Wanted: New Traditions

For the past year or so, I have been looking for ways to not only simplify our lives in general, but also to help our family to focus on what really matters (aka, not things with plug ins, over even 'things' in general). The accumulation of stuff is such a nice way to anesthetize ourselves to the ups and downs of life.

But, I don't want that for myself or for my kids.

 I chose to cut non-essentials out of my life while I was working on bringing my children home. Now that Little Man and Baby B are both home, I will be adding some technology back into our lives.

Did you know that we don't have internet at our home? (Shockingly, I blog, but I do not personally have internet access. Thank you family members who let me come and borrow your wireless connection.) My phone is not "smart". In fact, it's barely working these days.

We have a broken plug and play, but no video games. Our TV (which is fat, heavy, and does NOT have HD in its model name) gets one channel.  I've always been prided myself in my ability to go without technology.

However, Thanksgiving and Christmas are going to be really hard this year and part of me just wants to start buying 'stuff' to fill the void.  I think the key to surviving it will be in making sure things are kept as simple as possible, surrounding ourselves with family, and starting some new traditions (to add to the old) to help reclaim the season from our grief.

This is where I could use your help. I am looking for new ideas for traditions for our family. Nothing extravagant or with too much prep time needed.

What are some SIMPLE ways you celebrate life, focus on thankfulness, and keep your family centered on what is truly important (particularly during Thanksgiving and Christmas)?

Put your ideas in the comments section, on my FB page, or in a private message.

Thanks for your help.

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