As the season of Christmas envelops us, how prepared are our homes to welcome it? I’ve written about making room for the Spirit of Christmas and honoring the Christ Child, but this column is about literally making room for the stuff of Christmas. Clearly, I cannot do that without invoking the Grinch — at least, the Jim Carrey version.
“That’s what it’s always been about: gifts, gifts, gifts, gifts, gifts. You wanna know what happens to your gifts? They all come to me in your garbage … And the avarice. The avarice never ends,” says the Grinch. Later in the story, as we all know, the Grinch and the Whos down in Whoville discover the real meaning of Christmas — and it doesn’t come from a store.
Now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s talk about making space for Christmas stuff.
Making room for food
Right before Thanksgiving was National Clean Out Your Refrigerator Day. If you missed that opportunity, now is a great time to tackle it. Finish off those Thanksgiving leftovers and make room for the holiday food traditions of Christmas. We cleaned both of our fridges and our deep freezer so we have room for delicious goodies like tiny frozen quiches, mozzarella sticks, jalapeño poppers and other finger foods for “snack day.”
It’s also a good time to clean out cupboards: baking supplies that have gone rancid in the last year or two since you used them, expired spices, rusty pans that always burn, the overly complicated cookie cutters that won’t release the cookie dough, rubber spatulas with chunks missing and the plastic storage containers that have no lids — or lids without containers.
Finally, clearing off counters and tabletops to make room for food preparation and eating without getting your mail covered in grease spots. Just me?
Making room for gifts
Like most families, we exchange gifts at Christmas time. So what happens to the stuff that my family already has?
Here are some ideas for less Christmas clutter:
- Apply Swedish death cleaning to clearing out space for Christmas. You may recall that Swedish death cleaning is an approach that reminds us that other people, even family, really don’t want our “stuff” after we’re gone. As we continue to go through our things, we are making room by finally admitting we really don’t need 2,000 empty canning jars taking up space. We can gift them to people who really want them, sell them or — gasp — toss them. Same with so many other things.
- Share the love by having kids help. You may have seen some recent social media posts about having children go through their toys and filling a bag to give away before new toys arrive on Christmas Day. The idea is to have them choose what to “downsize” and then donating those toys to Deseret Industries or other places in need of gently used items. (If it’s well-used, please just toss it.) The sooner those items are donated, the sooner others can find treasures. You could fill bags and place them under the tree for the Grinch to take — or maybe the Elf on the Shelf, who returns to the North Pole every night.
- Declutter your Christmas supplies. I’m serious. Do you really need to keep the multiple strands of lights with just one broken light that you will fix “someday”? Toss the broken ornaments and the last 15 years of Christmas cards. If you really want the memories, take a digital picture and keep the memories alive without the clutter. Get rid of crumpled or torn wrapping paper, and even that darling “Baby’s First Christmas” outfit you bought for your first child more than 30 years ago.
- Limit gift-giving. For a few years, we tried having each child buy something for every family member from the Dollar Store. With ten kids and growing, that quickly became ridiculous. What ended up working for us for years was to do four gifts: one for the body, one for the mind, one for the soul and one for fun. Other families give one big gift per person, while others do gifts for kids only. Or, give gifts that don’t add to the clutter.
- Give clutter-free gifts. Now that our children are almost all adults, I prefer to give consumable items such as cash or specialized food stuff. (We’ve tried gift cards, but they simply do not get used — a waste for all of us.) Giving the gift of experiences is also clutter-free, from a joint vacation to tickets to the ballet, music lessons for a family that can’t afford it or having a “Great British Baking Show” competition in your own kitchen. Winner can take home a serving tray that is no longer needed. Win-win!
- Spend time serving. Acts of service can literally light the world one heart at a time. As always, check out JustServe.org for ideas of service needed near you. You can also volunteer to feed the unsheltered, help sort donations at a food pantry or food bank, “adopt” a family through Sub for Santa or choose a person off an “angel” tree. You can help the parents of a child or children with disabilities by babysitting while they shop or wrap, go caroling to assisted living centers or shovel walks for people in your neighborhood who might struggle to do so.
- Free/low-cost gift ideas. One Christmas season, I entered all our favorite recipes into a Google folder, then shared it with everyone in our family. I collected them from cookbooks, recipe boxes and from the scraps of paper I had lying around. It cost nothing but time and now our family can access them anywhere, anytime. You can also read and record books for your children or grandchildren, write a heartfelt letter to the recipient, create a playlist of your favorite songs to share, host a game day and pull out those little-used games from the closet or have a movie marathon around the Christmas tree.
- Spend time serving. Acts of service can literally light the world one heart at a time. As always, check out JustServe.org for ideas of service needed near you. You can also volunteer to feed the unsheltered, help sort donations at a food pantry or food bank, “adopt” a family through Sub for Santa or choose a person off an “angel” tree. You can help the parents of a child or children with disabilities by babysitting while they shop or wrap, go caroling to assisted living centers or shovel walks for people in your neighborhood who might struggle to do so.
- Free/low-cost gift ideas. One Christmas season, I entered all our favorite recipes into a Google folder, then shared it with everyone in our family. I collected them from cookbooks, recipe boxes and from the scraps of paper I had lying around. It cost nothing but time and now our family can access them anywhere, anytime. You can also read and record books for your children or grandchildren, write a heartfelt letter to the recipient, create a playlist of your favorite songs to share, host a game day and pull out those little-used games from the closet or have a movie marathon around the Christmas tree.
As we move through the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, making room for the stuff of Christmas — and especially the Spirit of Christmas — can transform our homes into places of joy, warmth and reflection. By clearing out the old, we not only make space for new traditions and memories but also allow ourselves the freedom to focus on the moments and experiences that truly matter.
So, whether it’s tidying up the kitchen, donating toys to those in need or simplifying gift-giving, each small act of preparation can lead to a season filled with greater meaning and less stress. This year, let’s cherish the opportunity to create a home that not only accommodates the “things” of Christmas but also honors the peace and goodwill represented by the Christ Child. May our preparations bring us closer to the true essence of the holiday, where love, kindness and community take center stage.
Originally published in the Deseret News
