So what do I mean exactly when I talk about simplifying the Holidays?
What I mean is to make a deliberate plan of action this Holiday Season on how to fill your time, keeping in mind that there are only 24 hours in a day and realize that you can't do everything that is available to do, and you can't spend beyond your means.
By cutting out some activities this Holiday time, you will have more time for enjoying the ones you choose to keep and everyone around you will feel calmer for the slower pace you proceed at.
The specifics of Simplifying your Holiday Season will mean something different to every person because after all, everyone has their own likes and dislikes, family situations and amount of cash to spend available to them. I can't tell you HOW or WHAT to include or not to include in your Holidays....that is your job to decide. I can bring up some topics to explore and get you thinking about what you do now for the Holidays and/or consider changes you may want to make in your life.
But before you can enjoy your Holiday Season, you need to make a plan, a master list of how you plan on celebrating this year. Even though you have a plan, remember that you still need to be flexible and open to changes if "life happens".
Yah, I know it's still Oct. but sit down and really think about what you want your Holiday Season to be like before the Yuletide craziness starts.
Ask yourself....What do you like about this time of year?
If you could celebrate exactly how you wanted and not how everyone else thought you should celebrate, what would you do/participate in this year?
Is it the shopping and hunting for just the right gift that you love?
Or do you think about the shopping & gifting part is just way too much hassle and money spent for no good reason?
Do you like to decorate.....the tree, the rooms, the lights outside and everything else you can think of to drape garland over?
Or do you prefer a few well placed festive touches in your home or nothing special at all?
Are you all about throwing or attending parties?
Or do you prefer to visit one on one with close friends or like to hold up on the couch watching old movies alone with your dog, sipping on a mug of egg nog?
Are you the Holiday baking Queen and your kitchen emits scrumptious smells as you create food with love?
Or do you keep your favorite bakery or caterer on speed dial for your eating pleasure?
Face it--if you tried to do Everything at the Holidays, you would kill yourself from the work and the stress.
You would not enjoy anything because you would not be present in the here and now. You would be going through the motions alright, but your mind would be thinking ahead to the next thing you needed to cross off your list...your very long list!
People set themselves up for failure by trying to do it all at the Holidays. There are only so many hours in the day you can devote to the added strain involved in craving out time for celebrating.
The laundry, the cooking dinner, the cleaning, the regular errands of life, the homework supervision still needs to get done. Now you have to add all those Holiday things on top of your life?
*Sigh*
When you try to do too much, nothing will live up to your expectations.
It's better for you and your family if you pick and chose specific activities and rituals to participate in this year instead of rushing head first into Holiday overload!
It will help restore a bit of sanity to your life by scaling back the scope of your plans.
So find a few quiet minutes in your day in the coming week and realistically figure out what shape your Holiday Season will take.
Choose the rituals you feel speak the Holiday's language for you....
Send cards?
Give gifts?
Bake treats or special meals?
Parties?
Church/Synagogue services and fellowship?
Christmas Tree...Deck the Halls?
Volunteer or Charity Donations?
Holiday Trips?
Special Activities with the young people in your life?
Caroling?
Winter Sports?
Don't forget to consult your spouse or significant other too! Hash out a list for the Holiday Season that is realistic and that you both can live with.
I suggest once you have a list, to go back and number the items on it so you set up a Priority system.
That way you have a clear idea of which items are more important than others and if time runs short and you find you can't do everything on that list, you know which items are the most important to accomplish in the time you have available.
Next time I'll share my Holiday To-Do List with you.
Feel free to share your List or any Questions/Ideas for me in the Comments section.
Sluggy
Simple and low-key are the buzzwords around here. My only requirement is that Kat, Shane and I spend Christmas morning here at home.
ReplyDeleteWe'll go out for dinner for my birthday, which is near Christmas, and we'll drive through one of our parks that has a holiday light display.
I'll be participating in one or two cookie exchanges this year, which simplifies my baking needs.
It has become something of a tradition for us to have Christmas Eve breakfast at a restaurant with Shane's dad and step-mom.
My daughter and son-in-law will spend a few hours with us on Christmas Day, and at some point before or after Christmas we'll spend time with my parents and with Shane's mom and step-dad.
As for New Year's Eve, we generally stay home. This year, though, we might be at some friends' house. They have family-friendly parties, so if we go, we'll be taking Kat with us.
Beyond these simple plans, almost anything goes, depending on what we do or don't feel like doing.
We are totally laid back during the holidays. Or, at least I think so. Thanksgiving weekend, I will start my jam-making, which I totally love and don't consider it a chore.
ReplyDeleteHubby usually starts begging for the tree on Thanksgiving weekend, but we usually get it about 3 weeks before Christmas.
When they kids lived at with us, we always let them decorate the tree. Now that they have moved out, I unwrap ornaments and Hubby puts them on the tree.
I will bake cranberry almond bread in December and put in the freezer for gift giving. Last year I ended up making 20 loaves and 2 bundts. LOL! But, I love to bake, too and do not find it a chore.
For the last several years, I have saved vacation time and take every Monday in December off. It makes it really nice to have 3 day weekends all month and I feel relaxed then entire time.
Christmas Day, we will all go to MIL's. Then our kids will probably head to other family's homes. (They have Christmas with their mom on Christmas Eve.)Our kids are welcome to come back to our house, but we know that they all have other family to see, so don't push them to come over after MIL's. That would just be too stressful for them.
Hubby and I have had Christmas evening to ourselves for the last couple of years and just love it.
" we'll drive through one of our parks that has a holiday light display."
ReplyDeleteOoh! That's one we haven't done in awhile. The next town over always has a huge Historical Walking Tour (better known as Bellefonte's Victorian Christmas) and we haven't gone to that in years. Plus there's one neighborhood in town where all the homeowners put the 12 Days of Christmas on display - each house depicting one of the verses. (That would probably make buying/selling a home in that neighborhood a little different.) We need to take an evening to go drive through there, too. Good ideas!