I feel about Christmas the same way I feel about children’s birthday parties: love the festivities, hate the giant pile of stuff that must be sorted and put away before, during, and after. Call me allergic (to hoarding), but spending—and asking other people to spend—loads of money on things that have a 50/50 chance of disappearing into the abyss that is my closet is not my idea of the best way to celebrate anyone’s birth, divine or mortal alike.

Still, let me be the first to confess: the very first Christmas present I ever remember receiving was an EZ Bake Oven, which showed up on my snow-covered porch one long-ago December morning in Ames, Iowa. The following year after, I got the EZ Fashion Jewelry Making Oven. (You can probably see a trend in my childhood wishlists). I don’t remember anything I made with either contraption but to the credit of my parents, both gifts did leave me with something more long-lasting than cupcakes or necklaces: a lifelong obsession with both baking and jewelry. In this sense, things and experiences don’t have to be mutually exclusive.

One of my proudest moments as a parent came the other day when I asked my 8-year-old what he wanted for Christmas. After a long pause, he said, “I can’t think of anything. I have everything I want.” Maybe he is just an old soul, or maybe my preference for things to experience over objects to own is hereditary. Regardless of the........

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