The world is turned upside down and we can’t do things like we normally would, but somehow it makes it even more stressful knowing we can’t just gather family and friends like last year. So let’s discuss How to have a less stressful holiday season.
I know you may still invite some family and friends over, but just be careful and safe. Be mindful, social distance when needed, and wear your mask.
Now that we got the motherly concern out of the way. Let discuss what we can do to have a less stressful holiday season. I think with every year I am getting better at this holiday season and last year was not stressful at all.
But this year is completely different. It might be a little be harder to keep up your holiday spirit. I get it. But let’s make it less stressful for you over the next few months.
Make a plan
First and foremost, before anything I would suggest a plan. My first instinct is to just say “FUCK IT, HOLIDAY SEASON IS CANCELLED” But, we can’t do that. Especially when some of us have little kids. It is not fair to them. So, make a plan, ask your family what they want to do. Especially if you are co-parenting during the holidays.
Whatever you decided do not let anyone else make you feel pressured to do things differently. Don’t compromise you and your families health.
Spend holidays at home
To make things easier stay home. Celebrate the holidays at home and let family and friends they can drop by outside, but can’t stay for long. Get everyone set up to do Christmas over zoom.
I never thought those words would come out of my mouth. Virtual holiday hugs.
Limit Family Events
If you do choose to go out limit the family events. I know people are making great changes regarding the pandemic to the holidays that are coming up.
For our Halloween in our neighborhood, we have created a google map of houses that will be giving candy out. We have all agreed to take the necessary precautions.
I am sanitizing myself, the candy, and anything else I will need. I am making little tiny ghosts to put in my yard so the kids can grab them from a safe distance. Like this:
Declutter before the holiday season
Spend November decluttering your house of things you don’t need or use. There is no sense in bringing new things in if you can’t get rid of old things.
Or….
Save yourself some money this year and gift your sister with that purple sweater she has been eyeing in your closet that you don’t wear anymore. Give your nieces and nephews old board games you don’t need anymore. Declutter and gift shop.
Don’t wait till the last minute
I always shop throughout the year so I am not spending a bunch of money at one time and giving myself a heart attack. I pay in cash… because of no need to build up more debt. Waiting until the last minute you may not be able to get the special gift you wanted to get your wife because you thought you had more time than you actually did.
If you send out Christmas cards don’t wait. There is no reason Aunt Sally in Minnesota doesn’t get her card till mid-January because you sent them out late. Refer back to the step about making a plan. Plan for your family and plan for yourself.
Don’t compete with Martha Stewart
With the pandemic going on I hope fewer people will be coming to your house. So you don’t have to go all out if it will just be you and your family. Unless that is your thing. Decorating the inside of the house has always been my “things”. It is just something I do for myself and my family to enjoy. We don’t go for perfection we go for making fun memories while decorating.
This is the first time in 8 years that we have people who can actually see our house from the road and it has been Mike’s dream to decorate the outside of our house to bring Christmas cheer to those who pass our house. So Mike is going all out on the outside of our home. It’s an opportunity to make our Christmas memories better. Just adding another tradition in our household.
But just know you don’t have to compete with Martha Stewart.
Give yourself a time out
You do not have to be “go go go” all the time. Slow down enjoy the family time and the holiday season. Relax and enjoy the process not just the end result.
Give yourself a time out to enjoy all the things around you. Appreciate the little things and be grateful for what you do have.
Take a nightly walk
We finally moved to a neighborhood that decorates their houses for Halloween and Christmas. We made it a plan as a family to do nightly walks to go look at their decorations.
It’s nice to just get out and walk around. It clears our heads, gets us away from electronics, and make memories.
KISS PEOPLE (keep it simple stupid)
Since we are in a pandemic just keep it simple this year. No need to stress out over everything when most people won’t be leaving their house. Use this year as a fresh start to make your holiday season be more focused on the people in your home and not on the people who would normally be coming to visit.
Relax and take the pressure off of yourself and your family. Just be together and appreciate the time you have together. Those are the holidays I remember most is when someone gives me their time. It impacts me more than a gift ever could.
