Good Things: 17 Bright Sides of a Childless Christmas

My husband and my 17^th wedding anniversary was 10 December.  On our wedding day, I never dreamed that we would be childless, celebrating Christmas without a little of our own.  But I’ve come to realize that a childless Christmas isn’t all bad.  So, in honor of our 17^th anniversary, I want to share with you 17 bright sides of a childless Christmas. . .

1. Perfect Trees.  I absolutely love to decorate Christmas trees, placing each ornament in the perfect spot.  (And yes, I said trees, plural.  Last year, we had six!)  I’m just waiting for the camera crew to show up because our perfect trees are ready for their magazine photo shoot!
2. No gifts? No problem!  Most years, my hubby and I take a trip together or buy a piece of furniture for the house or complete a project that we both want done.  We don’t have a ton of presents wrapped under our perfectly decorated Christmas trees.  And no one complains about that!
3. No trips to the mall. Because we don’t have to worry with a bunch of presents, we also don’t have to spend hours trapesing around the mall to find just the right gifts.
4. Traveling.  We don’t have to worry about school holidays, so we can travel whenever we like during the holiday season.  And this saves a lot of money since some of the best travel deals happen at the beginning of December.
5. Adult Parties. We get to hang out, talk without being interrupted (well, except by each other!), and sip spiked mulled cider at our holiday parties!
6. No sitters needed. And we can attend those parties without worrying about getting a sitter!
7. No outside lights? No worries!  While I love to decorate our entire house, sometimes we just don’t get around to putting up the outside lights.  But that’s okay!  No one is crying about it!  And when we do decorate the outside, we don’t have to use any silly blow-up Frosty (unless we want to)!
8. No searching down the hottest toy. We don’t have to worry that this year’s must-have toy won’t be in-stock.  No searching countless stores or paying extra so it will be delivered on time.
9. Christmas Movies. Since we aren’t at the mall trying to find tons of gifts, we have extra time to watch Christmas movies (in a quiet house, looking at our perfect trees).  And none of the movies are cartoons!
10. Snow Days. If we happen to get a beautiful snow storm, we get to enjoy relaxed snow days in our peaceful home.  No one is begging to go sledding!
11. No teacher gifts.  Again, no need to tackle the mall.  We don’t have to buy teacher gifts!  (Well, unless we want to get Maddie’s teachers something.  But we don’t have to!)
12. Baking.  Because we don’t have two-legged kid commitments, I have time to bake (while listening to whatever Christmas music I like)!  And I can make whatever I want!  Sugar cookies and sprinkles not required.
13. Fancy Food.  My hubby and I can cook all day, making stuffed mushrooms and other fancy foods without worrying that the kid won’t like it.  (Maddie is not a picky eater! But we do know which Christmas dinner foods are safe for dogs.)
14. Spoiling our nieces and nephews.  Despite being childless, we are not childfree.  We have plenty of nieces and nephews to spoil!  Because we like avoiding the mall, we often do something with them rather than buying a ton of stuff.  Last year, we took the girls to a Brazilian steakhouse!
15. Santa can visit anytime.  We travel back to Oklahoma over the holidays, but Maddie isn’t worried about whether Santa will find her.  She knows he’ll visit at some point.  It just might be in January, but that’s okay!
16. A Quiet Christmas Break.  No one is bored or whining at our house.  We enjoy the quiet, slow break after we get home from visiting family.
17. Our Anniversary.  And the best part about being childless is the fact that we can focus on us.  No matter what day our anniversary falls on, we can celebrate.  If we want to take a trip, we can.  If we want to stay home curled up in front of the fire, we can.  Our love for one another fills the holidays with much joy!

As usual, I have chosen to focus on what I do have as a childless woman rather than what I do not have.  Looking at these bright sides helps me find joy and happiness during one of my favorite times of year.  I wasn’t about to let being childless ruin Christmas for me!

Fabulous one, I encourage you to find your bright sides of a childless Christmas.  Even if you can think of just one…  Focus on that and allow it to bring you joy!

Want to read more Good Things?  Click here for “The Bright Side of Infertility”

Featured Photo Credit:  Tohm Brigitte of StockSnap.io