This is beautiful!! And perfectly reflects my feelings as well. I have noticed that I buy things most when I am stressed or avoiding hard emotions, instead of sitting with them and processing. I don’t want to pass this on to my girls, and I don’t want them to think toys mean happiness. Thank you for this wonderful reminder of what my values are, especially during this time of year, and that I am not alone in this way of thinking!!

Very true. You don’t have to live remotely to live a slower life. I’m testament to that.😊. Beautiful video.❤

I can hear the collective gasp of all Ligurians when you prepared trofie with tomato sauce

I haven’t not cried watching one of your videos in awhile. I know God is asking me to quit my 8-5 and stay home with my 3 little but it’s SO scary. No idea how we will make ends meet but thinking about hot coco by the steam…on a Tuesday morning…worth it.

I just went through and unsubscribed from so many business emails this week. I am so overwhelmed with the constant marketing, sales etc. that make me feel the same as you and buying because I am stressed or worried. I love your videos, your message is so inspiring @MadisunGray

So great Madisun!❤

Been watching some videos on Italy…one thing I noticed in all the videos, is that there is never TV. People aren’t just sitting around watching tv

Yep, Sardinia is absolutely the place to be, and I can't be grateful enough for being born and raised in this incredible island, and for Culurgionis of course, one of the best traditional food in Sardinia 😁 I'm glad you appreciate our culture and you have beautiful memories of this place.

I’ve written lists for years and it has helped everyone’s anxiety! My husband and I are gifting our two older (7 and 4) kids date nights out with us this year since they will be receiving gifts from others❤

Thanks Maddie for this. It's amazing and a great reminder.

My son is off at college this year. We radically simplified out holidays- tree is up- simple lights and a few ornaments. Wreath on the front door. We are going to cook together this year- so it's not all on me. We are also doing non traditional food, because we realized, while holiday food is nice, he wants a nice rib steak and I want soup. Yep. My son asked for new sneakers, a hoody and I am making up a reusable bag of his favorites, that he will use and a gift card- for the occasional treat. Funny story- I was in Target and they were BLASTING the new "Wicked" soundtrack- it was so LOUD, that I was either going to do jazz hands down the aisles or leave. I left. LOL

IT'S very simple if you want to be happy living in Italy ,go at their pace and not at the US pace your used to , and when you accept it ,you will be happy . It's a shame that Italians always think its greener on the other side ,when they have it right underneath their noses and don't realize it !! put it this way ,not only is Italy the best country in the world ,to live, learn, and enjoy ,but as of now in 2024 ,the only true place LEFT on earth for JOY !!!! TAKE IT FROM ME ,I LIVED IN MANY HIGH END PLACES IN THE WORLD ,AND I'm A REAL CONNOISSEUR AS THEY SAY ,AND LADY IN MY VIEW YOU GOT THE DRIFT !!! KEEP ON TRUCKIN !!!

Italy is so slower pace of life that we are N1 in Europe in anxiolitic abuse.....if you come here as turist what the hell you know about our italian life? NOTHING. I mean, i do not want to be rude but...

Hi Madi! Are you still releasing your new course soon? I remember you saying this fall.

Completely onboard with everything u said. If only more people followed this way of life, it would change the world <3

I’m the same way…I am more tempted to buy things when I’m sad, bored, overwhelmed etc. and after I’m like why?!

We have 4 kids-most of them all grown up but my husband and I made the decision when we first got married that we would do and give more for others at Christmas rather than giving more to our children. Our children got 3 presents each as well as stocking stuffers and they never felt like they were missing out. We always did for others so our children would know the gift of giving. One year, my husband lost his job right before Christmas and a sweet friend and his family decided that they would be a secret Santa to our family. I think our kids appreciated it even more because they knew what it was to be the ones to give to others. Our kids do not remember the actual gifts for very long but they do remember how it feels to give and what it feels like to be given to. You’re a good mama, @madisungray! Hope you have a blessed Thanksgiving!

While I understand the point you're trying to make, please remember that 1 in 5 children is America are suffering from food insecurity, and 1 in 4 children do not have access to clean drinking water. It is a privilege to not worry about those things, even in America.

