How to enjoy the holidays more 🎄
(If your holly, jolly merriment always has an undercurrent of stress)
Here in the Midwest, December really showed up and declared that it is officially winter. Yes, the wind is totally messing up my hair every day and it is somehow BITING cold already, but I’m truly not upset at all because sweater + soup season is officially here, friends. (Links to my current favorite of each.)
If you’re one of those “I hate winter” people, I get it, but I am not you. I love it all: the snow, the cold, the darkness at 5:00 pm. I’m ready to sip soup and hibernate all season long, okay?
I love the cozy pause that comes with winter. Or, the cozy pause I wish came with winter, if it weren’t for the holidays making November and December feel like I am up to my eyeballs in too much to do and not enough time to do it.
I almost abandoned this post entirely, because I don’t think the mom stress that comes with the holidays is fully avoidable. I don’t think I’ll ever achieve a ~totally relaxed~ status during the holidays (or ever, let’s be real), however, I do think I’ve found a hack for feeling less stressed:
Do less. Go slow.
Here are a few ways I try to actually live this:
I don’t decorate for Christmas until after Thanksgiving. I can only handle one holiday at a time, and Thanksgiving deserves her time to shine.
We decorate slowly. First the tree, then the stockings, then the mistletoe. Ornaments to follow another day. Garland (finally, it’s the worst to put up, isn’t it?), and a few finishing touches, and that’s it. It might take me two weeks or so to get it all up, but it’s kind of nice to slowly see it all come together.
Gifts: I shop for gifts for my kids in these four categories: something to wear, something to read, something you want, and something you need. It works really well for me. I also do almost all of my shopping online from Black Friday through Cyber Monday. There are a few local shops I like to visit, but I also try to do that during this time. I plan ahead for this, so I have a solid list going into it. While I like to decorate slowly, I prefer to get all of my shopping done early.
I have a firm NO HOLIDAY CARD rule. I will never be the mom sending out Merry Christmas From Our Family To Yours cards on top of everything else in December. Seasons Greetings, everyone, pop by my Instagram if you’d like to see a photo of my family, alright?
I create a winter bucket list of 5-10 things I want to make sure we do over the holidays. This usually includes baking cookies, going to a few favorite holiday events, and watching a Christmas movie or two. I like to keep it short and sweet—almost a visual reminder that we don’t have to do it all to enjoy the season.
When that voice in my head starts panicking that we haven’t made enough special memories or I haven’t baked any cookies yet (what if I don’t?!) or that my decor isn’t Pinterest-y enough, I remember that one time last year when we all bundled up and went outside to build a snowman. On a whim, I thought my daughter might like to make snow ice cream, so on our way in, we scooped up some fresh snow and mixed up a little bowl of sugary goodness. Added sprinkles on top.
My daughter still remembers this, a year later. She still talks about it every time it snows. She’s four—I didn’t think that she would remember at all, you know? But one simple, easy thing became a core memory for her.
Going slow and doing less allows me to be more present, which is what I want most: to quiet the noise and just enjoy. ♡
⭐️ If you liked this post, you might also enjoy this post about rebranding my perspective.
⭐️ In my Black Friday shopping, I saw these cute, light-up houses. Several sold out by the time I actually tried to purchase, but I did find this one to add to my beginning collection.
⭐️ To support my creative pursuits, heart this post or share it with a friend.
⭐️ In January, I plan to offer a paid subscription, featuring one monthly, more personal post, organizational resources, and all past archived posts.
Links may be commissionable at no extra cost to you.
Great holiday list and beautiful tree 😊