The Christmas season is magical and wonderful, but without advance planning, it can also become exhausting, overwhelming and financially taxing. Christmas should be a time to savor alongside your kith and kin. Here are some ways to take the stress out of the holiday season so that you can be more present with those you love and less stressed about what to get done before December 25th.
Establish Your Christmas Values
One of the easiest ways to get overwhelmed is by saying yes to all the good activities that are out there. Advent calendars, Christmas parties, recitals and volunteer opportunities are all wonderful things, but there can be too much of a good thing. I personally avoid Elf on the Shelf like the plague (sure, the creativity in building each day’s scene is amazing, but I’d rather save my bandwidth for other memory-makers!), but I know some parents who get a thrill out of maintaining that activity. Neither is right or wrong — it’s about choosing to expend energy on the things that are most life-giving and saying no to the rest.
Manage Inventory
Whether you’re a Christmas crazy who likes decorate pre-Thanksgiving or a traditionalist who waits until after Turkey Day, one thing’s for certain: you do yourself a huge favor by cleaning out your Christmas decoration inventory at the end of the season. By doing so, you start off with a clean slate when you take out the boxes for the next year’s season. But there’s good news! If you’re entering the holiday season with an overgrown stash of goods that needs taming, there are a few perks to cleaning out your inventory now. Many donation sites will not accept Christmas trees or large decor items after the holidays, but they will gladly take it pre-holiday. Likewise, selling unused holiday overstock on sites like Facebook Marketplace goes far better in December than say, February.
Celebrate The Work
It doesn’t have to be one person’s job to put out all the Christmas decorations — make the job a celebratory family affair. Stream classic Christmas carols (our family’s favorite is the free Classical California Christmas music app) or put a favorite Christmas movie on in the background while you set up the tree. If decorating will take a long time, do a little at a time instead of all at once. To extend the life of your holiday decor, consider thinking beyond Christmas. Mainstay themes like pinecones, evergreens and snowflakes, as well as ambient lighting like fairy lights and candles, are neutral pieces that can take up real estate in your home all winter long. So, if breaking out the holiday decor is an overwhelming task, consider using pieces that can stay out beyond December 25th.
Say Cheese
Christmas photo cards are one of my favorite aspects of the holiday season. I love seeing how families grow and change through the years. If sending out Christmas cards feels overwhelming, remember it’s never too late to spread a little cheer. Even in December you can still order photo cards quickly online, pick them up locally or send digital versions to save time. If you find yourself pressed for time, opt for a New Year’s theme—after all, it’s always nice to have something to look forward to after the holidays! Short on time or money? Text a family photo and message to your loved ones. And if you don’t get photos taken this year give yourself the gift of a grace pass.
Buy Ahead
I have my kids build their wish lists on Amazon and Pinterest and they update them year-round. This ensures I have an ongoing stash of ideas for both Christmas and their birthdays. Plus. if there’s a particular item that’s a big hit, I can keep my eye out for a great deal year-round. Thinking about gift-giving year-round is a more budget-friendly approach because you’re not limited to Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales, which may or may not include items of interest. Likewise, you’re not in a crunch with shipping timeframes. Set up a savings account reserved for Christmas spending at the beginning of the year. By throwing a set amount into it every week, you’ll have what you need on reserve, and once the holidays arrive, you won’t have to wonder how you’ll cover gift and entertainment expenses.
Extend Christmas
If there’s too much to do and not enough time, you have two options: do less, or give yourself more time to do it. My family decided one of the best gifts we could give ourselves was more time to celebrate Christmas. For our crew, that means kicking off our holiday season in mid-November by visiting Branson and Silver Dollar City to take in all the lights, shows and Christmas attractions. (The family-friendly tourist area decks itself for the holiday season the first week of November.) Not only are these sites less busy in early in the season, the accommodation rates are better, and visiting early allows space for other activities in December.
Additionally, I found Christmas baking to be too much during the Christmas season, so I give myself the gift of mass-freezing several varieties of cookie dough in the weeks prior to the celebrations. By doing so, I can take out what I want a little bit at a time. Or, when unexpected guests come, I can have a plate of fresh cookies baked in 8-10 minutes! My mother-in-law also invites my boys to come over in January for a mass sugar-cookie-baking session. Instead of making Christmas cookies, they delight in decorating winter cookies. With so much pressure to “get it all done” by Christmas, it’s a gift to have something to look forward to after the Christmas season subsides.
Lauren Greenlee can be counted among the Christmas crazies who decorate in early November, and she leaves her decorations up until after Epiphany. (Even though she’s not Catholic, she gladly partakes in the Twelve Days of Christmas tradition that extends to January 6th!)