Surviving the Holiday Chaos: Navigating Grocery Shopping and Gift Giving

Speaker 1: 0:07

Hey cuties, welcome back to day seven of PODMS. I need a sip of water because I just downed a pack of almonds. I was like I got to eat something before I record we have literally like we have no like eatable groceries in our house, like I guess we have ingredients, but then, even that being said, we have like no, the only fruit we have right now are little oranges cuties you know cuties and limes. Every morning, rose like I'm hungry and I try to make her a snack plate with like the nothing that we have today. It was just toast and cheese and she was over it. She was like I want something else. But I didn't peel her an orange because the past couple of days she hasn't been eating it. I just think she's over the oranges. So I was like do you want orange? She's like no, I was like a lime I don't even have. I do have one can of fruit, but that's for something special, so I couldn't let her have that. So, anyways, I need to go grocery shopping. Long story short, because we do have some meats in our freezer but that would have to take them out and thaw them and cook them. But we don't have the. We have a bag of big carrots. That's the only vegetable we have, and we have super freezer burnt mixed veg, which I did make last night and yes, they are very, very freezer burnt, but I still ate them. I still ate them.

Speaker 1: 1:33

But anyways, long story short is we're getting closer to Christmas and the grocery store is terrifying this time of year and I find it very overwhelming to have to think about what I need for Christmas weekend. You know what I mean. Like well, because the Christmas on a weekend this time, but it's like it's three, at least two days where everything is closed. So I need to know what I'm going to have. But I don't really want to go shopping, like on Christmas Eve, especially this year. My brother and mom are coming over, so it's like, okay, I need to have all the food I want, for then we need the food we need for Christmas day, the food we need for boxing day and then also the food leading up to that, because I'm not going grocery shopping right before then. Like I need to go grocery shopping today. Today is the day I need to go a week till Christmas. Today is a week till Christmas. Yes, I'm going to go grocery shopping today and I just need to get the stuff. But then now, thinking about, I'm like maybe I don't need to go today because I don't want to go at the end of the day. I should go tomorrow first thing, before I drop off row, because tomorrow was also her last day of school before her holidays. So, yeah, okay, deal, we're going Tuesday first thing in the morning, as soon as it opens, and we're going to get everything. So I need to make a list for that of what I need.

Speaker 1: 2:43

But yes, anyways, that whole point of me telling you that was that I chugged or I chomped on a bag of a sachet of roast toasted almonds so that I could have some sustenance in my life. And we're having, I'm pretty sure, movie, movie, popcorn dinner tonight, woohoo. So yeah, where'd my voice just go? So, yeah, that's my, that's my satiation, satiation, Satiation, satiation, whatever you do what I'm trying to say.

Speaker 1: 3:14

So we all know that I've been obsessed with cream of wheat and so I'm on my second box of the instant cream of wheat. I'm like obsessed with instant cream of wheat because I can just make like an individual portion just for me, because I'm really the only person who's eating it in my house. Someone had messaged me. They sent me a DM being like you have to have cream of wheat how you like it. You take the cream of wheat, because I like it cream of wheat, brown sugar cream but then you make a buttery piece of toast and you dip the toast and the cream of wheat and at first I was like okay, I saw lots of comments on my TikTok of people saying that you did that way and I was like I don't really think that's for me. And then someone DMed me and I was like I'm going to try. And so the first time I tried it, the first bite, I was like I don't know if that was for me. And then I started eating with a spoon and I was like I'll try another dip. And now I'm literally obsessed. It's my comfort food.

Speaker 1: 4:05

Every morning I get so excited to wake up. We've been doing cuddle mornings where me and Ro have breakfast in bed, when we wake up and watch shows, and it's been like the highlight of my mornings. It's like really just the time of year, like I feel like we're embracing as the days become the darkest they're going to be, and it's been so, so, so lovely. So, anyways, every morning I wake up, I make her a snack plate and I make myself my cream of wheat and my piece of toast, and I'm put a sprinkle of salt on my piece of toast as well because I'm using unsalted butter at the moment the block that I opened and it's so good and you just dip it in your brown sugar cream, cream of wheat, and it's literally a warm hug. Like I'm actually obsessed. I get so excited for bedtime to know that I get to wake up and have it in the morning. I just love it. So thank you for everyone who told me to have it that way and for the one person who DM'd me about it. You pushed me to try it and it's actually the most comforting thing in the world. I'm obsessed. I'm like bro, this morning dipped.

Speaker 1: 5:06

She doesn't like cream of wheat, like, so far she hasn't enjoyed it. I always offer if she wants, but so far she's like no, she's an oatmeal girl, like a classic oatmeal. She doesn't like steel cut, she doesn't like cream of wheat, she likes classic oatmeal. That's the texture she likes. But even this morning she was like why are you dipping that? I was like Queen Bee, I've been dipping it all week and I'm obsessed. And she was like, okay, maybe I'll try a little bit. So she tried a little bit off my spoon, like she had a little bit of cream of wheat and then she had her piece of toast and she was like you know what, it's kind of good and I was like mm-hmm. So I think soon she's going to be asking me to make her that it's so good, like literally so good.

