It’s the most wonderful time of the year—usually. However, there are moments where it feels like the most stressful time of the year as well. To help keep things under control so you can enjoy your holidays, try the 4 tips for surviving the busy holiday season below.
An invitation is not a summons. In other words, just because you are invited doesn’t mean you have to attend. If your parents are throwing two holiday get-together and your partner’s are throwing one and work has a big shindig and the soccer team has theirs and the neighbors are planning a block party, and, well, you get the idea. Anyhow, you don’t need to attend everything. Go to what works for you, skip the ones that don’t, and if you want to celebrate some things at home, go right ahead.
From decorating the tree to lighting the candles to baking the cookies, this is the time of year to embrace traditions. These help us connect to the past and to the spirit of the season. However, don’t stress if these moments aren’t picture-perfect. Which brings us to number 3.
Life isn’t perfect, and despite that, you can make beautiful memories. So what if the decorations aren’t ideal or if the kids didn’t space the ornaments right? When you learn to embrace imperfection, you learn to live in the moment.
Yes, there will always be the judgy people in our lives who will find their gift to be too impersonal or too cheap or too whatever—don’t worry about them. As we tell our kids, you get what you get and you don’t throw a fit. Most people will love whatever they receive, even if it is just a gift card. So no more gift guilt.