Greetings!
It's a quick turnaround from Thanksgiving to Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa this year. My house hosted Thanksgiving one day, and then the very next day put up our Christmas decorations and tree! While I set everything up, I put aside a large pile of decorations that I was ok to part with. My husband then had his say, and we donated the rest. See, even people like me still declutter!
One of my favorite traditions that we have is my kids get to go pick out a new Christmas tree ornament each year, and I write their name and the year on them. Then, when they are grown and have a tree of their own they'll each get all of their ornaments. I found myself a bit emotional this year about that tradition, knowing that in a decade our tree will be filled with the kids' ornaments. But, just like most materialistic and tangible things, everything has a shelf-life and cycle. When it's time to pass the ornaments on, it's time to pass them on.
Give lasting gifts this holiday season - your time, pleases and thank you's, and a friendly smile. Those gestures are sure to make a person's day brighter (even Scrooge himself!).
From my family to yours, happy holidays!