Speaker 1: 5:41

Anyways, today for Podmas, we are talking all about gift giving around the holidays. I feel like it is people's love language is gift giving and I don't know like I feel like gift giving is like maybe one of my love languages. I didn't think it was, but I think it might be in certain contexts, because other times I feel really overwhelmed by it. So I really don't think it is. But like I can find joy in gift giving. But also, on the other end of the stick, I can find gift giving so overwhelming. Receiving gifts, I feel like I'm like the worst at receiving gifts because sometimes I just like see it as clutter that sounds so bad. But like sometimes I open a gift and it makes me feel really overwhelmed, like oh gosh. Or when you get home, like the day after Christmas, when everything is just sitting around everywhere and it's like I have to find places for this. It's just overwhelming. And then also, I find sometimes gift giving overwhelming, like I just don't like buying gifts when I have no idea of what to give the person.

Speaker 1: 6:42

So I actually did a really good job this year for the people in my life who I typically buy gifts for. I'm making a list as I go Like even last year this time of year, I was like Trevor, write down a reminder in our calendar to remind me to buy this for this person and this and that, and it actually was great. And then Trevor had that reminder come up like at some point a couple weeks ago and I just went out and was like oh yeah, perfect, and I bought whatever I needed to do and it was amazing. So that way, I'm like not overwhelmed this year. I'm really glad about that. So, anyways, I just want to talk about about gift giving and shopping around the holidays and like this is all my opinion, my feelings. It's different for everyone and I just want to want to talk about it. So, anyways, that's something I did this year or last year was support myself this year in writing things down.

Speaker 1: 7:32

I know people who collect gifts as the year go on. I can't do that. I wish I could, but I can't. I'm just not that organized In the moment. I'm like, oh yeah, this person would love it. And then if I buy it, I just want to give it to them right then. Or if I'm not going to give it to them right then, then I'm like, meh, meh, if I think about it again, then I'll think about it again. So when it's been something where it's like, oh, I really think they'd like that, I just wrote it down, put a calendar notification on it and that's made all the difference.

Speaker 1: 7:59

And then also, my favorite part of Christmas is the stockings. I love the stocking for myself and I love the stocking to purchase for other people and I feel like that's a common experience. I also feel like the stocking is just filled with really wonderful things that are essentials almost, and I am not against essential giving. I love essential gifts. I love socks, I love underwear, toothpaste, all the like. For Trevor, he's such a spa boy. He loves to treat himself to good self-care and I love that about him, and I also love filling his stocking full of all that really good self-care that he wouldn't necessarily buy for himself on the day to day. So that's so fun for me and also it's something I wish I did for myself.

Speaker 1: 8:48

I don't, I'm not that person, I'm not a product cutie. I will like never do the at home face masks or special serums or stuff like that. I just like won't, even if I try to invest in it, I just won't do it. But Trevor, I know that he will appreciate that and love that, and so it's like something fun that I get to buy. Like it's like, oh yeah, I get to buy all the fun little things that go to Sephora and have a good time, but I know that he'll love it also. I'm trying to whisper because I don't want him to hear, but he's working in the basement so he shouldn't better not listen to this episode. Although every year I always not I don't get him the same thing, but I always do get like stuff and it's fun for me. Another thing, excuse me.

Speaker 1: 9:29

Another thing is I just like think that sometimes I don't treat the stocking as like I kind of treat the stocking as the main event, and that's probably because, like as a child, I always felt the stocking was the main event because we were allowed to open our stocking before any of the other gifts, like before our parents woke up for the day, and like I grew up in a house of divorced parents like my whole life. My parents got separated like pretty much before I was born, and so our Christmas mornings were a little bit different. I didn't grow up in a household of divorced parents where you like go back and forth to people's houses, like spend a few days at your mom's, a few days at your dad's, like that wasn't the situation. Our makeup was kind of like my parents were like they got divorced but they were like still really good friends. They always my dad was always there for like family dinners. Like my dad was the one who drove my mom didn't drive, so if we needed to ride places he would drive us places. Or my mom needs to go grocery shopping stuff, like that. We went on family vacations together. Like it was kind of different, very good co-parenting.

Speaker 1: 10:36

And so Christmas morning basically worked like we would wake up at my mom's house, which was our house. We would wake up and then if my mom wasn't awake, then we could open our stockings. So me and my brother would open our stockings and then he would usually like sink back into the basement and use all the stuff and I would call my. I would tell my mom, like wake up. She'd be like, put the coffee on. And then I would call my dad and be like happy Christmas, like time to come over. And so then we would wait for my mom to get our little breakfast spread together, which was super simple eats just like croissants, coffee, that stuff. And then my dad would head over and then, once my dad was there and my mom was there, we would have our Christmas morning where we could open our actual gifts and like I don't remember if our Christmas tree was ever like filled to the brim with stuff, like sometimes you see Christmas trees or, and it's just like so many things. Also, it was only me and my brother and my mom, my dad. We didn't have a lot of family, we didn't have a huge family, so like that also wouldn't have it.

