“Simplify” has become one of the buzziest holiday buzzwords over the last decade, and today Meagan and Sarah are unpacking what that really means in their homes. Whether you really do want to scale back this season or whether, like us, you’re just out to maximize magic and minimize stress, we hope you’ll join us for Episode 30!
Sponsor Spotlight
We are thrilled to welcome back Responsibility.org as our sponsor!
Check out their website, or search the #HolidayResponsibly hashtag on Twitter to see some of the great research and resources designed to help you make responsible choices when it comes to alcohol this holiday season.
Links we mentioned (or should have!) in Episode 30
- Be The Best Parent You Can Be – FREE online parenting video series beginning this week!
- 5 reasons I’m not simplifying Christmas this year (updated) – Laura Vanderkam
- Holiday Episodes of The Home Hour
- Create a Calmer Holiday with Doña Bumgarner (Episode 44)
- Saving Money at the Holidays with Amy Clark of MomAdvice.com (Episode 9)
- Simplifying the holidays with Tsh Oxenreider of Simple Mom (Episode 7)
- Low-Stress Traditions with Sarah Powers (the first time we ever recorded together! Episode 14)
- Christmas at Home with Meagan & Sarah (last year’s holiday chat – Episode 46)
- Living Well on Less with Amy Suardi of Frugal Mama (Episode 5)
- Blogging and Life with Rebecca Woolf of Girl’s Gone Child (Episode 16)
- Essays and posts we’ve written on creating holiday joy and enjoying the season
- Holidays, The Easy Way (a four-part series on The Happiest Home)
- Why Holiday Traditions Aren’t Mom’s Responsibility (Sarah for The Huffington Post)
- Believing in Santa, for now (Meagan for The Washington Post)
- The Reason For The Season? Joy. (Meagan for The Happiest Home)
I have the same issue with wrapping gifts. Spatial reasoning…? Interesting concept. I hadn’t thought of that before – but that might explain my challenge. Great episode ladies!
Thanks, T! Glad to know we’re not alone… 😉
Meagan and Sarah,
I want you to know that I love listening to The Mom Hour. I’m the mom of two small children so in Sarah I relate to someone who is in the same parenting stage and with Meagan I’m able to see where I’m going to on this journey. Both of your perspectives are so important to surviving the day to day struggles of raising small children while also keeping the bigger picture in mind. I want to thank you for your thoughtful commentary on so many pertinent parenting topics, for calling it like it is and for encouraging all Moms to cut themselves a break. I can honestly say you have made parenting a bit easier and enjoyable for me.
Erin Allee
Fellow hater of fun 🙂
Erin, this makes us so happy! Thank you for taking the time to comment, and for listening. xo
Christmas gives me the hives. I love it, but I don’t like doing all the work to “make” Christmas. My husband is not into it.
I have in years past only put up half of the tree (just leaving out the bottom section of the fake tree). I only make the cookies I like. My son is now into the tree, so last year he put it up (with a little help and supervision). I only cook one meal on Christmas Day. We have breakfast for dinner in Christmas Eve with paper plates.
I only did the bare minimum last year to make me feel Christmasy, and it was FINE.