Still catching your breath over how quickly the year has passed? Well, take a deep breath and get ready for the rest of 2010! Here’s a simple way to collect your thoughts and create a great second half to 2010.
Christmas will be here before we know it. This is the year for mom to have a great Christmas–one that’s spiritually rich and deeply connected to the reason for the season.
It’s not too soon to start avoiding holiday stress! Our friends at Organized Christmas have some great ideas.
USA Today offers a wonderful guide to gift selection–gifts of good health, and gifts from the heart. There are gift suggestions for aging relatives, for those trying to lose weight and get fit, and others. It’ll inspire you to give a thoughtful gift and skip the easy route of the gift card!
On Thanksgiving Day, after a wonderful meal during that quiet lull before dessert, we pulled out this fun and engaging Christmas Trivia Game. There are questions fitting for all ages, from easy to difficult, and all with the Christmas season in mind. It was a great way to get us laughing and keep the conversation festive and fun! Check it out for your holiday gatherings. It might be the pick-me-up you need to enjoy the holidays!
What else would you expect? Oprah has great holiday stress-busters online. Tip #1: Get Enough Sleep. I knew I liked that lady!
Lately I’ve heard great ideas from friends and colleagues on how they are simplifying Christmas this year. While the economy may be the incentive, many are quietly relieved for the excuse to cut back on a holiday they felt they’d lost control over in the gift exchange area.
So, let’s share ideas with one another! Please reply with your comments and suggestions. Here’s one to get us started.
Cancel the gift exchange for the grown-ups in your family. Pool your money and sponsor a family who is down on their luck this Christmas through your church or charitable organization. Instead, do a fun “rob your neighbor” gift exchange with your family and set a reasonable price limit on the gifts. Enjoy the game and the interaction that it brings!
What’s your idea?
Yesterday I visited my doctor for my annual check up. As the nurse finished settling me into the exam room, she said goodbye and wished me “Happy holidays…though I can’t believe I’m saying this already!”
Of course, this was the perfect opportunity to talk with her about preparing for Christmas, and she shared with me a wonderful decision her family made just the night before. Instead of exchanging gifts with the adults this year, they’re sponsoring a family. In sponsoring a family, you provide Christmas gifts and a delicious feast to a family in need. Many churches have programs to help connect you with a family, including information on clothing sizes, wish lists, and needed groceries.
Perhaps this year there’ll be even more families in need of assistance, so search your heart and your budget and see if sponsoring a family is a possibility for your family. Check with a local church or charitable organization for such a program. What a great way to spread the season’s cheer and keep in perspective the spirit of Christmas!
Years ago we invested in new kitchen cabinets and appliances. The cabinet installer was one of the slowest workers I’ve ever encountered. He’d work until he needed a special part and then went to the hardware store. An hour or so later, he’d return, and work some more until he needed the next part, leave, go to the hardware store, and return. This cycle was repeated several times daily until the project took three times longer to complete than the original estimate! It was clear, to put it kindly, that good planning was not one of his gifts! We can learn something from the cabinet installer when it comes to the holidays. I’m sure ours weren’t the first cabinets he ever installed, so he could have used past experience to put together a list of parts and materials he’d need, and in what order, to expedite the process. We’ve been through the holidays before, so we can revisit Christmases past and determine a plan for this year.
One of the first rules of good planning is to start with the end in mind; that is, have a clear idea of your goal. What does a Great Christmas look like to you? This year will be especially challenging with the current economic stresses. Set aside a block of time and envision the Great Christmas you’ll have with those you love. Now, pull out your calendar, a pen and a pad of paper and write down your description. Talk with family members and get their input, too.
Next, draft a list of actions to achieve your Great Christmas. Looking at your calendar, plan backward from Christmas Day, setting small deadlines for yourself for all the projects and activities you intend to do. Schedule time for shopping, cooking, social activities, and for yourself. Get detailed! Break it down to daily to-do lists if you can. Remember, the more you separate the projects into small, manageable tasks, the less overwhelmed you’ll be.
Now, sit back and review your list. You’ve worked hard to put it together, but now comes the tough part! Prioritize the projects and activities. Take a hard look at the ones that fall toward the bottom of your list. Are they really essential to a Great Christmas this year? Make sure you’re directing your energies toward and focusing on the priorities. For the sake of reducing your stress level, give yourself permission to narrow your list to the most important items!
Here’s another example of the power of a plan. About one month ago we made an emergency trip to the vet first thing in the morning. Usually a pretty calm boy, our 6-year-old golden retriever, Shannon, was crazed with pain and itchiness from a hot spot on his tail. Wearing his e-collar, he’d spin around as if to catch his tail, but really he was after a soothing lick or two. Out for his morning business, he sat in the cool, dewy grass, grateful for some relief.
The vet prescribed two medications, plus ear drops for another infection discovered during the visit. The medication schedule included drops twice a day, one pill three time a day, and another pill twice a day for three days, then once a day for seven, then every other day until gone. Whew! My head was spinning.
So, when I got home, I opened a blank calendar page on the computer and filled in the schedule for the next two weeks of medications. It took 10, maybe 15 minutes to do, tops. When I was done, I felt such relief: relief that I didn’t have to keep this all straight in my head; relief that we’d keep track of his doses in such a way that anyone in the house could pick up where another left off; and relief that he finally had his own relief, which freed me to get back to my other work and family demands!
Planning and organizing are great for this reason: they free us up to be present in other areas of our lives. I for one am trying to break the cycle of mulling things over until I’m stressed out! I’m learning to make a list, check it off, and set it aside. Planning can help us stay sane with Christmas on the way, too!
Newsweek offers a preview of the financial realities of shopping this holiday season entitled Bah Humbug. If you’re used to flexible credit this time of year, you may need to rethink your shopping strategy. Here are some suggestions that have worked for me; what would you add to the list?
Dear Reader, what are your suggestions for creative shopping this year?
Check out Terry’s Village for great gifts and adorable decorations. I love Softy the Snowman on the cover of their new catalogue. He says, “Families are forever because love never melts!” Plus, everything’s 20% off and free delivery available until July 24, 2008. Check it out and get a bit of the Christmas spirit!
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