Speaker 1: 11:39

But I'm saying this because I feel like a lot of the times, when it comes to kids in Christmas, you feel like, oh, I need to like get so much stuff. So it's really that wow factor when they wake up like, oh, my gosh, like Santa came. Look at all this stuff, all these presents to open, like it's so fun, but like if we did have that when we were younger I don't remember it, so I don't then. So for me I really don't think that that's important to have to do for row, because I don't remember it. It was, it's, that's not a memory in my mind of like, oh wow, christmas morning, so much stuff. For me it's really about that routine that I just shared, about getting to open our stockings and then collecting of the parents. And then for my brother, he always, like my brother's such a gamer, loves movies, stuff like that. So his gift was always like game based. So he really only ever got one thing because he wanted a big item, right, like it was always about in addition to his talking. It was always about like whatever the new system was, the new PlayStation or the new movie set, like you know what I mean. And for me it was kind of like similar ish.

Speaker 1: 12:49

Sometimes I had big ticket items. Like my favorite Christmas ever was the Christmas I got my kitchen aid. When I was in middle school my dad got me this apple green kitchen aid which I had all the way up until literally two years ago. It put on me but it lasted so long and I'm so sad because it was one of, like, those gifts that I had for my dad. But it's been replaced with a different kitchen aid and it's okay. But they don't make the apple green anymore, so I couldn't even get the exact same one, but I loved it. It took me through like my whole adolescence into adulthood. I took it all the way to Ottawa with me. I had it at my mom's house at one point when we were at the condo, because I just like didn't have space for it. So everyone's got to love and use it and it was great. It was great. It was like one of my favorite things.

Speaker 1: 13:30

But other than that, I feel like my gifts always consisted of like clothes and honestly, I'm like trying to think of what other specific things I would ask for. I feel like I'm like trying to think of what other specific things I would ask for. My brother always knew exactly what he wanted and I was always like and I feel like that's how I am still to this day it's like because I'm very much someone like if I want something, I'm just going to buy it for myself and I'm not going to wait for like a special moment, and I try like not to over consume, especially now, but like they were done as soon as I started making my own money. It was like, okay, like my first job well, I mean I babysat and stuff like that but my first job was, like paycheck was working at a candy store when I was in, I think, grade nine or eight I'm trying to think when I started that it was either grade eight or nine and I remember I would get my paycheck and I would be so excited to spend it on whatever the thing was that I wanted. And yeah, I love doing that and I'm still like that, if there's something I want, I'm just going to go buy it. And that's why I feel like, when it comes to gift giving, I'm always like what do I want? But anyways, for me it really what it's really not important to have, like a tree that's like packed to the brim with so much stuff. And I'm happy that I have that in my in my mind because it makes it makes Christmas really less overwhelming. And like, as I've gotten older, I've definitely always tried to be thoughtful with my gifts, but like, as I've gotten older, I even try to be more thoughtful with the gift, in the sense that I used to always be like, oh OK, I want to get them this, but then I feel like I need to add on this and this little little trinkets, little bits and bobs, little random things, and it's like I don't even want the random things anymore. I try to just like not even have that.

Speaker 1: 15:23

Even the other day I was in Sephora and they have so many cute little gift sets and they have this like Locke's Locke Tan Is that how you say it? Loss of tan, locke tan, I don't know. They like skincare and body wash moisturizer brand. They had the cutest little crackers, like Christmas crackers. It was a set of four Christmas crackers that had like to. Each Christmas crack had like two little minis, so like a mini hand moisturizer, a mini body wash, mini body oil, whatever. They each had two. I thought they were so cute.

Speaker 1: 15:53

I was like that would be so cute just to add to a gift. And then I was like, no, grace, stop. Like I almost bought it and I was like, and it was 30 something dollars, it was under $40, between 30 and $40. And I was like for four people. Like you split it up for four people, each person. If you had a cracker, I was like that is so cute.

Speaker 1: 16:11

But then I was like, honestly, half the time I don't ever use my minis. Like it's just, I wouldn't have even bought this if I hadn't seen it. I wasn't even thinking that I needed to add something else onto this gift. It was just like unnecessary. And I feel like for so long I used to fall trap to that unnecessary. It's like, oh, I got to add this on, like at this on, at this on, and it's like no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, we're going, we're going bare bones here, like, and I don't mean we're not getting gifts, but I just mean like, let's step back, let's step back, let's step back and be really thoughtful with something, and whether that's an experience or a thing, and I really try to just like be thoughtful with it. And even I caught myself the other day I was buying Trevor's.

