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| Manage Christmas Stress |
Did you get your house decorated for Christmas right after Thanksgiving? Not me. I like to take things slowly. I think I was born slow! It gives me joy to do it a little bit at a time.
I get out our yuletide decor a few things each day, starting on December first. I keep adding to it as the month goes on and I like it that way. It builds anticipation for Dec. 25th and I have the time to arrange our treasured items in new ways. I almost never set things up the same way as before.
I spread out the shopping over time as well. So far this season I’ve shopped online on Cyber Monday, picking up a few items that were on my list and were marginally on sale. No big discounts, but every little bit helps.
Our extended family puts wish lists on Amazon for those who want to use them. I used Camel,Camel,Camel (no affiliation) yesterday to check the prices on the Amazon items. If the price was near its all-time low, I bought it. For items that were near their record high prices, I set up a price alert with Camel,Camel,Camel. They will send me an email when my target price is reached or nearly reached on Amazon. I love that system.
Since I buy gifts year-round, I just have to “check my list twice” to see if there are any gaps left. Then I’ll be wrapping gifts a few every night to keep from having a marathon session of gift wrapping later in December.
We also spread out our holiday activities. I try to avoid making any particular activity something that turns into a “must do” tradition unless it’s inexpensive. Otherwise we could get trapped into pricey tickets that might not be so affordable some years. It also makes for some hectic schedules if you try to do everything, even if they are affordable. My goal is Peace and Joy more that rushing to every possible thing going on in December. Our grandkids love making Christmas cookies with us. It’s not expensive, it’s a wonderful tradition, but it takes a lot of time. I either make the dough ahead of time or buy the ready made dough. Keep it simple or at least as simple as possible!
I love Christmas, but I also like keeping stress as manageable as possible. What tricks do you use to keep sane during this busy season?
Click on any labels below this post for more ways to manage holiday stress and keep it simple!
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