Tis the season to be jolly. 😂 Right?
If youāre like me and you donāt like lines and hate shopping, donāt have a clue what to give the people you love, and donāt enjoy sending out the typical one-upping your neighbor Christmas card, I hope you enjoy this blog to help us let go of all this craziness?
Use this guide to help you feel less stress and more peaceful during the happiest and most wonderful time of the year.
Tiny tweaks to take back control.
1. Make a list you donāt have to ✅twice. – Put things down that you REALLY enjoy doing. The stuff that really matters to you. Focus on the handful of rituals you really care about. For example, I am NOT sending out a Christmas card this year, not because I donāt love my family or think my children are gorgeous or that my husband is a stud, but trying to get all four of us together in our Sunday best with the correct lighting in the dead of an Iowa winter is something Iām not willing to take on any more! Please enjoy our last yearās Christmas card, which was professionally done). Instead I anxiously canāt wait to make my holiday tradition Italian Christmas Eve dinner. While the homemade meat sauce is simmering, Iāll be firing up the antique pizzelle iron, grinning from ear to ear that I get to spend time with my college daughter making pizzelles.
2. Gladly RSVP Thanks, but No Thanks! – I couldnāt wait to hit send on the email where I declined to attend the 13th annual Motherās Christmas Cookie Exchange. I declined because; I always felt that I only get invited to this party because Iām on TV, I donāt enjoy the company any longer our kids donāt play with each otherās kids anymore, (40 plus women drinking mimosas all day while gossiping about other women). I try to patiently wait for the ok thatās itās time to box up my four dozen cookies that I get to bring home. Iām not looking for the temptation to eat the sugar filled goodies or looking for the extra calories. However, I wonāt be missing the annual Wine Club Christmas party where I love the company, food, and the wine tasting competition we have at the end of the night. (Iām not a wine drinker), but Iāve won 7 out of the 9 years.
3. Get your well deserved rest and sleep – itās tempting to want to go to all of your friends parties, potlucks & cocktail hours, but that will soon catch up on you. Think of staying in as preventative medicine for staying healthy. Getting 8 hours of sleep a night keeps you from getting sick. Iāll always choose my pajamas and comfy socks over a cocktail dress any day, unless itās the annual White House Christmas party.
4. Take a moment to reflect on things – what really matters to you? Who really matters? What traditions do you love, my favorite traditions are going to candlelight service on Christmas Eve and when the kids, Myles 23, 6ā3 & Tori 20, 5ā2 crawl in our king size bed and Kurtis reads The Night before Christmas. A few traditions we let go of are, cutting down the fresh Christmas tree at the local tree farm, and opening up one gift on Christmas Eve, Tori still gets to do it because itās her 1/2 birthday. In the end the holidays mean something different to everyone, but for me itās never been about the gifts itās been about the blessing of love. The love I share with my family & friends and the eternal love of our savior Jesus Christ. We are all so blessed.