Speaker 1: 16:53

I feel weird talking about buying Trevor's gifts before Christmas out loud, but he doesn't listen to the podcast and he's not editing these ones. Like, even when he produces mine, he just, like I, leave gaps and he just has to fill in the music. So I think it should be fine. But anyways, I was like in Lululemon and he wanted new underwear and I was like he really wants good underwear and he has this one brand that he loves but like I can't figure out how to buy it. I think it's only available online.

Speaker 1: 17:20

But then everyone, when I did that underwear thing for women's underwear I did a poll on Instagram. Everyone said that a lot of people had said that they love Lululemon. They were talking about girls underwear, but I figured, if they like the girls underwear, it's probably similar for the boys underwear and it's meant for working out and stuff. So I feel like boys underwear can be like bunchy or whatever, but like that way, if it's for working out, it's going to be good for movement and like keeping you in place and everything. So anyways, I was just in Lululemon and they have all these packs of underwear for the guys. You could get just one underwear. You get three underwear, five underwears and seven underwears and I almost went for the seven and then I was like wait, wait, wait, let's think about this. Like he already has some underwear so he probably doesn't need seven. So I'll get the five because that's a good like every day, five days a week, usually works out and he'll have five nice underwears and if he likes it, then I know that I can buy him more later or it can become his staple underwear or whatever.

Speaker 1: 18:15

But like, even that was where one of those moments where I caught myself like I don't need to get the most I can. I can meet somewhere in the middle, and so that's just something that I'm really taking this year, which is why I'm so glad that I was so thoughtful with myself over the year of like really listening to what people were saying they need it, or just like in the moment, thinking I always buy people what I want, like not in a bad way, but like I do. If I feel like a lot of the time, if it's something that, like, I've wanted to always, like, oh, I really wanted that, but then it's like I already have something similar to it, then I get that for somebody else and I'm like I feel like they'll love it if I know that they like stuff that I like. So this year I was like I'm really going to focus on like what brings either experience, comfort, necessity or something I know specifically that they've asked for and I just feel really good about that.

Speaker 1: 19:08

And so for Ro. I feel like every year she asks for it. Well, this is her second year really asking for something. She always asks for something so random and I'm like last year it was a flashlight and I was like, ok, I got to get her the coolest flashlight. So I did, I got her this really cool projector flashlight that could also double as a nightlight, because at that time she really wanted like a nightlight. It was actually so cool, did like story times.

Speaker 1: 19:34

It had these little like you know that thing that you wore as a kid that you could like look Well, you didn't wear it, but you held it up to your face and to the light and you put different cartridges in it and you could like click through the pictures. It almost looked like a Polaroid camera and it would like show different photos. It was like that, but it projected different stories and you like turned it and each page was a different story and or each page was a different. Each turn, each cartridge was one story and each turn was a different page of the story. What is my voice today? I think my throat saying, grace, you've been podcasting too much recently, but anyway. So I loved that and we loved it and we loved it for like probably six months of the year. It was amazing. And then she was over it and I feel like that's how most things are for her, like she's so into something and then she's over it. I thought like we really did that like every night it was, and it brought the whole family together. Me, trevor Ro, we've read these stories. They would be broadcasted. I mean, it wasn't like extravagantly expensive. I think it was like maybe $30, which for a flashlight, yes, but it was more than just one flashlight or one did one function.

Speaker 1: 20:41

But this year she really wants a robot dog, and so I saw one the other day when I was with her at Winner's and I was like at first I was like what the heck is a robot dog and where did you get this from? And then I saw the other day when I was at Winner's with her I didn't even know Winner's had toys but I couldn't buy it because I was with her and I'm not going to go back to Winner's just because, like, I don't need to go back to Winner's and it's one of those places where, if you go to it, you might buy the stuff that you don't need or want. So I was like, okay, at least I know she was excited about that. So I was like, okay, at least I kind of understand what she wants. And then today I was like, okay, I need to go to like Toys R Us or something and see if I can find a robot dog similar to that. But then I was like you know what? I could probably find a robot dog at Value Village.

Speaker 1: 21:23

I love thrifting row gifts, especially at this age, because, like it doesn't really matter to her if it's secondhand or not. I have nothing against secondhand. I love thrifting. I thrift so much stuff all the time. But I do feel for gifts like especially for Ro, as she gets older, she's gonna want something new that's hers, just for her. Like I know, I know I lived the experience, I was there, I wanted that too. I feel like the Hammy dance and stuff like it's like I don't want that. I want the new thing for my birthday, for Christmas, whatever, which is totally fair.

Speaker 1: 21:55

But at this moment in time, like she loves a good thrift present, she loves the thrift toy shelves and stuff like that. So I'm gonna embrace it and go see if Value Village has a robot dog, because I just feel like they will. I just feel like they will, and I honestly don't think it's gonna be a toy that she wants to play with every day. I think it's gonna be like, I think it's gonna be short-lived. Maybe it won't be, maybe it won't be, but I really think it's gonna be short-lived Cause there's not much to it. So then, but I gotta get her what she wants, right? So that's gonna be like her gift and like really we only usually do one main gift for her, because one I am a stalking queen.

