by
David Heitmiller
 Would
you like to take the daze out of the holidays?
We’ve dramatically ratcheted down holiday excess over
the years but we still face some of the issues, expectations
and concerns that bedevil most Americans this time of year.
Being grandparents adds a new wrinkle. Here are a
few ideas to make this a more rewarding and less hectic season.
Applying
the Your Money or Your Life concepts of “Enough”
and “Alignment of Spending with your Values” has
helped us get a handle on the holidays. We treasure most the
TIME we have to gather with friends and family this
time of year. We also often give the gift of time
instead of stuff. A few years ago we gave our time and labor
to Jacque’s parents when we painted the inside of their
house while they were away on a trip. David began giving the
gift of time to his dad when he turned 75…time to do
chores that Dad could no longer do plus the time to just hang
out. When Dad passed away four years later David was very
glad that he had been able to spend that extra time.
Here
are a few other things we’ve done to make the holidays
simpler and more meaningful:
•
Make gifts. Jacque’s made and given away many
quilts as gifts over the years, mostly from recycled clothes
and left over material. David made a wooden cradle for grandson
Erik’s birth and has plans for future grandpa-made gifts.
•
Pass Along Heirlooms. We’ve passed along jewelry,
musical instruments and pictures of ancestors. Telling or
writing the story behind the gift is especially meaningful
for both the giver and receiver.
•
Put your feelings down on paper. David has written
and given several poems as gifts. In 2002 he combined a couple
of ideas for daughter Kimberly’s 30th birthday. He put
together a picture album of his first wife Carole who died
in 1983 and copied tapes of her voice for this special occasion.
•
Honor Your Heritage. David’s mother
came from Swedish heritage so for years we celebrated Christmas
Eve with traditional ethnic food from Sweden (we avoided lutefisk,
however!)
•
Make Music. Sure we listen to recorded holiday music.
But we also make our own around the piano on Christmas Eve
and on a couple of occasions marching around the neighborhood
singing traditional carols.
•
Create a New Tradition. A few years ago,
some friends of ours created a new tradition of celebrating
the winter solstice with a Native American "sweat."
Their friends now look forward to this annual event to mark
the turning of the seaon. Use your imagination!
•
Give Books. We love to get books as gifts
and we often give books. Sometimes we even give used books!
Say what? Jacque peruses used books stores throughout the
year and often finds “like new” books, including
children’s books that make great gifts. Of course keeping
your eye open for potential gifts at reduced prices year around
makes good sense too.
This
year we'll travel to sunny San Diego where we will spend Christmas
with our daughter Kimberly's family and Jacque's mom and dad,
John and Kay Blix. We hope to be joined by our son Dan
and his wife Teri from the Seattle area too. With the guidance
from son-in-law Felipe, we've enjoyed mixing Mexican and American
traditions in recent years.
We
wish you all a simple and meaningful holiday season whatever
form your celebration takes.
©
2006 David A. Heitmiller
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