Simplify Christmas Preparations: Enjoy the Moments
UPDATE 2017: This year, I really needed to read my own post from 2014. With grandkids and flus & colds before Christmas, I feel like I'll never get everything ready by the time company arrives for dinner on December 25.
And from 2015:
I'm so glad I don't over-do the Christmas season...
Don't get me wrong. I love the entire Christmas season. I love the church services, especially late at night on Christmas Eve with a soft snowfall as I leave. I love the carols, the decorations, the baking, turkey dinner on the 25th, seeing family and friends, Christmas cards ... all of that. I even love shopping. I don't care about the crowds or complain if the stores are playing the same carols over and over. I love it all.
I just don't get overly anxious about getting everything done. Whatever gets done is fine with me. Whatever doesn't get done ... well, there's always next year. There's limits to my philosophy for sure. I mean, if I didn't get groceries bought for Christmas dinner, I expect I'd be very stressed out. But that won't happen because it's kind of a priority to buy the basic groceries earlier in December. And if we truly didn't get the groceries bought ... I can't imagine how that would happen. Maybe if we won a cruise for the weeks before Christmas so we weren't home. Anyway, if the groceries didn't get bought, I'd be fine with going to a restaurant for Christmas or picking up some take-out food. That's harder to do if you have invited a lot of people for dinner. In years past, we have traveled as a family at Christmas, and some of our meals were not traditional ones for us. It was all good.
If some of the decorations never get put up, I'm ok with a scaled-down version of our usual seasonal decor. It makes it look fresher for the following year. If I don't get the whole house scrubbed and polished before entertaining during the holidays, I close the door to that room (s). Mind you, I am stressing a bit about cleaning my vintage chandelier that hangs above the dining room table because it doesn't feel right to eat under a layer of dust. I just don't worry if every corner of the house hasn't been cleaned.
I never never never have my shopping done before December. Oh, sometimes I might have seen a one-of-a-kind item at a craft sale and scooped it up for a gift earlier in the year, but I don't purposely go out to get everything on some sort of gift list. Up until three years ago, our family exchanged gifts. Now, we are a smallish family, but we exchanged multiple gifts ... large, expensive things sometimes but mostly lots of small and practical items. When my sons were young, we tried to get them some of the things they really wanted. But as they got older, the gifts became practical. My mother was great for this. She would buy me practical things so that I wouldn't have to buy them for myself, and I could spend my own money to buy something that was a bit of a splurge. What do I mean by practical? Toiletries, groceries, household items ...basic groceries like 1 kg jars of coffee or a case of soup.
When I go shopping, I look to see what is available and don't have a specific item in mind. That makes it much less stressful. I hum along to the carols on the loud speakers and accept the lineups at the tills. It is all part of the season!
So here we are with two days til Christmas. Mostly I am wishing my house was spotlessly clean and that I was more organized. It is good to reflect on the birth in Bethlehem, and remember that the stable was not freshly cleaned and organized as a labour and delivery room. The best plans and organization went out the window when the government of that day forced everyone to go to their ancestral cities to be "enrolled", and yet everything worked out perfectly according to a divine plan that the participants could not fully comprehend or even imagine. If the confusion and last-minute preparations were sufficient for the holy baby's birth, surely we can cope with the last-minute chores of preparing to host our family and friends in warmth, safety, and comfort at this time of year!
And with that, I want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas.
I really must get some dusting done.
God bless us, everyone.
And from 2015:
I'm so glad I don't over-do the Christmas season...
Don't get me wrong. I love the entire Christmas season. I love the church services, especially late at night on Christmas Eve with a soft snowfall as I leave. I love the carols, the decorations, the baking, turkey dinner on the 25th, seeing family and friends, Christmas cards ... all of that. I even love shopping. I don't care about the crowds or complain if the stores are playing the same carols over and over. I love it all.
I just don't get overly anxious about getting everything done. Whatever gets done is fine with me. Whatever doesn't get done ... well, there's always next year. There's limits to my philosophy for sure. I mean, if I didn't get groceries bought for Christmas dinner, I expect I'd be very stressed out. But that won't happen because it's kind of a priority to buy the basic groceries earlier in December. And if we truly didn't get the groceries bought ... I can't imagine how that would happen. Maybe if we won a cruise for the weeks before Christmas so we weren't home. Anyway, if the groceries didn't get bought, I'd be fine with going to a restaurant for Christmas or picking up some take-out food. That's harder to do if you have invited a lot of people for dinner. In years past, we have traveled as a family at Christmas, and some of our meals were not traditional ones for us. It was all good.
If some of the decorations never get put up, I'm ok with a scaled-down version of our usual seasonal decor. It makes it look fresher for the following year. If I don't get the whole house scrubbed and polished before entertaining during the holidays, I close the door to that room (s). Mind you, I am stressing a bit about cleaning my vintage chandelier that hangs above the dining room table because it doesn't feel right to eat under a layer of dust. I just don't worry if every corner of the house hasn't been cleaned.
I never never never have my shopping done before December. Oh, sometimes I might have seen a one-of-a-kind item at a craft sale and scooped it up for a gift earlier in the year, but I don't purposely go out to get everything on some sort of gift list. Up until three years ago, our family exchanged gifts. Now, we are a smallish family, but we exchanged multiple gifts ... large, expensive things sometimes but mostly lots of small and practical items. When my sons were young, we tried to get them some of the things they really wanted. But as they got older, the gifts became practical. My mother was great for this. She would buy me practical things so that I wouldn't have to buy them for myself, and I could spend my own money to buy something that was a bit of a splurge. What do I mean by practical? Toiletries, groceries, household items ...basic groceries like 1 kg jars of coffee or a case of soup.
When I go shopping, I look to see what is available and don't have a specific item in mind. That makes it much less stressful. I hum along to the carols on the loud speakers and accept the lineups at the tills. It is all part of the season!
So here we are with two days til Christmas. Mostly I am wishing my house was spotlessly clean and that I was more organized. It is good to reflect on the birth in Bethlehem, and remember that the stable was not freshly cleaned and organized as a labour and delivery room. The best plans and organization went out the window when the government of that day forced everyone to go to their ancestral cities to be "enrolled", and yet everything worked out perfectly according to a divine plan that the participants could not fully comprehend or even imagine. If the confusion and last-minute preparations were sufficient for the holy baby's birth, surely we can cope with the last-minute chores of preparing to host our family and friends in warmth, safety, and comfort at this time of year!
And with that, I want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas.
I really must get some dusting done.
God bless us, everyone.
Great post! Like you, I LOVE all of the Christmas stuff - but I think I enjoy it a lot more because I only do what I enjoy, I simply skip a lot of "necessities," and if I don't get something done that I had hoped to do, I'm still happy! : )
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