Speaker 1: 22:31

I will fill her stalking and we do like stalking chairs in my family. Just, it's not just things in the stalking, it's like a chair. We've always done a chair, and so everyone gets a chair and then everything's kind of like piled onto the chair. I also love the fact that you don't have to wrap it, everything's like piled onto the chair and yeah. So I've been collecting bits and bobs for her stalking. I'm excited for it. I love doing the stalkings, but yeah, anyways.

Speaker 1: 22:54

So that's Ro, and like years past last year we got the flashlight and the year before that I got her a kitchen. I wanted to get her a kitchen. I knew I wanted to get her kitchen for her first Christmas. I told everyone I was like I'm getting Ro kitchen. Everyone was like Grace, that's silly, don't do that. It's her first Christmas. This queen uses this kitchen from day one to day whatever. Now it is Three Christmases later. She loves that kitchen so much and it has been such a great toy.

Speaker 1: 23:19

So like, if there's something you wanna get your kid, do it. Don't let other people tell you what the Christmas should be like. But anyways, I just feel like it's very easy around the holidays to feel like me and Trevor did no Christmas presents. I think we did Christmas presents our first Christmas and then afterwards we kind of just stopped doing them until now, like we always did stalkings. Even now I feel like we really just do stalkings unless there's something like specific that we've been wanting, then of course we get it for each other.

Speaker 1: 23:50

But if we can't think of something specific, we try not to just like get things to get things, and so I just feel like there's a lot of emotional turmoil around the holidays, like you can have that. You can go into the mindset of being like we're not doing gifts, I'm not doing gifts, no gifts. And then all of a sudden the week before you're like, I just feel like I'm full of all these confusing emotions, like I am ready to celebrate the holidays. I feel like that's me too. Like the week before Christmas it's like, oh yeah, it's Christmas, christmas, Christmas, christmas. And then all of a sudden it's like, okay, I gotta go to the stores, I gotta buy stuff. Like I wanna get people's stuff, even though I said I'm not doing gifts. Now it's like, oh my gosh, I'm filled with joy and happiness and I wanna reflect that with things. And then, or sometimes, it's like, oh, I feel guilt. Like this person got me something, I wanna get them something, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. All this stuff where it's like I just wanna remind myself and then remind you if this is how you feel, that like it's so easy to like emotionally shop.

Speaker 1: 24:43

I feel like a lot of the times, when you're not aware of it, you don't realize that like I feel like a lot of shopping is just emotional. Even grocery shopping can be emotional. Like that's why I love Farm Boy, because they only have the basics, like they only have pretty much ingredients, they only have food. They don't have any like bits and bobs, they only have a couple options of everything, ifs that sometimes they only have one option. They don't have like huge bins of sale things and whatever. And then you feel like you're inclined to purchase more, like whenever I shopped at bigger grocery stores. Yes, it's kind of inconvenient if you need laundry detergent, but I love going to Canadian Tire for that anyways, like you know, farm Boy and Canadian Tire are like my favorite two stops in that sense. But if it's all one stop shop and gone, then I always go to Walmart but then I end up buying more stuff because there's clothing and there's pharmacy and there's toys and there's whatever, like I just feel like I always buy more than I need when I go there, especially if I'm in like an emotional shopping mood.

Speaker 1: 25:43

So I feel like emotional shopping is like a scary thing because the high feels good. But then, even just when you come home from the store sometimes you feel like, oh man, I wish I didn't do that. But then it might not even be right away, it might be the next day or a week later. You're like, oh, I said I wasn't gonna do that, I said I wasn't gonna spend money on that. I said I wasn't, I said I was saving, I said I wasn't getting gifts and then you just feel like, oh, it kind of takes the fun out of it, right. So that's why this year I was like trying to be really thoughtful, like spend the whole year thinking about what I was gonna do and what I was gonna get and just be really thoughtful about it. And even I'm so proud of myself.

Speaker 1: 26:20

I told you a bit already about like how I'm not, how I like stop myself from buying unnecessary things, but like, even in the moment, I feel like I'm doing a really good job of being like do I really need this? Do I really need? And then, because I started a little bit early this year I've always been like a week before Christmas shopper Oopsies, but because I started a little bit earlier this year, I feel like I have a week to think about it. It's like okay, like I'm still thinking about this in a week then I'll go back and get it. If it's not there, it's not meant to be. If it's there, then great. So I just feel like really good about that.

