by hand

way back in october, we decided to go handmade for the holidays.  i never did take the pledge.  i'm not sure why.  but we took our own pledge.  we decided, between ourselves.

i've been wanting (and wanting and wanting) to eliminate commercialism from the holiday season for years.  even though we don't celebrate christmas, it's there for us, still.  hanukkah is not a holiday about presents.  but, as my sweet eight-year-old will tell you, we give presents during hanukkah in this country is because hanukkah falls near christmas when the rest of the country is giving presents.  and so the custom has evolved.

traditionally, gelt is given at hanukkah.  money.  coins, really.  which is why we enjoy chocolate coins as a part of our celebrations.  have you seen them?  chocolate coins.  tasty, tasty.  a treat.

but back to presents.

every year i promise myself that my kids won't get presents on each of the eight nights of hanukkah - it's just too much.  and somehow, with the gifts we buy and the gifts from the grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins and friends, we wind up with gifts on every one of those eight nights.

and even though we've worked hard, hard, hard to eliminate the junky toys from our lives, even though we've done a pretty good job - all of us - of reducing our stuff and our i've-just-gotta-have-its, we have more than enough.  and yet, we have still bought and given things that were not needed.

it's just too much.  too much stuff.  too much gift buying.  too much running to target at the last minute.  and really, none of that is in the spirit of this holiday.  this holiday is about light, about freedom, about miracles.  not about buying stuff.

so we pledged to each other that this year we would make and buy and give handmade.  it seemed like just the way to bring the light, the spirit back into the celebration.

there are a few exceptions.  books, of course.  music.  and picture frames.  oh, and the five little wrapped trinkets my daughter brought home from the holiday bazaar at her school.

handmade. it has led to some head scratching (what to get for my brother...!?).  a few moments of head banging.  some revised planning (scarves and tote bags for the kids' teachers have turned into eye pillows at the last minute.  there are ten teachers, after all.  don't ask.).  but there has been a whole lot of fun in the planning, the shopping, the making.

i'm not sure that we'll do this every year from now on.  and i'm not sure that we won't.  but i feel certain that wherever we go from here, we'll incorporate the lessons we've learned through our handmade pledge into all of our future gift buying. 

it's been meaningful.  and, after all, isn't that what holidays are all about?

(now, i think i'll go take that pledge!)

Comments

[naomi]

i love your eye pillow idea. if i may be so bold to ask... i'd like to "order" one for my next birthday. did you fill it with something that you could heat up? it would be great for feet as well. happy hanukah to you and your family. -nomi

[Nessie]

sounds like you have a very wise 8 year old.
and I think it is fantastic to make your gifts...
happy happy holiday!

[Megan]

You are so right. This is getting me all itchy to simply again and again and again. I hate all the stuff that slowly piles up in my life, and most particularly my children's lives. I no longer buy them junk, but can't stop the grandparents from doing so. I just learn to live with it, but it makes me crazy.

[Rachel]

What a lovely post. We are doing the same around here this year, although I didn't take the pledge. We have been making handmade for about two years now, and will say it can be challenging (men are tough).

I get crazy over the grandparent excess too, but I don't thing there is anything I will ever be able to do about it. Oh well.

[julia]

i'm with you on this. especially the part about my brother...

[Sara]

Your blog is beautiful! It seems to be too late for this year, but next Chanuka I'm going handmade!

Have a wonderful holiday, full of light.

[Grace]

I'm finally getting to catch up on my few favorite blogs. (Must limit myself to four today. Just four.) And I really want to comment on all of your Hanukkah posts. We get chocolate coins from St Nicholas every year on Dec. 6. I had a hard time this year finding dairy-free for J. But I succeeded, and they arrived the night before.

I, too, (like everyone reading this post, I'm sure) am so sick of the commercialism of this time of year. Last year we actually had a huge rift with family over it. But I think we're in a better place now for having been through all of that. (Things are settled in that arena. Some compromise, a lot of boundaries. And everyone is OK.)

I see all these holidays clustered at the Solstice, and how they are all light-oriented. This has become the most important piece of the season for me. We do celebrate our religious days. We do celebrate some of the secular things. But the signs that the natural world are giving, the hope of light and life even at the darkest point in the year, has become my focus.

Long comment. Sorry. xoxo