Ok friends, it's time for part two of the Holidays! If you missed The Holidays part one go here to read it first and then come back to this post. We've already talked about some ways to relieve the stress from the holidays. We've gone over Christmas cards, making lists, baking early, shopping early, making things that are from the heart and learning to evaluate how much stuff we already have and realize that less really is more!
But we still have a few things to talk about. First let's talk about decorating. Christmas is simply my favorite time of year and one reason is all the beautiful decorations. One year my hubby commented to me that he didn't care how I decorated, but he just wanted the whole house to be Christmasy. Well ... I wouldn't say we go THAT far ... but we do like the decor and the pretty twinkly lights and the tree and all that.
My best advice about decorating without stress is to stop looking at magazines and blogs and feeling like you have to make your home look just like the ones you've seen. Your family and your decor should be unique to just you. There were several years where I felt like I had to buy new things every single year until I got to the point where our decorations were out of control and we didn't even have room for them all! Now I tend to look at those simple decorations and think they are the most beautiful and appealing of all!
So use what you have, enjoy what you have and if you feel you have to add to your decor wait till after the holidays when you can get the items at a major discount to enjoy the following year.
As far as what/when/where/how to decorate ... I have decided that I will only decorate the rooms that are used most during the holidays. Since we rarely use the rec room downstairs it isn't worth decorating it. Since no one will see the inside of my {messy} bedroom, there is no need to decorate it. I basically do the kitchen/dining area and the living room. And maybe a couple very small things in the bathroom. That's it!
When and how? We get the whole family involved and usually do it the weekend after Thanksgiving. It's a fun family tradition and we all enjoy getting in the spirit. The girls help Bob put up and tree and decorate it. I do a lot of the other decorating and Bob does a strand of icicle lights across the front of the house. We play Christmas music and have some fun treats and just really enjoy this special time together. It's a great way to kick off the season and is one of our favorite family traditions.
What happens when sickness strikes? Well, to put it simply it can really mess up your plans! We had one year when most of us were sick with the stomach bug on Christmas Eve and we had to cancel all our favorite traditions. It was disappointing to say the least. But we just made the best of it and moved our traditions to another day when we were all well again. Yes we missed the Christmas Eve church service and could not repeat that - but the other things were easily moved to another day. Last year we all had that yucky stomach thing the first week of December. It was a bummer but we were thankful to get it over with so we could be healthy for the other fun Christmas events.
My best advice for sickness is to take care of yourselves. It's so easy to get run down because we're so busy with so much going on. We also tend to eat a lot more junk from all the parties and events. Try to make it your priority to make sure you and your family are getting enough rest and eating healthfully. You may still get sick, but hopefully not as bad. Also, if you or your family members get sick - just stay home and rest. Yes you will probably miss out on some fun events, and yes your kids will probably be disappointed - but it's best to get your rest and get better so you don't spread any sickness around.
So my last piece of advice is don't wait till the last minute!! There are lots of things you can be doing even now that will help make the holidays less stressful and more fun and memorable.
I try to make it my goal to have the majority of my Christmas 'chores' done by the 2nd week in December. By that I mean; shopping done, baking done, decorating done, etc ... My reason behind this is that if you have all the major items checked off your list - you can sit back and truly enjoy the two weeks before Christmas with your family. You can spend time baking together, crafting together, making small items for the kids to give as gifts, listening to Christmas music, going out caroling, snuggling by the fire with great Christmas books, etc... Trust me you will really enjoy those two weeks with your family if you don't have the stress of a to-do list hanging over your head!
One night last year Bob, the kids and I turned on some Christmas music, turned on our electric fireplace, lit the tree lights and danced in our living room together. Nothing fancy, just having silly fun together. It was one of my favorite nights of the whole season.
There is only ONE thing I wait to do ... wrapping gifts. This is something I enjoy doing by myself, in the evenings after the kids have gone to bed, while I enjoy a Christmas movie. I will typically do a little here and there for the month of December, then put the wrapped items hidden away somewhere so they aren't tempting for little eyes.
I truly hope that all of you have a blessed Christmas season. There are so many wonderful things about it and so many ways we can use it as a teaching opportunity with our little ones. I know that you will all really enjoy your children and the whole process of the next 7 weeks if you take a few simple steps to be prepared so that you can then take the time to sit back and enjoy your family and the fruits of your labor.
I have a lot of tradition ideas that I hope to share too ... so I'm sure you'll be seeing more Christmas posts from me soon!
1 comment:
We usually just decorate our main living aread too, but one special thing I do for the kids is hand Christmas lights in the their bedrooms. It gets them excited and doubles as a night light. Plus, it's motivation to clean their room before we get new gifts in there.
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