Speaker 1: 26:51

I'm trying to take the like emotional high, the dopamine, out of shopping because it can be dangerous. And so I think, when I am feeling this year like I was like, oh, when Roke gets older, are we gonna start putting more things under the tree? But I think I'm still feeling like less is more and I always love spending our money on experiences and I think this year, especially since we travel, like travel is something so important. I think it's so important to like me, and especially now that we have gone and traveled as a family. As a family, it's something so important. Not that we're gifting each other travel this Christmas. We are not, because we have a lot of forced travel coming up Not in a bad way.

Speaker 1: 27:33

I'm actually so grateful and like I'm so excited, but we have a year full of stuff, that is, other people like lots of weddings and stuff going on that aren't gonna be local. So I am so grateful for that. But it's one of those things where it's like I wanna save my money for those types of experiences and being able to go and have weekends away or be able to say yes to when someone has a destination wedding, things like that. It's like I wanna save our money for those types of things. And I know like, also, rose birthday is close to Christmas. It's not super close. This should not be the beginning of the year, so it's one of those things where it's like I know her birthday is gonna be here so soon she's gonna want I know this year for sure she wants a birthday party. So she's gonna want a birthday party, like a birthday party with friends, which we haven't given her yet. So it's like I know she's gonna wanna do something like that. So it's like let's save our money for those experiences instead of just filling the house with stuff.

Speaker 1: 28:33

And also, when you have kids, I feel like everyone always wants to get them stuff like friends, family, and so that's already sometimes overwhelming. So it's like I really don't need to be held accountable to getting her gifts because I'm gonna get the one robot dog she asked for and I kind of like that. And I also love to be able to get her things throughout the year, like if she wants a squish, be able to stop by Dollarama and let her to pick out a squish or go for donuts after school one day. Like I like doing things like that, I like the year round stuff and I feel like that's how I had it when I was growing up, like there was never really something that I wanted, that I didn't get to have. But I also feel like that made me not want lots I don't know how to explain it, but like I feel like there wasn't. I wasn't like wanting excessive amount of things or like being like kind of unrealistic with my wants, especially because I knew that I could work and make money and get things that I wanted, but like yeah, so I kind of like that balance. I like the less pressure on the holidays and I've always been like that.

Speaker 1: 29:36

I feel like it feels overwhelming, and so something I'm doing to really like help with that overwhelm is, now that it's the week before Christmas, I talk about decluttering all the time. Cute, I literally am decluttering all the time. I feel like no matter how much I get rid of, there's more stuff to get rid of. So I'm really really, really trying to every day spend 10 minutes decluttering a space in our house. I also think because of Ro just growing all the time it's like I gotta get rid of her clothes, not just keep it. That's what overwhelms me with laundry, when I fold things where I'm like I know this doesn't fit her. It's like just donate it, stop keeping it.

Speaker 1: 30:10

So, anyways, I am just trying to be really thoughtful with decluttering so that that day after Christmas, no matter how much I try to not over get things, you always end up with stuff from people here or there or whatever hostess gives. And I'm just trying to make sure that, like, I feel the least amount of overwhelm and that I have space to put the things that are coming in and that I let go of the things that serve me no longer. So, yeah, I just feel like this is what I'm feeling around gift giving and I'm grateful about it because I feel a lot of peace there where, like even last year, I felt like the week before Christmas I had that pressure like just get the things, buy random things here, there, whatever, even food, like for stockings. It's like I'm not a huge, I like candy, I like chocolate in some sense or the other, but like I like it when I want it, so like then I'll go buy it, but like other than that, it's like I just want my terries, chocolate, orange and I'm good, and so I'm trying to like not even buy, like excessive things like that, like random things like fillers. Right, I'm being thoughtful, even with the stockings, I'm being super duper thoughtful. So I think once you put thought into things, it adds meaning, obviously, and it does take off pressure to just like more and more and more.

Speaker 1: 31:37

And I don't want to wrap the presents either. That being said, I don't even have wrapping paper, so hopefully this. But I think that the robot dog is probably not something you wrap. You would stick it in a bag. So we're good, we're groovy, good.

Speaker 1: 31:53

Oh, I actually just remembered I need to get our gag gift. I would call it a gag gift. We always do a secret Santa and I need to get that gift. I always forget Trevor's always prepared. He like thinks about it literally the day after Christmas. He's like oh, I know I'm getting next year for the gag gift and I'm like, ah, I need to do that, but I just want to be Less.

Speaker 1: 32:17

Less is more. That's really where I'm at in my life Less is more, which means that I need to spend less time online and absorbing and in stores, and absorbing that like more, like. I feel like every time I walk into a store, I really rarely go to the mall. I went to the mall recently and it's like oh my gosh, I didn't even know all these things existed. And then it's like I would literally never thought of any of this stuff if I didn't walk into the store.

Speaker 1: 32:43

So it's like being balanced and also knowing, like, what mood you're in. Like, if all of a sudden I'm in a shopping mood, don't go shopping, don't go shopping, do something else, go for a walk, do something else, clean, get rid of. I feel like that's a good thing. Cleaning. If you're in a shopping mood, which means that I feel energized, it's like okay, instead of doing the shopping right away, it's like clean out the front hall closet. I still haven't done that, but still need to. It's like clean out the front hall closet and then, if you have the energy to go shopping or you have the urge because you've just been like, bombard it with everything that you didn't need in your life. Right now that you've gotten rid of, I feel like that's a good thing, that it's like oh wait, I don't actually need any of that stuff.

