It never crossed my pre-mommy mind, that when I became a wife and mother, one of my major duties would involve a role as one of Santa’s chief Holiday Elves.
Who plans the holiday parties and meals, sees that time is available for traditions, decorates the house and much of the yard? Who decides who in the circle of family, friends and neighbors gets what, then has to purchase and wrap all the gifts? Talk about pressure!
Pulling a major holiday together with all the trimmings is no easy task, yet our loved ones count on us to make the holidays fabulous, regardless of the exhaustion and stress that comes with our elfin responsibilities. And who among us can honestly deny harboring those secret pangs of indecision in the chance that something we just bought will very likely go on sale the very next day! The horror!
Admittedly, I truly enjoy spreading the cheer during the holidays, yet every year I vow to discover a better way for this Secret Elf to create a wonderful holiday season, without all the stress. I will gladly share some stress busters which have helped me cope during the holiday onslaught:
- Shop on the weekdays, instead weekends when the crowds are lower. Why knowingly subject yourself to hordes of other impatient elves? Shopping online is another great choice, offering no crowds and lots of free shipping offers.
- Forget dieting and enjoy all the delicious foods and holiday desserts in moderation. Allow yourself a small taste or two of everything and plan to hit the gym on January 2nd!
- When super-stressed, lock yourself in the bathroom for a half an hour and take a bubble bath–a joy at any time of the day. I have found setting aside 30 minutes in the morning after taking the kids to school for an aromatic tub-o-bubbles is an especially delightful way to start a day!
- My favorite treat, is remembering to purchase a special gift for myself, wrapping it, and place it under the tree from Santa. How else can you assure you will get at least one gift you really want?
Finally, just keep in mind that no one, not even Santa himself, keeps track of holiday overachievers. The most important part of the holidays is to make the time to relax and spend quality time with your loved ones and share the real meaning of the holidays — family, love, and faith.
This entry was posted on Monday, December 10th, 2007 at 9:05 am and is filed under Holiday. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.