The holidays are making me a little bit crazy. There's so much to do without the holidays - add in a Christmas, Hanukkah and New Years, and I get a little insane from stress.
I have two reactions to stress: First, I run around like a maniac, trying to do 50 things at once, which leads to reaction 2, which is to totally crash and do nothing. I know - it sounds bipolar, but I'm not. I just wear myself out from trying to do too much.
And that makes for a bad family life.
Tonight, my husband actually sent me away, calling me Godzilla because I was so grumpy to Little One. Little One was picking at me - of course, she just wanted attention - but I was trying to do some work on the computer, write up a to-do list for tomorrow and...I don't even remember the other things I was juggling. In my mind, I was going over all the stuff I had to do this week and getting more than a little anxious about it.
Meanwhile, my Little One just wanted to be tickled.
Shame on me for putting a to-do list ahead of my family. Even if much of the stuff on the list has to do with making a great Christmas "for them," is it worth it if the week leading up to Christmas makes them wish I'd just move out? No, it is not.
Hence, I've resolved that this week, I'm slowing down. Whenever I feel stressed and start running and juggling too much at once, I'm going to intentionally slow down.
If you've never tried intentionally slowing down, I highly recommend it. It's harder than it sounds, though. What you do is pick one thing and try to do it very slowly - turtle slow. It forces you to focus and regulate yourself. You actually end up being more efficient and effective because you act your way into being focused, calm and collected.
I'm also going to trim down that to-do list. I don't have to have a play date this week. I don't need to find candles for the advent wreath - heck, it's a bit late for that anyway! (What can I say - Michael's was out when I went to buy them and I haven't had a chance to find them elsewhere!)
Another thing I think I'll do this year to make the holidays slower next year: Make notes in next year's calendar to remind me to do more of this stuff in October and November. There are so many things you don't think of until the season is upon you. But that's what calendars are for - they remember so you don't have to.
This week, resolve to slow down and just accept the week for what it is.
Holidays | Surviving the Holidays
1 comment:
My sister and I spent the weedend making 3 types of cookies and 3 gingerbread houses. All intended as gifts for mothers, neighbors, and piano teachers. I enjoy doing it, but it is so time consuming! In a way, I guess it does force you to slow down, because you are not driving around shopping, you're not cleaning the house, etc. You get to hang around the kitchen and the kids can wander by, watch, cut out cookies as long as their interest lasts, and sprinkle on decorations. But here it is Monday, and we aren't finished yet! I'm not sure what month we need to start, and which recipies can be made and frozen for a couple months, but we need to do something like that.
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