Your
Guide to a Stress-Less Holiday Season
by Susie Michelle Cortright, http://www.momscape.com
Three years ago, I was so calm and relaxed, you'd never have
guessed it was Christmas. I had a brand new baby, and we had just
moved into a new house, but I was grounded with an overwhelming
sense of peace. Now that another holiday season is bearing down on
us, I think back to the reasons that time was so magical.
That year,
we simply went into our backyard and picked out a crooked little
tree that just screamed "Baby's First Christmas." I tied
on some bows, and we invited our closest friends and
relatives to share some Friendship Tea, sugar cookies, and prime
rib (which my mother-in-law brought and prepared.) We opened gifts
that I had ordered online weeks before. (They arrived
gift-wrapped.) It was a low-cost Christmas spent in our
unfurnished living room, but you would have been hard-pressed to
find a merrier place that year.
When we
renew our focus on the holiday spirit, the stress of the season
begins to fade. This year, let us pledge to align our personal
goals to reflect the goal of the holiday season as it has existed
for centuries: to center on our spiritual awareness and
connectedness in this spiritual time.
Simplify
When professional organizers urge us to simplify, they ask us to
eliminate our time-wasters. This year, let us find some
time-wasters.
Particularly
during the busy holiday season, we moms too often feel that if we
aren't busy doing something, we aren't being of value. In the
upcoming months, consider the value of just lounging on the couch
with your kids, of playing a board game, of reading the Christmas
Box or The
Story of Hanukkah aloud in the evening, or of simply sitting
around for awhile thinking about how lucky you are for the family
and friends that are yours.
Meanwhile,
take a close look at your self-made holiday to-do's. Is it
necessary to bake enough goodies for the neighborhood, or are you
okay with just whipping up the occasional batch of Rice Krispie
Treats? Do you want to travel to a distant relative's house on
Christmas Day or ask that they come to you? Keep in mind that the
mere fact that you've always done something isn't always a good
argument for continuing to do it.
Christmas
cards
This year, narrow your Christmas card list. Make it more personal.
Follow the lead of Mitten
Strings for God author Katrina Kenison and make your annual
Christmas letter less about the accomplishments of your family
members and more about the ways you have all connected with one
another over the past year.
Meanwhile,
reframe the way you perceive the task. Think of it not as a
tedious chore that involves long hours of licking envelopes and
signing your name, but as a way to illustrate your love for your
family and friends and to reconnect with the people whom you may
have contact with only once each year.
One last
note: start early. That way, it's a relaxed process that only
requires you to jot a note or two in the evening as you sit with
your family. Also consider enlisting the help of your husband and
the kids. Little ones love to help moisten envelopes or draw
pictures for relatives. If you run out of time - or the motivation
- to send cards, pick up the phone instead.
Holiday
Entertaining
Parties can be as laid-back or as lavish as you like. Don't
underestimate the power of a potluck. - guests love to feel like
they're contributing to a meal. No time to deep clean? Speed clean
and dim the lights. Keep a stash of things on hand for latecomers
or unannounced guests.
Volunteer
Helping someone in need can relieve holiday stress and help you
ward off the holiday blues that sometimes seep in this time of
year.
Particularly
during the holidays, opportunities abound. Just look in your local
paper. On the Internet, Volunteermatch (http://www.volunteermatch.org)
can set you up with an opportunity or idea with your specific
skills in mind.
Be good to
yourself.
If you don't sit back and enjoy all of the fa-la-las, they'll be
over before you know it. Savor the season, and remember that you
set the tone for your family. If you're frenzied and frantic, your
family will be too, and your children will grow up thinking that's
what the holidays are all about.
If you are
feeling anxious this time of year, release your feelings into a
journal. Maintain, or start, an exercise program to release those
energy-boosting endorphins, and make sure you're eating for
energy.
Spend some
time on yourself. Invite your friends or your daughter's friends
(or both) for an indulgent Spa Evening. Prepare some homemade
facial scrubs and masks and let the stress of the season melt
away.
In the end,
it's important to decide what the Christmas season means to you. I
know my favorite time of the season isn't opening gifts or filling
goodie baskets or attending office parties. It's that three
minutes it takes on Christmas Eve to sing "Silent Night"
by candlelight. It's looking around to see all of my family and
friends with their faces lit up just enough that I can see their
eyes glisten. To me, that's Christmas.
What is it
to you?
©Susie
Michelle Cortright
Suggested
reading listed in article:
The
Christmas Box
The
Story of Hanukkah
Mitten
Strings for God
About the author:
Susie Michelle Cortright is
the author of More Energy for Moms and the founder of Momscape.com.
She is a writer and full-time mom whose passion is helping women
celebrate and embrace their role as mothers.
Click here to learn more:
http://www.momscape.com/cgi-bin/a.pl?momscape&1048
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