So happy to hear this video after watching your old Christmas videos each year which were nice but I guess I felt that it confused the message of less. But like you I like to give gifts and shop so I totally get the internal struggle. I’ve always looked at it from an eco-friendly viewpoint and gift ideas around that and experiences were my go too gifts. But all of these are amazing and I am wondering how u will communicate the shift with your kids.

I am on board with less is more, but my husband isn't. He always wants to buy the kids more stuff, more toys, more things. I think it's because when he was a child his parents could not afford what the other kids were getting, so he wants to do more. However, our kids can get what they want, I just think the more they get the sadder they become because they keep on asking. They get a new toy and after a day they don't play with it anymore and want another one. This makes me sad. For Xmas we only do one present from us parents and one from Santa. Then they get one from each grandparents family and then one from each uncle (they have only 2), plus this year their cousin who turned 18yo wants to gift them something separate. So 7 gifts each this year and they are usually too overwhelmed with 6.. we open one on the 24th and the rest on the 25th. We live far from our families, we only see them once a year and not for Xmas, so all their presents are together under the tree, which does not help the overwhelmingness 😅

I really enjoyed the music you picked for this video! ♥️ And when I see you baking and enjoying all those delicious things, I really start questioning our glutenfree journey. 😃 Does sourdough make bagels healthier!?

Perfect 👌 ❤ this is one of your top 10 vids, nice work maddy. Shared to Facebook friends.

Really really good and important content! 👏👏

Hi Madi, I was working from home and just got notified about the new video drop. I instantly dropped everything and took few mins to watch your video. I don't have kids but am a dog mom :) Everything you said was so true and relatable. Your videos are so inspiring and because of your amazing videos, I am slowly trying to understand what my body was craving since so many years. Your videos made me realise that there is a life which I have been wanting but never understood. Slowing down, resting, savouring. I found a new perspective and an outlook to declutter things from my personal life and also physically from my space. I am so grateful to you and thank you so much for sharing such wonderful teachings. We need more women like you and more power to you. Sending you so much love and light. Also its a great video 💕

Loved this video ❤

Stop this is so good. Thank you Madi!

It’s so funny you mentioned the Amazon toy catalog. We received it in the mail and I gave it to my 6 year old to look at as a “book” just to entertain her for a bit. Not only did she not want anything from the catalog. She also complained that it wasn’t a real book 😂 I guess I’ve done something right because we can walk by the Target toy isles and she never asks for anything… she has more than enough at home and I’ve decluttered a ton with her. She already knows that if there’s something she doesn’t play with, we can give it to a child that will use it.

yessss was waiting to see your take on holiday gifts for 2024!

I find, that at this time of year (or all year) having a mantra really helps in moments of consumerism weakness. “I am content with what I have, I have enough”.

Love this whole video but wanted to add - getting the catalog was actually super nostalgic! As kids we uses to love pouring over catalogs, circling the toys we want, etc. I found it to be a very cute idea. Parents are the ones that can purchase or not - kids will see all the toys in stores anyways. Catalogs are just fun to browse through, and have been for generations.

I went into kmart in australia recently and it was very quiet and the lighting was turned down. I asked what was happening thinking power outage but they had quiet hour which was actually very nice. Our supermarkets have started this too.

I’m only half way into this video and I’m crying from 1 sentence “experience your childhood again”

Hi Madi, I’m 52 and my kids are grown. I lived a life like you are trying to give your children and I remember it fondly. My mom was a stay at home mom. She cooked all our meals. We had a huge garden. We lived out in the middle of nowhere Mississippi. What I think the kids are lacking today is the simplicity and unplugged-in-ness of a life like that. We had one TV in the house, 3 channels, no cable TV, no computer, obviously no internet or cell phone. We had to be creative. My parents were poor so we would get like 2 or 3 simple gifts at Christmas and you know what, we cherished those gifts. Less is really so much more. I’m a minimalist now because I cannot stand all of the stimuli we are exposed to nowadays. It’s insane. I tried to raise my kids the way I was raised, but it was harder because I had to work full time outside the home (I’m a RN) and technology came along. Technology really is a double edged sword. It became harder and harder to keep the screens at bay. Sorry for the long comment, but just thought I’d share my thoughts. Great video btw ❤

Amen!

