Lindt chocolate advent calendars for four kids are expensive. And the other options are mostly sugar and very little chocolate IMO. I’ve packed our favourite candies in three canning jars with pretty ribbons and refilled them as required.

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For each day we count down till Christmas, I have fun creating my me-time traditions. I pencil draw a tiny rendition of each place we’ve traveled or a significant moment of that year. And I tie those tiny drawings to a piece of twine hanging from the end of the mantle to the other.

At the end of the day, we countdown till Santa arrives.

For a cheaper version of Elf on the Shelf, my girls and I hot-glued hazelnut squirrels with brown pipe cleaners and dotted their eyes with markers. These squirrels have been…

• busy reading,
• played a wicked game of chess,
• climbed the Christmas tree, or
• jumped off the living room curtain rod in their GI Joe parachute,

My nine-year-old saw right through my attempt at fabricating animated squirrels:

“You’re just trying to keep the magic of Christmas alive.”

Yup, and though she knows it, she’s still drawn in. So I’ll consider making the magic of Christmas come alive with simple homeschool memories.

Oh also, a note on homeschooling during Christmas: of course, if you’ve learned to lean into child-led learning, this season is replete with fun, interesting learning opportunities, but sometimes just taking a break from thinking about learning opportunities and how things could or should go in your homeschool life will bring you space and true downtime. So consider NOT doing anything for a bit.

Or if that sounded likely a highly unlikely scenario in your homeschooled family this December, consider unschooling Christmas just this year to simplify homeschool Christmas.

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7. Don’t send Santa packing.

When my oldest was five, I took offense to the mass cultural lie we tell our children: that Santa exists.

I told her that Santa wasn’t real.

Then I rescinded my words and convinced her that a kind letter to Santa at the beginning of December would be worthwhile, wink wink — that the empty cookie plate and the mess at the fireplace were from that jolly fellow every Christmas morning.

There was a certain joix-de-Vivre, inexpensive magic, that trickled into the Christmas season.

What also came along with that season was a Christmas letter written by their parent in their non-dominant hand about Santa’s comical observations about the Wiedrick family each year.

I loved those. My husband, not so much. So many Christmas eves he was surprised I’d be asking him to write them AGAIN.

When that child was thirteen, she reserved the belief that there was a curious parallel between God and Santa:

• they both knew if she was awake at night,
• whether she would get coal or candy in her stocking,
• they could both be in many places at once…

So one Christmas she asked, why do I have to write Santa a letter? Doesn’t he know what I want for Christmas?

Touche, the Santa magic was broken.

Having said that, my second born asked for a reason to believe in Santa. My only response: your childhood is short. The idealism of youth quickly gives way to cynicism, so enjoy Santa.

And so Santa lives on in our home.

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8. Create a simpler Christmas dinner plan: do it on another day.

I plan again for Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve.

The work required to create this meal doesn’t enable a peaceful Christmas day for mama.

I’d rather eat reheated roast beef and Yorkshire puddings in my new PJs, laze with my freshly cracked novel, or sip on a glass of Villa Teresa prosecco instead of spending four hours peeling potatoes and snipping Brussel sprouts.

A candlelight Christmas day dinner only sounded like a good idea when I was a child because I had no idea how much time was required to prepare that meal. (ps This argument goes for camping too.)

So we typically prepare a formal festive meal every Christmas Eve: roast beef, mashed potatoes, Yorkshire puddings, Brussel sprouts, a salad with mixed greens, goat cheese, pomegranates, and various other vegetables. I always plan a dessert and we don’t always make one, since we are about to consume the entire plate of Bailey’s fudge, peppermint chocolate cookies, or Nanaimo bars for Santa in a few hours.

And so, on Christmas Day, I get to luxuriate in the beautiful collective energy of Christmas and then enjoy my very favourite meal ever: LEFTOVERS.

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9. Don’t consult Martha Stewart for perfectly wrapped packages.

Instead of purchasing gift tags, I’ve opted to cut pretty pics from my twenty-five years of saved family Christmas cards.

Yes, the Christmas card you sent me. I’ve had that in storage for years. It’s probably now under my tree attached with twine with my kids’ name on it wrapped around the new family game.

Instead of buying expensive wrap, I’ve been known to wrap them with brown paper, strings, and boughs with calligraphed names (or just a nice black marker).

I’ll wrap a handful of packages each December night so the night before the night before Christmas I don’t have to sit in the basement for six hours piling up wads of plastic and snips of paper.

Also consider giving your kids eyeball-to-eyeball time with you by enlisting a child to help you with some gifts. And let them know that’s when you pull out the stash of your favourite Christmas treat (presently mine are those Candy Cane Lindt chocolate bars, but I’ll take chocolate of any sort).

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 10. Give the simple gift that keeps on giving: kindness.

Generosity pervades this month. Or at least it can if you plan for it.

The greatest gift our community offers is the merriment in acknowledging important people in our lives and the festive way in which we share this month.

So find a way to contribute to your community. Of course, this is useful every month of the year, but consider keeping a December tradition of purchasing grocery gift cards and sharing them with those who might need them on your shopping travels.

Likely Grocery Gift Baskets are being distributed somewhere in your community. And you likely have a toy room filled with toys you no longer need. Consider sending them second-hand as they will likely be snapped in time for someone else’s Christmas. (Or consider a homeschool co-op Christmas book or toy exchange but do it with only pre-used items or books.)

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During this delightful season, remember that our favourite gifts aren’t really under the tree anyway, they’re under our roofs, the little ones with sugar plum fairies dancing in their heads.

So enjoy the process. Stop to smell the…holly, catch snowflakes on your tongue, and carpe diem your simple homeschool Christmas.

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