Speaker 1: 33:22

So, yeah, how are you feeling this year about gift giving? Do you love it? Like, do you love this time of year? Is this just like your love language to a T? Do you feel overwhelmed? Do you feel like things just become so much and I really wanna. Where do you find the balance in creating kids who are grateful, because I do feel like sometimes it does feel overwhelming, like to have your kid have to unwrap gifts in front of other people and you wanna make sure that they understand and it's not like just going to the next thing, the next thing, which is also why it's like I want it to be something that they want and something thoughtful, because otherwise it's just like okay, what else, what else? What else, what else? Yeah, it's a fine balance, but how are you feeling Like? I'd love for you to DM, have some conversation with me, because I feel like every year I'm changing and growing, but right now it's definitely less is more.

Speaker 1: 34:28

I even brought out I was folding laundry this morning. Laundry is really just dragging me down these days. I have so much of it I'm like, so not on the ball with my laundry, but anyways, I was folding laundry this morning and I brought, and usually I just like make a pile where it's like oh yeah, this is a donation. I actually have a chair in our bedroom which had a pile on it, and then I threw it all behind the chair. So behind the chair there is a whole giant thing that I need to stick in a bag and bring to Valley Village, but I just love that I did that instead of actually going to get the bag. Anyways, I actually brought the bag out today because I was folding on the main floor, which I rarely do. I usually fold in the basement or fold upstairs, but I was folding on the main floor and we keep our garbage bags on the main floor, or like our blue recycling bags, which are the ones that I usually fill for donation.

Speaker 1: 35:14

I was like I'm gonna just grab one and start it. So now I have a bag started and now I'm like, okay, later today I'm actually gonna do that. While I go to pick up row, I'm gonna drop off some stuff at the Valley Village and I'll feel so much better about it. And, ooh, then I'll get my 20% off coupon and I can run inside and see if they have a robot dog. Woo-hoo, perfect. Wow, I forgot about that. Also, that's the best thing.

Speaker 1: 35:37

Q. If you go to Valley Village, you don't even have to donate a lot. You can just donate one thing, but donate something before you go in and then you get your 20% off coupon. It's fantastic. But yeah, that's how I'm feeling this holiday season with the gift giving. I'm in a good place. I feel like I'm in a good place. Everybody is pretty much checked off my list. I feel like I did thoughtfulness.

Speaker 1: 36:00

There's just a handful more of things that I almost bought yesterday at the mall, but it wasn't exactly what I wanted. I think I need to go somewhere else, I'm not sure. But anyways, there's just a handful more of things. And my brother.

Speaker 1: 36:12

I don't know what to get my brother this year. We usually don't do gifts, but he always gets something so thoughtful for Rosie Like literally he always gets Rosie the best gift ever, because I feel like they just vibe, they like the same things and so I need to get him something, but I don't want it to just be like whatever. So I don't know. He always likes British candy, so I can hit up. I know Walmart has like a British candy aisle so I can get him a couple of the curly Whirly's he loves those. But then I want to get him something cool. I don't know. I don't know what he wants. I haven't talked to him in a while. It's like I don't know what he wants. So, oh, you know what he likes doing. Oh, I have such a good idea. He's gonna want to go rock climbing while he's here. He loves bouldering and so I'll just pay for his bouldering passes while he's here Okay, perfect, let me write that down, kids, or else I'm gonna forget.

Speaker 1: 37:01

Bouldering pass for Richard Okay, awesome, and maybe I'll go with him one day. I know he likes spending time together. Everyone loves spending time together, and I actually haven't been to the bouldering gym here yet. Trevor's been but I haven't been in something me and my brother used to do when we were growing up. As we did rock climbing together. We would go to this rock climbing gym in Toronto and he loved it, which is probably why I went because he would take me my brother's older than me, so a lot of those activities he was able to take me and then my mom didn't have to worry about childcare in that moment. So, yeah, and I liked it too, but I was not as good and I probably will not be. Actually, you know, my upper body strength is probably the best it's ever been, because I have row and I literally pick her up like all the time. Yeah, so I might actually be not that bad. I'm not holding my breath, but I actually don't think I've ever bouldered or bouldered.

Speaker 1: 37:58

I'm not sure if he's gonna do the rock climbing or the bouldering. I feel like this is a bouldering gym that's closest to us, but I'm not sure, because bouldering I find really difficult, like rock climbing. At least someone can like hoist you up, which is cheating. That's cheating, but like, anyways, that'll be fun. Okay, yeah, and I wonder if I wonder how old the people need to be to go, because my brother's actually coming down for a whole week, which is so exciting. Normally it only comes down for a couple of days, so we'll have some good quality bonding time. Yay, okay, I'm so excited. Thanks for figuring that out with me.