Thank you for this Maddie.. the first "gift-list" video that I have ever liked😅 We have wished for experiences for years and still love it. A yearly pass to a great museum, something about nature, my favorite is Gammel By an outdoor museum where we live, it gives us quality things to do together as a family. Gift cards to a climbing park, something where we are active together or LEGO House in Billund where you can literally build for hours. We limit any amusement parks to as little as possible as we don't want our son to get used to that pace and level of entertainment on a simi-weekly basis with a yearly pass. We have also wished for giftcards for a trampolinepark, movie tickets, a picknic with a friend, a brunch at a cafe, giftcards for a fabric store and a yarnshop.. after 10+ years of these wishes I guess our family and friends are used to it by now:) The best gift I got for my birthday this year was from my sister.. an old book she found in a thiftstore about the local forrest in my neighborhood, it has given me hours of relaxing reading about the local history.. not everybodys cup of tea.. but the point is I loved it, and it probably cost her 4 dollars and I don't feel bad about giving it back to a thiftstore when the time comes:) We give our kid the gift of time, time is a very high priority in our family:) Thank you for your video and let me know if you ever come to Denmark, I'll show you around or let you know where the good spots are to explore and relax:) Maria

While I do LOVE your thoughtful “what I bought my kids for Christmas” videos, this was just as good

I did an email out to the grandparents in early Nov this year asking that they please just stick to 1-2 presents max per kiddo and that they prioritise experience gifts, low/no plastic and no batteries. I did a quick paragraph on why and then had a convo with each one separately with some suggestions for ideas (zoo pass, trip to the aquarium together etc) , this is the first time I've done that and I think it was really relaxing for everyone! They seemed really happy to come up with ideas and most of the older generations KNOW how badly downhill marketing and tech is going for kiddos these days!

I needed this video. Thank you

I'm mama to a 3.5 year old boy and a little girl on the way in March <3 We're/will be an unschooling family and thanks to you a few years back one of the first parenting books I read as a mama was Simplicity Parenting. At the time we still lived in our tiny house so naturally we had to have WAY less stuff for our kiddo, but now we're in a larger rental we actually have even LESS stuff! Ezzy's first 2 christmas's we tried our darndest to be minimal with our gift giving but when the day came with relative pressies added in he was overloaded with SO.MUCH.STUFF.. and the same for his birthday. This year I'm keeping it even more minimal, an advent calendar filled with some treats and real metal tools to make a tool kit, an ostheimer wooden kangaroo and baby for his little wooden animal set and a book. It's SO different to my childhood where we were overloaded with stuff and presents. Instead Ive been setting up doing rituals to bring the holiday spirit and connection - matching christmas PJs with his cousins (christmas-y but not so christmas they won't get worn for the rest of the year), christmas tree decorating in december, advent calendar he opens a little something every day in dec, cookie decorating on christmas eve, christmas movie with hot choc and cookies on christmas eve night, christmas day with his family and all the little foodie rituals of the big day. That's enough to create magical christmas memories! I'm grateful for learning early on in my parenting journey not to get too suckered in to the marketing and 'parenting competition' that you spoke of, we try and keep our schedule pretty loose, I went to school and so just taking that demand off the plate is so amazing for opening up our weeks to just living life together and learning along the way!

That was so beautiful, Madisun, I especially liked that “things are money and money is time” - really resonated with me!! Thank you!

I loved this Madisun. I have decided to gift differently this year. More time together and less presents. Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family. ❤

Love this video sooooo much! Small things with great love!!

Great video!

Este año hemos optado por regalar una bicicleta será mucho más divertido pasar más tiempo al aire libre ,seguro mi hijo la disfrutará bastante ❤❤

Gave me chills 🎉❤

Love this. Love you. Thank you ❤

The mail in catalog dates back to the 80s. Companies are making a throwback with their marketing. I remember the JC PENNEY catalog. It was a kid’s dream.

Beautifully said ❤

Thank you for being a reminder of this for us. Thank you for this gift. Happy holidays may your family be blessed. ❤❤❤