Can you believe…Christmas planning before Thanksgiving?

First snow of the season

(Be sure to read to the end of this post. There is a free ebook you won’t want to miss.)

Each year it seems as though the holidays get closer and closer together. Sometimes I feel like we barely have time or opportunity to prepare and celebrate one before we’re off to the next one. Most people I know are discussing Christmas plans and I’m focusing on planning our Thanksgiving meal.

Not that I have all this celebrating stuff down, but I’ve decided to slow down a bit and enjoy Thanksgiving before I rush headlong into Christmas.

How? Well, I have done a few things that have been a necessary part of the “season.”

We do an annual girls’ cookie baking day which involves the women and girls from my side of the family gathering for a Saturday to bake, giggle, and eat way too many cookies. Since it involves several families and there are only so many Saturdays before Christmas, we have chosen a date.

I’m on the lookout all year long for good gift ideas for the friends and family that we buy gifts for, so I already have a few things that I’ve purchased throughout the year. This really does take some of the pressure off the holidays and I enjoy thinking about my loved ones when I see something I think they would enjoy.

I also take time after Christmas to update my Christmas card list so I know that it’s ready for the next year. I usually do this as I take one last look at our cards. I save envelopes with new addresses so they are handy when I go to do it. This one thing really takes a lot of pressure off the holidays. Of course there is always that last-minute move or death that will require changes, but it’s nothing like not having any organized list.

And I’m right there with buying gift wrapping supplies at the after-Christmas sales, so that I don’t come down to really needing it, only to realize I’m out.

I’ve decided that if I don’t get Christmas cards done before Christmas I can always mail them in January when people will have more time to read mine. I even did Thanksgiving cards one year instead of Christmas cards. As I looked ahead I realized that our December was particularly busy, so I got them ready in November when less was going on.

We also celebrate Advent and the Twelve Days of Christmas, which I talk about in this post.

These two things really stretch the holiday season and give us more time to both reflect on the reasons we celebrate, and use the extra twelve days to spend time with family and friends. I’ve learned not to be such a stickler for celebrating “on the date”. You know what I mean by that – right? We all know people who eat two huge meals on Thanksgiving so they don’t slight either side of the family. I’ve given my family the freedom to be where they feel they need to be on the holiday. One of my relatives already feels the need to be at two places on the holiday itself – so I have them over a week or so later. It’s always a much more relaxed time and I actually get to spend more time with them then.

Someone asked me, “Don’t you feel left out, or taken advantage of?” No, not really, because it’s a choice I’ve made, not something that has been forced on me. I think of it as a gift to my family to be the one who is willing to bend. And we always have some family members here, so I’ve never been totally alone on a holiday.

Yes, slowing down does take some planning. It’s a little late to put most of these things into practice this year, but how about updating your Christmas card list right after Christmas, or in the winter? That’s what I did – I’ve introduced each change slowly and as I was able, and now I am reaping the benefits.

Finding Joy in the Journey,

Phyllis

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