nixtress's Diaryland Diary

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Christmas? No bah-hum-bugs!

I was thinking about Christmas today and how stressful a time it is for just about everyone I know.
We worry about bills, worry about gifts, worry about money to pay for both bills AND gifts. We worry about time and travel and schedules.
We miss the people we've loved and lost and fight with the people who're here.
It's just plain stressful.
It's not like the world at large makes it any easier on any of us, either. Heck, WallyWorld started putting out Christmas stuff before Halloween was even over! Tell me THAT'S not pressure-inducing.
Christmas=stress for so many people.
I'm going to try to cut that down a little. I've already begun feeling the press of money-management, trying to figure out what I can do and where I can do it. I don't want to be that way. I want my holidays to be a time of peace with my sons and extended family, a time of memories and tradition and a time that's joyful, not marred with a mom who's ripping her hair out and depressed because she has no money left and nothing to show for it.
There are some changes afoot. I'm putting a cap on how many gifts are bought this year, not only to give to others but also RECEIVED (although I am pretty sure that getting those who live outside my household and who like to spoil the crap out of my boys to comply will be like pulling teeth). For every gift they buy for someone else, they also have to make something, be it cookies with me (we make a ton and shouldn't eat them all anyway!) or pictures or something on the computer (gift cards entitling recipient to snow shoveling or other assorted helpful tasks) etc. I've decided that I'm not running here, there and everywhere, trying to stuff all our visits into a three day span. We're doing Christmas Eve in our house, a Christmas Day evening with my father's side of the family and everything else is happening after New Year's. I love seeing family and friends as much as the next gal but when I'm frenetically running in bad weather, trying to make distance in a time crunch...it's an over-extension of myself AND the boys because they just want to stay in one place and enjoy themselves! I've let friends know that they're welcome to stop in but that I'm trying to simplify a bit this year.
I'm getting creative, too, in my gift-giving. That's going to save me a ton of money and stress---who really enjoys shopping during the holidays? The idea of searching for the perfect gift is a sad misconception. There are too many other people trying to do the exact same thing and you have to wade through the masses to even get CLOSE to a display to check something out. Typically, I end up disappointed anyway because that idea I had in my head never quite materializes.
We're beginning a new tradition: we're making a gingerbread house this year. In addition to the bucketloads of baking I already do, we're trying out recipes from my Grams recipe box.
I'm also going to be working on teaching my children to be charitable. In addition to the Salvation Army bell-ringing they're doing with their Scout group, we're sending care packages to soldiers serving overseas , just small packages that the boys will add a letter to. I think it's important that they know that there are real people over there, some who have no family to let them know they're missed.
I love Christmas, don't get me wrong. It's a magical time and I'd like it to remain that way. I don't want to do as I did this year---begin dreading it before it's even begun and end up stressed before I've even started.
Happy Friday, all. Hope your weekend isn't as cold and blustery as mine's supposed to be.
N.

5:04 p.m. - 2006-12-01

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