I just love the holiday season. Is it busy? YES, but, I still love it! The holiday season is full of celebrations, outings, food, family, and TONS of activities. So I want to share some tips on how to reduces the stress that might come along during this lovely time of year.
1 Planning & Expectations
Plan out what you can. Utilize that nifty lil' pocket PC you have by plugging in all your party's and important dates into your phone's calendar. Cool thing is you can even have it remind you, like when it's time to leave or the night before or both. Set expectations and communicate them to those around you. If you're planning to host a party let people know how to dress, what your intentions are, etc. If you're attending a holiday party chat with those going with you what you're hoping to get out of the evening - wanting to shut the party down, make an appearance or feel it out.
2 Embrace the Flaws
While I totally understand the want and desire to have perfection sometimes more than ever during the holidays we just have to let that thought go. When we got our Christmas cards in the mail there was a typo. I'll be honest, I lost it, but in fairness there was other events that had already happened and that was the straw for me. Thankfully it was "fixable" by whiting out two letters and handwriting one letter. Was it a pain? Yes. Did it look perfect? No. Does it work and have I gotten complements on it? Yes. See, no worries, at least I got a card in the mail, right? Tee-hee!
3 Act Early
This could technically have gone under planning, I suppose, but what I mean is that we can do things ahead of time that help to make our lives easier as we get thrown in the hustle of the season. For example, I do interment shopping throughout the year. When I see something when we're on our summer vacation or while out shopping for something entirely different that I know so-and-so would love I pick it up and check - one less person to shop for later. Or another thing I've done for years is to bake four pies at Thanksgiving. Two are served with our turkey day feast and the other two are frozen for using at Christmas. I've done this with pecan, pumpkin and apple and had great success.
4 Just Say No
Another sometimes easier said than done tip, but a good one nonetheless. You can't and don't have to do EVERYTHING. Do those things that ignite you and are easy to say yes to. Honor your time and your commitments. Don't be rude and don't lie, seriously, just be honest and tell your acquaintance that you really appreciate the invite to their brother's girlfriend's cousin's white elephant party, but you're pooped and just can't swing it this year.
5 Relax & Unwind
I personally think it's super important to have a game plan on taking time for yourself. Self-care is the key to our health. If we're always go, go, go with no time to relax you're body is going to ensure you get the rest by shutting down. That's not pleasant and will never come at a great time, so just be proactive and make sure to schedule in time for a massage, a movie or whatever makes your heart happy.
As long as you know that your busyness is a choice and now you know how to handle the holiday stressors - you'll be great!
xoDanette