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Less is More this Christmas!
By Jill Cooper and Tawra Kellam
http://www.LivingOnADime.com/
After laying down my last women's magazine telling me how to be less
stressed during the holidays, I'm even more confused and stressed then ever.
On one page I'm told to take time for myself and indulge in a lovely spa
bath. That sounds great, but I can hardly find time for a shower on a slow
day in June let alone take a spa bath the week before Christmas. As I turn
the page, I'm told to give all my friends and family homemade ornaments to
which I have lovingly glued 500 beads, each the size of a grain of sand. OK
I'll admit I'm not a rocket scientist, but I am baffled when I try to
imagine how I could accomplish these two things even if I didn't have an
ever growing list of Christmas preparation tasks. Hmmm. Maybe I could lay in
my spa bath carefully gluing on beads to ornaments throughout the night.
Oh, it gets better. As I read on, there are articles telling me how not
to gain weight at Christmas parties. Isn't that like telling a three year
old to not get dirty while making mud pies? Oh! But it gets better. They
then tell you to eat a meal before you go to the party. What? Is that some
kind of new diet where you lose weight by eating two meals in the evening
instead of one? If it is then I'm all for it. I mean really - who eats four
carrot sticks and five pieces of celery at home then arrives at a party
where they have pecan pie, five different types of fudge, 10 dozen cookies
and egg nog and says " Oh no, I really couldn't eat a thing. I'm sooooo
full..?" Excuse Me! Doesn't anyone live in the real world any more?
I think to top it all off (and the part I like the best) is after they
tell us how to get rid of stress and not gain weight, they give us 10 pages
of recipes for Christmas cookies made with real butter and cream that are
decorated so elaborately in the pictures that it probably took a trained
kitchen staff of 10 a week to make one cookie.
If you are like me and can't stand that kind of stress, try some of these
Christmas ideas from www.LivingOnADime.com to help you have a relaxed and
Merry Christmas.
Don't over-spend - It may be tempting to fixate yourself on the sparkling
look in little Johnny's eye when he sees that $300 play car under the tree.
Advertising people are really good at feeding many parents' fantasies of
their children thinking that mom and dad are the peaches and cream for
shelling out the cash and looking fondly back on the moment for the rest of
their lives. The reality of it though is that most kids have lost all
interest in that particular toy long before the credit cards are paid off.
When we were growing up, my mom pulled out all of the stops at
Christmas to make it as wonderful for us as she possibly could. The funny
thing is that now that we are grown, the things we remember the most fondly
are mom's red jello salad (made with red hots - yummy!) and sitting together
and reading the Christmas story before opening our presents. I can't
remember what presents I received, but I always look back on the Christmas
story.
Do a few things well - Instead of trying to do everything and ending up
depressed with how it all turns out, focus your energy on a couple of things
that are the most important to you. You may be tempted to extravagantly
decorate every room in your house, but if you don't have the time or energy,
focus on one room, like a living or family room. If your entire house is
beautiful but you have to go see a therapist when it's all over, the
romantic mystique will be lost. Trust me, I know about this one from
personal experience.
Limit activities - Think of the holiday season as triage for activities.
Don't commit to do too many things. One or two parties during the holiday
season will make you get all tingly in that "It's a Wonderful Life" kind of
way. One or two parties a week may send you over the edge, especially if you
have kids. (Refer to my therapist comments above.)
This also applies to all of those appealing looking activities around town
like Victorian Christmas events, Christmas celebrations at the zoo or winter
carnivals. One or two can be a lot of fun, but too many will ruin the fun.
Limit cookie baking. Don't try to make 15 different kinds of cookies like
Martha. She may look like she is super woman, but did you know she has a lot
of people that help her? How much help do you get with your baking? I mean
real help, not your five year old who makes everything twice as difficult
for you. This is great for grandma, but you have to see your daughter every
day and grandma can send her back when the house is sufficiently covered in
flour. Again, pick your two or three top favorite cookies to bake and
celebrate the fact that you had few enough priorities that you remembered to
put the sugar in them.
Everything doesn't have to be homemade. I know that we advocate making your
own stuff, but Marie Callendar's makes some great pies that you can pass off
as homemade if you want to soothe your guilty Martha Stewart conscience. In
20 years, your kids will look fondly back on it as the best pie they ever
had. But seriously, if you are making things homemade just to save money,
remember that some things like candies and pies are often more expensive to
make homemade, especially if you cut your finger while slicing the apples.
Don't ask me how I know, just trust me on this one.
These aren't the only things you can do to reduce your stress, but if you
stick to doing a few things well, you can truly relax and enjoy the season
with your family. In the end, they would rather have fond memories of their
time with you than memories of how strung out mom was after she burned the
cookies.
Jill Cooper and Tawra Kellam are the authors of Not Just Beans. Not Just
Beans will help you shop smarter, by cooking simpler meals and by making
your own basic cleaning products. For free tips & recipes visit
http://www.LivingOnADime.com/
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