Who doesn’t love the excitement of Christmas gifts? But let’s be honest, not everything under the tree is going to be amazing. Occasionally we get some very bad Christmas gifts.
We are in the Christmas season, so it’s a good time to reflect on how we handle gifts.
I posted recently about giving clutter-free Christmas gifts. Now let’s consider the gifts we receive ourselves.
The first step in receiving a gift is gratitude.
When you are given gifts, chances are that you’ll like some of them and not others.
You may be working on decluttering your home, and perhaps some of the gifts you have received for yourself or your children don’t fit with your vision and values.
You might have asked for no gifts, or you may have suggested experience gifts instead. Yet some people will always prefer to give a physical gift. It is their way of expressing love for you.
So the moment of receiving a gift is not the moment to judge or educate on the joys of minimalism.
The moment of receiving the gift is a time for gratitude. You are fortunate to have people in your life who care enough to give gifts. So thank them with joy.
Once the gift is with you, it is yours to do with as you wish.
What should you do with the gifts that you like?
Seems like a silly question, right? Surely if you receive something and you like it, you keep it?
Well, there is more to it than that.
To keep a tidy home you want to have a balance between items coming in and items going out. Any time a larger amount of items comes in, that balance will get thrown off and can lead to clutter and overwhelm.
So now, when new gifts arrive, is the perfect time to take an inventory of what you have.
You have received some lovely new items that you are happy to keep. Don’t make the mistake of just putting them away. Use this opportunity to check your inventory and declutter.
Ask yourself these questions about your new gifts:
- Do you already have one of these? And can this new item replace an older one? If so, this is your opportunity to pass the older item on.
- Do you already have something that does the same job? In that case, keep the one that will do the job better.
- Do you have something similar? Keep the one you like best.
- Do you actually need and want one of these? Something can be pretty, but if it’s not useful it might just end up as clutter.
- Will you use it? I’ve received lovely bath products in the past. But I am not a bath person, so they just sat gathering dust. Now I know to pass them on.
- Does this align with the vision I have for who I am and who I want to be? It might just not be a great fit for you.
- Do I have the space for this item? Anything you don’t have space for will start to crowd your home.
- Do I have the capacity to care for it? Everything we own makes demands on our time and attention.
By applying these questions you can evaluate whether these new items should become part of your home.
Now what about the bad Christmas gifts?
No matter how well-meaning your friends and family are, sometimes they will simply miss the mark.
So what do you do with the gifts that you don’t want to keep?
If you have a gift receipt, you can return the item or exchange it for something you’d like better.
If you haven’t been given a gift receipt but the item has labels or store packaging you could return it for store credit.
You could sell the item on a site like eBay, Vinted or Facebook Marketplace.
Or you could give it to someone who will enjoy it more than you.
And you can donate the item to charity. There are many people in need who would be very appreciative of a new gift.
Remember, just because you received something as a gift, that does not mean that you need to hold on to it forever. At the moment that you received it, it became yours to do with as you wish. And that includes the option to give it away if you chose to.
What if you fear being judged for giving something away?
You might hold on to a gift for fear that the giver might be offended if you give it away.
I encourage you to drop that mindset. If a gift has been given with consideration for you, then the giver will have your best interests at heart. And that includes understanding if you chose to pass it on when it no longer serves you.
If they do get offended, then that is evidence that there is a different agenda at play. And you might be well advised to review the relationship you have with someone who is judging or condemning you for living in line with your values.
Secondly, people are unlikely to be going around your house checking for that vase/photo frame or cardigan they gave you. Most likely, they will never know.
So go ahead and evaluate these good and bad Christmas gifts the same way you would any other item in your home. And keep only what serves you and aligns with your values.
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Declutter coaching – Instead of buying items that may end up as clutter, gift your recipient (or yourself) a declutter coaching session and reap the benefits all year round, not just for Christmas.