Speaker 1: 38:30

Other than that, I think I have everybody that I'm doing gifts for. We don't do gifts for too too many people, just the immediate and that makes us feel. That makes us feel good and less overwhelming. So, yeah, and I just need to figure out my gag gifts. So if you have any good like gag gifts, they don't have to be like funny, but I think it's like a $20 limit. Yeah, I don't think it's more than $20. It might even be a $15 limit, I can't remember. And it's for my like secret Santa with my family, and basically we do like the white elephant where you pick out a number from the hat.

Speaker 1: 39:04

Last year I got a microphone. I think I told you that about that a couple episodes ago, but I did the microphone and it was actually so popular and, yeah, I don't know what to do. This year we do have a random, but I then I feel bad. Okay, I was gonna say we do have a random Chromecast that came Trevor got for free because he like registered for something with Google and it. But it's a Chromecast and a Some console that's a Google run console. I feel like it's called a Steedier's, I don't know what it's called. Anyways, we have this for a while, but I feel like we don't need it and I always think like, oh, we should throw it into the, the gift Rotation. But then I feel bad when you get a gift that's like way out of the because a Chromecast is.

Speaker 1: 39:52

I don't know how much Chromecast is, but it's definitely more than $20 but like when it's way out of the Price limit. But then is that also the point of it? Is like we got it for free because it was like a Promotional gift, or you got something really good on a deal, or is it like not fair? I'm not sure. So I do have that I could put in, because I feel like Chromecast are really good and it does come with like a controller thing that plays games I don't know, I don't know how it works and like a Subscription for, like a promo subscription for three months or whatever for this system, but more importantly, it has the Chromecast in it. That's what I would think, but anyways, I'm not sure. Let me know. Let me know if you've ever had like a really good Gag gift because I always try to be thoughtful with those ones as well, like I don't want to just get something random that's gonna become trash, you know. So let me know what you've done for Secret Santa's that's like within that $20 limit or less, because I need to get that, I need to get that gift. Okay, sir, I think that's it for this episode.

Speaker 1: 40:53

Let's get into our recipe of the day. This is something I haven't made yet, but I wanted to make so bad last year, for sure I'm. I don't even know why I didn't make it last year, but I wanted to make it for a while. But last year I remember I was like I want to make this so bad, I want to make this so bad. Even my mom was like, oh Grace, we should make this. And I was like, oh my gosh, mom, I was thinking about that too and we didn't make it. And since we're talking about gift giving and the holidays, this is just a gift that I think is so easy and heartfelt. I haven't made it yet, but I'm pretty sure it's easy because it only takes one ingredient, well, maybe two, um, butter.

Speaker 1: 41:29

I want to make butter, homemade butter. I just think what a fun thing to do, and you can Do it in like different butter molds. I'm pretty sure I'm not going to go get a butter mold. I don't have one. I bet you could probably just use like a silicone mold too. Like, make a little we do have. We do have a unicorn silicone mold that I got to make row unicorn ice cubes, what she loves. Maybe I can make unicorn Butters. She would freaking love that, because row loves butter. She would just eat butter on its own. But yeah, and then you get to add like the flaky salt to it. I think that's such a fun hostess gift which, like you could actually use. That would also be good for like I keep going at a gag gift, but for a secret sienna, if you went and got like a crusty loaf of bread or even made some bread, but that makes it a little bit, a little bit more complex. Um, but honestly, making bread is even that complex. But yeah, we're making butter cubes. I'm so excited. I'm so excited. I just want to, like, make my own butter and taste it and wash it. So, yeah, we're making butter cubes. And if you're needing a last minute fun little gift or even just a fun activity for you and the fam, like that's a fun activity During this holiday time when you're all off just chilling make some butter, make some bread. So yeah, yay, I will post that video on tick tock, on instagram, on youtube. It will be a viewer of uber. It will be uber accessible. It will be uber accessible to all of you. I love you all so much. Thank you for coming and joining us on day seven of podmas.

Speaker 1: 42:59

We are officially a week from christmas. This is when it gets exciting for me. This is when it gets exciting, like I'm just excited to get to spend time with so many family, because my true love language, like on top of all, my actual love language, is time spent with one another. What is it called time spent? Quality time. That's it. That's my actual leveling, which is quality time. So I just get so excited for like the good times that we get to spend with people. I literally haven't reached out to any of my friends to have one-on-one, because usually we always do our one-on-ones Like the week between christmas and new years, if we're gonna do that. But I got to reach out, I'm just like that's, that's what I mean by like it hasn't clicked yet. Like usually it's like the week before christmas, today and onwards, all of a sudden it's like, oh yeah, yeah, christmas is here. We gotta spend time with people, not buy things. Okay, I love you all so much. Hugs and kisses what.