I already determined Christmas was going to intentionally be a low key kind of gift giving affair. We've invested in travel and other experiences and collectively DH and the kids have decided we have enough stuff. DS is moving soon, and thankful for very little to have to pack up and haul. Him coming home for Christmas, knock on wood that nothing interferes this year, is my gift. With extended family, it grew bigger than I would have liked, but I am still setting sensible limits, and not getting sucked into too much of the shopping hype. I know, it is only the day after Thanksgiving, so plenty of messages of consumerism to test my resolve.
The house, even my living room which is supposed to be my sanctuary of calm, blew up with clutter and disorganization in the last two weeks. It felt good to put it to rights again. I have a lot more real cleaning today before even beginning to tackle Christmas decorations, but my plan will be to officially transition for fall to winter, specifically Christmas decor, by the end of next weekend. I take things down New Years Day usually, but this year I'll give myself the whole weekend, but move into January for the most part with just fond memories of Christmas.
Until then though, I have a jam packed December between work, DD#2's school extra curricular events, friends gatherings (more 50's in December), and then as I can, cheesy Hallmark and ABC Family movies to watch. I won't be buying any new decorations-I have bins and bins of decorations collected over 30 years, other than the Boy Scout wreath I bought from my nephew. For those of you that celebrate Christmas, how do you fit all you want in, while making sure to slow down enough to appreciate it? Are your holidays simple affairs or do you go all out?
The end of the year is my busiest time of the year for work, which curtails any desire or opportunity to make it into a big to do. Instead, I am 90% done with my shopping by Thanksgiving. Other than that, I'll snuggle with the kids, take them to see Christmas lights, bake cardamom bread, and then we'll fly to go see my family on the 23rd. Looking forward to it!
ReplyDeleteWhen my kids were young; I too had shoppung done early. The thought of stores the week before is stressful to me. I have some coffee cards to buy but holdibg out for a deal.
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