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Do you love celebrating the holidays but dread the annual clutter build-up that happens when gift-giving gets out of hand? With winter holidays on the horizon, let’s take a look at some strategies for avoiding clutter and focusing on gifts that will be cherished. These same tips can apply to other gift-giving times like birthdays and anniversaries as well.  

Register for Experiences

If you’re tired of your child’s grandparents and other relatives overloading them with toys that will soon turn into messes, guide them towards gifting experiences instead. This could look like family zoo passes, museum memberships, or season tickets to a local theme park. Or maybe the relative wants to gift a one-time special outing that they’ll go on with a child. The possibility of creating life-long memories is much greater when someone gives an experience instead of just another toy. 

Update Wish Lists Throughout the Year

Adding items regularly will help you think of meaningful gifts without being under a time crunch. You’ll also be regularly reviewing the items already on your list if you’re adding to it often and you can take that opportunity to really consider if those items would be well-loved and would work in your home. 

Follow a Formula

There are lots of resources out there for families looking to create structure and manage expectations around gift-giving. A very popular suggested list calls for “something they want, something they need, something to wear, and something to read” but you can craft a formula that’s best suited for you and your family. 

Make Space

A month or so before the Holidays, go through all of your children’s toys with them and let them make decisions on what to keep, what to throw away, and what to donate. You can guide them throughout the process but try to give them most of the decision-making power if you can in order to reduce anxiety on their part. Going through a decluttering process will help ensure you have space to store incoming gifts.

Ask for Consumables

Edible items can be excellent gifts, especially for adults. An advent calendar filled with tiny jars of jam, a subscription to a wine or coffee club, a selection of teas. Think of items that you’ll enjoy but that won’t require a permanent space in your home. You’ll be able to think fondly of the person who gave you the gift every time you partake, and won’t be resentful of having to find space to keep something that’s not quite your style. 

Call a Family Meeting

Have an honest conversation about how gift-giving is working for your extended family. Does each adult sibling really need to buy a present for each other? Has gift exchange time just turned into an unceremonious shuffling around of gift cards? If you’re feeling bogged down by gift-giving in your family, you’re likely not the only one. Feel out other family members early in the new year about whether adjustments should be made. Some extended families might want to stop exchanging gifts altogether, opting instead to make a donation together or have an experience together at the Holidays or at a different time of the year. 

No matter the gift-giving strategy you settle on, we wish you and your family a wonderful (hopefully uncluttered) holiday season!