Less > More

I have discovered that I am a minimalist at heart. I hate birthday party treat bags. I hate freebies. I hate stuff just for the sake of stuff. All of this stuff just means I have to clean it up a million times until I finally get fed up and throw it away. Can we just skip all that and just never have the stuff anyway?!

If we all take a minute to look around, we will see that STUFF does not make us HAPPY. My kids (before I got rid of most of them) had all the different kinds of toys. Slime and Legos, Barbies, Hot Wheels, Trucks, and Trains, Shopkins, iPads, and almost everything else you can imagine. And you know what? They had nothing to do. They were bored and whiny about it. They were not grateful. A new toy kept their imagination for (maybe) a day. I was constantly looking for ways to entertain them, bribe them, bargain with them, or take them for treats. UGH. It was all exhausting.

An awesome mama friend of mine over at the Goodbye Normal blog gave me the idea and when I heard it, I thought it was genius! A whole year with out presents. With out gifts. With out Valentines Candy and Easter Baskets. No trinkets for Mother's Day. No grill accessories that no one really needs for Father's Day. This year, instead of BUYing things, we will be DOing things.

This year we have signed up for LESS. Less toys. Less TV. Less presents.

So much less, but so much MORE. More family. More travel. More fun. More memories.