a slow season
- Danielle Smith
- Nov 8, 2025
- 3 min read
As we are entering into my favorite time of the year, this year feels different to me. My intentions are different and my plans for the Holiday season that is approaching much faster that I'd like are also very different. I don't mean that I didn't buy my kids too many gifts (because I absolutely did) and I don't mean that this was the year I finally gave into the minimal Christmas.. want, wear, need, read hype(because, I didn't) what I mean is that earlier today when we ran into Hobby Lobby on a Saturday morning to pick up supplies, I felt different. We walked into the store stunned by how full the parking lot was and I am not even exaggerating, there were a hundred people in seven lines to check out. I have never seen the store that way. Were they giving stuff away? What in the world was going on? We grabbed the dollhouse supplies I needed and got in line. Looking around I have never seen so many people with shopping carts full to the top of Christmas decorations and more and more Christmas decorations piled on top of every shelf, every wall filled and every end cap. It looks like the North Pole exploded.
Don't get me wrong, I love Christmas as much as the next girl but it felt so different to me today. Standing there surrounded by so many people and just so much stuff, I felt even more clearly that this really is the year I will finally get my slower season. This year I need the slower holiday. We all do! Every year I feel the same way, after it's over I'm happy it is and I'm upset that we were so busy that we didn't get to do anything worth while.
I was standing there today thinking if I could have anything in this store, what would I "need", what could I possibly need? And honestly the answer is, nothing. What I need is more time with the people I love, more time to create things, to learn something new, to laugh with the kids over something silly, to watch a comfort show with my teenager, make some really delicious food that makes the whole house smell like my grandparent's house always did on Thanksgiving and eat way too much. To sit around the table after dinner and just look around at the faces of the people I'm so blessed to call mine and just be. To just be there this year. That's what I want more than anything. It's nothing that can be bought, it can only be lived and made and enjoyed.
A slower holiday season. Watching our favorite Christmas movies, drinking too much hot chocolate, playing games, and just enjoying life. There are some things in life you have to fight for and intentionally make happen, and a nostalgic holiday is something we should all be fighting for. One that feels a lot less like one more person telling me about a "viral holiday trend, better RUN and grab it fast!!" and much more like letting the phone ring and stringing a popcorn chain while White Christmas plays. That's my wish for everyone this year, that you'll have the most blessed holiday season and you'll look back on this year as one of your favorite ones yet.
Have a wonderful week ahead xx Dani
I've been saving some slower crafts I can do with the kids on Pinterest and I'll share the links here in case anyone is looking for anything sweet and cozy too.
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