Laugh Lines with Kim & Penn Holderness

Episode: Holiday Bare Minimum
Air Date: December 9, 2025

Overview: Embracing the Bare Minimum This Holiday Season

In this warm, witty, and relatable episode of Laugh Lines, Kim and Penn Holderness take aim at the relentless holiday “do-it-all” culture. They introduce their new holiday mantra: doing “the bare minimum”—not out of laziness, but to reclaim joy, boundaries, and rest, especially as they approach midlife. Through personal anecdotes, gentle humor, and listener contributions, they encourage listeners to drop unrealistic holiday expectations and focus on what truly matters.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Honoring the Moms of Holidays Past, Embracing Doing Less

• Kim pays tribute to her mother and mothers of the '80s and '90s who went “all out” every Christmas—acquiring hard-to-find toys, perfect parties, and homemade treats.
• Kim’s revelation: “To honor my mother, I’m doing the absolute... I’m doing the least. I’m calling this the holiday bare minimum, thriving at almost 50 with about 30% effort.” (05:36)
• Penn fully supports Kim’s holiday pivot toward intentional rest: “We don’t intentionally rest and relax enough during this time of year. And then January comes around and you are just a ball... just a ball of nerve. So I’m like, excited about this. I’m here for it.” (07:13)

“That’s Just Not Going to Work for Me” — Building Boundaries

• Kim shares her new favorite phrase: “That’s just not going to work for me right now”—no guilt, no elaborate apologies, just clear boundaries. (14:37)
• On people-pleasing: “Christmas is the people pleaser Super Bowl. Like, this is our time to shine. So it’s really hard, and I’ve had to put some guardrails around it.” (15:54)

Practical Bare Minimum Holiday Strategies

Kim’s “Not-This-Year” List:

• Avoiding Energy Vampires — “Hanging out with people who are energy vampires... I am doing the work of not being around them.” (16:26)
• No Perfectly Wrapped Gifts — “If the tape goes across and there’s a little bit of the present that’s still visible on the back... that’s okay. Previously, I would have unwrapped and thrown that away.” (17:22)
• No Homemade Treats — “It is not my ministry right now is to make homemade anything. And let me tell you who makes great cookies: Wegmans. Whole Foods. Harris Teeter.” (23:09)
• Scaling Back Gift Gifting — “Really expensive gifts... I’m over this year.” Instead, the family is favoring experiences and making donations in loved ones' names. (24:36)
• Letting Go of Traditions That Don’t Serve Anymore — From real trees (after an aphid disaster) to massive decorations: “Doing anything because we've always done it that way—that doesn't work for me.” (30:05)

The Real Tree Confession and Letting Traditions Evolve

• Kim and Penn share the story of a disastrous aphid infestation, which led them to switch to an artificial tree—for the first time, letting go of long-held “real tree” traditions.
• Penn: “When a tradition is hurting you… then…it’s time.” (30:15)
• Kim: “I think the secret of my personal joy is going to be medium—aiming for medium.” (31:26)

The Gift of Rest and Celebrating Small Joys

• Penn’s big holiday goal: Ensure days off feel restful—“When a day off feels more like a work day… that doesn’t work for me.” (33:07)
• Kim’s mother as “intentional rest” role model—does nothing the week after Christmas, “sits in her bathrobe, listens to Christmas music, and stares at her Christmas tree.” (34:17)

Listener Laugh Lines - From Bare Minimum Gift Exchanges to Photo Book Guilt

Letters and voicemails highlight:

• “Unwanted Gift Exchange” parties—white elephant style with actual unwanted gifts, sometimes hilariously re-gifted from coworkers. (37:47)
• Mom guilt (“photo book guilt”): “I want to be the type of person who does photo books. I’m just not that person.” (39:45)
• Group therapy over the Presidential Fitness Test—Pam’s confession of “losing count or actively cheating” on the mile run, and the news that the dreaded test is coming back in 2026. (41:03–43:00)

Game Time: Bring It Back or Pass? (Holiday Edition)