Whatever you end up doing this year just be thankful. Show gratitude when you can.
What are some things you all are going to do to have a less stressful holiday season? Let’s give each other more tips in the comments. I will be sharing all of the tips you give on my Instagram.
Until next time, Have a great day!
Oh wow this is right timing , this coming months full of holidays and occasions, I like prepare things early , less stress. This year won’t be like before , I find this very different as we celebrate with social distancing and starting to think and plan now on how to make the upcoming holiday still memorable.
Definitely need to come up with some new ways to celebrate and to be safe.
I love these tips. I try my hardest not to get stressed out about the holidays, but sometimes I still do.
That’s all you can do is try. In our old house doing all the holiday things could be done in a weekend, now that we moved… This is whats stressing me out now… not knowing where to start.
This is very thoughtful. We adults can cancel holiday gatherings and other special gatherings with no problem whatsoever but kids always have a hard time especially when they are use to that kind of life.
I agree. Decorating the inside is my thing, decorating the outside is my fiance’s thing and actually celebrating is my stepdaughter’s thing. My fiance and I are a-okay with not buying gifts for anyone, but it’s hard when you got kiddos.
This is so thoughtful and relevant especially with everything going on. We need to find ways to always make the holiday seasons stress free. I for sure think decluttering before the holiday season is an excellent idea!
It is a must in my household. There are so many things in our house that we don’t use might as well get rid of them to make room for the things we do need.
We are also aiming for a stress-free holiday this year. I managed to install my outdoor Christmas lights 2 -months ago because that needs a lot of work. Then, we will only be celebrating just our family for safety reasons as well. For Christmas decorations, I upcycled most of them!
We are starting to put our Christmas decorations out. This is our first holiday season in our new house and don’t know how to set it up yet. A lot of our decor has been from second-hand stores or found free on the side of the road. I love upcycling.
These are great tips and thanks for the gentle reminder! The holidays will be here before we know it.
I guess your posts comes right on time for many people. Especially this year might be under far more pressure. Love to not compete with Martha Stuart – although, I do tend to… 😉 Anyway, I wish you a wonderful holiday season!
Yeah, I compete with her too, but I pick and choose my battles with Martha. LOL
Despite always looking forward to my holidays, they hardly ever go as planned. But, hopefully, with your handy tips, this year’ll be different.
the older you get the less fun you have on holiday, the more obligations you get
I agree with that to a certain point. I have just as much fun during the holidays now in my 30s than I did when I was a kid. Yes, the obligations fall on me now, but now I get to have the holidays I want and not the ones my family pressured us to have.
Although it is my favorite time of the season I also find it it the most stressful!! I TOTALLY agree with limiting the family events – aha they can totally get out of hand for me! I love not competing with Martha Stewart and keeping it KISS!
Every year people try to ou do themselves from the year prior and it just causes unnecessary stress.
Great post, everyone starts getting a little crazy during the holidays but I wonder if this year will be the same because of the pandemic.
I hope it is not the same. Things need to change.
These are wonderful ideas , you made me laugh on kissing people in a simple way, haha. But yeah being grateful is the best especially that inspite of this pandemic we are all healthy, we might be celebrate and plan the holiday a wee bit different this year , the most important thing is we are healthy.
I like your idea of walking/driving around and looking at decorations. It’s a good way to get in the spirit from a distance and gets you out of the house for a bit. Having family gatherings virtually is a good idea too.
Those are our favorite moments just walking around our neighborhood or a neighborhood we know decorates. It is just so relaxing.
True, this situation turned the world upside down and it stopped a lot of things this year. Thank you for sharing this!
I’m pretty sure we’re skipping christmas this year. We’re also trying to save up on money. The situation here in the philippines is super bad still and having family reunions like we normally do don’t make sense at all. This next year then! Haha
We are still decorating, but most likely not buying any gifts. We need to get a new car and we want to buy a house. I want to save all the money I can.
Doing the holiday now over the internet is a must haha for our safety but if things get better, we will gather and do it in real life.
Good tips Michele.
I agree 100%, especially not leaving things to the last minute and making a plan.