It seems to happen every year, one minute your sitting by the pool wishing the humidity would let up, and the next, you're begrudgingly walking up and down the empty aisles of Walmart looking for last minute gifts, dreaming you could be back at that pool. How does this happen? We start the holiday season so ready and excited but somehow get ourselves so overwhelmed that all the joy is drained right out of us and celebrating just becomes work. Maybe we're doing too much? Spending too much? Trying too hard to make it "perfect"? A few years ago I got tired of feeling so stressed during "the most wonderful time of the year" so I worked on making a system to keep the "wonderful" and do away with the anxiety. Hint: the solution was planning ahead, creating some structure, and setting boundaries.
It's Fall! The most wonderful time of the year...
In our home, the shift from summer to fall happens about mid September, once the weather starts to cool and the leaves begin to fall. I try to hold off as long as I can because once the decorations come out, I'm all in! It's pumpkin and apple everything, baking, fall crafts, all things Halloween, and then of course, the immediate jump to Christmas. Which is why I'm intentional when I get into the holiday spirit, it starts in September and ends in December. Here are a few things I do to make the string of holidays much more enjoyable and a lot less overwhelming.
1. Make a bucket list of what activities you want to do. Start looking for events early, but a big key here is not to schedule too much. Doing this will lead to burn out so we try to do one event a week and fill the other days with seasonal activities at home. Don't try to do it all, especially with little kids. They have a short attention span and little patience so consider that when making plans.
2. Set limits on gift giving. We do kids only and adults get treats or small stocking stuffers. I couldn't devote any more time to finding the perfect gift for adults who can buy themselves anything they want. It's a different time now, where anything you can possibly desire is at your door in 2 days or less. And to be honest, I'm exhausted with buying people stuff they don't need. How many candles, shower gels, body lotions, mugs, and fluffy socks does everyone need? So to produce less waste (and headaches), I buy things people can eat and not add clutter to their house. (By the way, this doesn't always mean cookies. I have friends that are health conscious and wouldn't appreciate a box of pastries so I get them a platter of fancy nuts and they absolutely love it. I will make a separate post on gift giving ideas.)
3. Do nothing else but holiday stuff. No decluttering, no big changes in my life and home, no new projects (this includes business, I plan accordingly). I'm on maintenance mode in the house, (laundry, dishes, weekly bathroom scrub, vacuum). I start to think about what to buy the kids for Christmas, before things start to sell out.
4. Start preparing your home early. I prepare during the end of summer, early September. Since I know the kids will get new toys on Christmas, I go through their toys and donate what isn't played with.
5. Buy gifts early. Before you roll your eyes at me I'm just going to tell you that things sell out quick. The truth is, it shouldn't be this way. We shouldn't have to buy Christmas pajamas in October, but I got tired of everything being sold out the first week in December so I had no choice but to jump on board.
Hopefully I've given you enough ideas to start trying but if this is something you'd like to look more into, I highly recommend the book "Have Yourself a Minimalist Christmas" by Meg Nordmann. It definitely helped me sort through my priorities for this exciting but very chaotic time of year.