• Tinsel/Icicles: Kim muses about bringing them back for nostalgia; Penn: “It gets everywhere. Pass.” (50:10)
• Christmas Caroling: “Bring it back! It never left.” (50:29)
• Unannounced Holiday Drop-ins: Ok if you just leave treats, but for visits “text me so I can put on a bra!” (51:02)
• Calling Santa on a 1-900 number: “The biggest scam in history” and universally vetoed. (51:50)
• Waiting for Christmas Specials (Before On-Demand): Penn wishes for the joy of shared anticipation—“Take them all out and just have…a few of them” on a scheduled night. (53:00)
• Christmas Cards (Photos vs. No Photos): Both reminisce about cards and newsletters. Kim launches into a heartfelt rant about division of labor in card-sending, “If you did the 11 steps as the male partner, I applaud you!” (55:53–57:45)

Memorable Quotes & Moments

• Kim: “This is care uniquely tailored for you... All right ladies, ready to feel your best and write your second act script?” (01:25)
• Kim (on boundaries): “That is not my ministry right now… you guys, it feels so good.” (15:54)
• Penn (after aphid disaster): “When a tradition is hurting you… then it is—the term—like, when it’s causing you stress during a time of year where there’s already plenty of stress.” (30:25)
• Kim: “I’m craving being able to find those moments of joy in the everyday. And I think that means for me, I have to aim for medium. And I think that’s hard for me to be medium.” (31:26)
• Penn (on rest): “Being able to recharge that battery is super important because I know we’re getting right back to the grind in January... I think I need to be intentional and say, like, this needs to be a day on my butt and have as many of those as possible just to kind of recharge the battery.” (33:07)
• Kim’s Christmas card labor rant: “If you did those things, as the male partner in the relationship, I applaud you. Please email me, you’ll get a Christmas card from our family. And we don’t send Christmas cards.” (56:41–57:00)
• Penn (on special effects aging poorly): “It is funny when our kids watch the movies that we thought were just the coolest in the 80s... I mean, you practically see the strings on the Star Wars.” (45:17)
• Kim (final mantra): “Aim for medium, guys. Aim for medium. The bare medium.” (59:49–59:56)

Notable Email & Voicemail Segments

• Sarah’s “Unwanted Gift Exchange” (37:44)
  “Did you receive a gift that just isn’t you? Wrap it up and bring it… You might go home with something better—or you might not!”

• Amy on photo book guilt (38:34)
  “I wish sometimes that I was one of those moms that would, you know, do cute books like that. So hearing you guys laugh about it kind of just made me feel a lot better that I don’t have one for my second child.”

• Pam’s Presidential Fitness Test confession (40:16)
  “Either lost count or actively cheated. I’m not—I don’t remember at this point, but I know that I kind of made up the number of laps I had done. And I still feel really guilty about, I think at some level.”

Timestamps for Important Segments

• Kim’s Bare Minimum Manifesto: 05:36–07:11
• Discussing boundaries & people-pleasing: 14:37–15:54
• Kim’s “Not My Ministry” Items: 16:26–24:49
• Aphid-Tree Disaster/Letting Go of Traditions: 28:22–30:05
• Medium as a Motto for Joy: 31:26–32:21
• Listener Segment—Unwanted Gift Exchange: 37:44–38:29
• Listener Voicemail—Photo Book Guilt: 38:34–39:59
• Listener Voicemail—Presidential Fitness Test: 40:16–41:45
• Bring It Back or Pass? Game: 49:59–54:52
• Kim’s Christmas Card Process Rant: 55:53–57:45
• Closing Mantra—Aim for Medium: 59:49–59:56

Tone & Language

The episode is candid, funny, warm, and a little irreverent, with Kim and Penn’s trademark banter and realness. They openly discuss the challenges, exhaustion, and joys of middle age, with self-deprecating humor and practical wisdom.

In Summary

This episode is an anthem for overextended parents and aging holiday heroes everywhere: cut yourself slack, be okay with “medium,” let go of guilt and unneeded traditions, and prioritize real connection and rest. As Kim says, “Aim for medium. The bare medium.”
For more listener participation, write to podcast@theholdernessfamily.com or call 323-364-3929.