How to Deal with Holiday Anxiety
Do you find that you can't escape holiday tension year after year? Do you see yourself as a helpless victim in this situation? Do you think you're the only one helping to make the holiday a success in your house?
In this post, I'll give you some tips to help you survive the holidays. In the past, I would drive myself completely insane during the holidays. My ex-spouse believed that all he had to do to help out on Thanksgiving was to come there, eat all he could, and then watch TV in the living room while I did the dishes. I too had two boys who were completely uninterested in any Christmas decorations.
What I'm going to recommend is likely to be offensive, but it has a strong possibility of significantly decreasing your Christmas stress. After reading this piece, you'll need to weigh the benefits of having everything exactly right against those of getting part of your sanity back. After all is said and done, you may keep doing it in the same manner. If you're looking for alternatives, that's all I'm doing here.
Where do you usually spend your days? I had to send out at least a hundred holiday greeting cards. The only way I could keep in contact with individuals who mattered to me was via this medium.
Of course, there was also the matter of purchasing presents. When I got married, I inherited twenty nieces and nephews, and the family tradition was that every kid got a present from their aunts and uncles until they were twenty-five. In spite of my best efforts, I was unable to convince them to change their minds. Shopping for Christmas presents was a real hassle for me.
In addition to the time spent shopping for presents, there were also several hours spent wrapping them. Do you have any plans to decorate your home for the holidays? Never mind the fact that I had to tidy up my home so that it would be suitable for the vacation guests who decided to drop by unexpectedly. Also, there were the countless cookies of every imaginable kind to bake and the dishes to prepare for the many Christmas gatherings to which we were invited. It's no surprise that I was grumpy and short-tempered, what with the pressure of planning for and dealing with the inevitable weight gain that comes with the holidays.
Inside Out Living TM made me reconsider the validity of my previous practices. My initial thought was, "How many of the things I'm doing am I doing because I think I have to and how many are for my pleasure and the joy of my family?"
I recall one year when I was really struggling to handle the holiday season, and I remember telling my kids that I needed their aid or that we needed to eliminate certain traditions. They made it plain they didn't want to assist me lighten my burden, but they were happy to give up a number of fun holiday traditions. What they really told me was that a tree was unnecessary. They didn't care whether the packages were wrapped or not; all they wanted were the gifts.
I had my eyes opened by it. At this point, it was clear that I didn't have to do anything else for my kids to enjoy the holiday besides buy them gifts.
The next step was to determine what was absolutely crucial for my situation. Besides sending Christmas cards to loved ones, I also opted to wrap presents for my kids so that I could see the delight on their faces as they discovered what Santa had brought them.
During that holiday season, I learned how much fun it is to send out New Year's greeting cards. Yeah, you nailed it. I gave up trying to get through sending Christmas cards in time for the holiday. Indeed, maintaining relationships was the point. My January card delivery was a smart choice. When compared to the others, it was clearly exceptional.
No, I did not plant that tree. My kids didn't give a hoot about whether or not we had one. Nor did I. Brilliant for relieving tension.
I also stopped insisting that everyone pitch in during the Christmas season. The sole result of my desire for help from hesitant loved ones was to drive a wedge between us. They didn't give a hoot about all the Christmas hoopla. If it were, they would have helped me out more readily when I requested it.
It was while looking for presents for my nephews and niece that I realized how useful gift cards might be. Kids enjoy them because they get to choose what they want, and they prevent them from receiving presents from relatives who don't know them well enough to select something they'll really like.
If your children are older, you may also consider making a donation to a family in need in place of buying them presents this year.
After 27 unsuccessful attempts at creating several kinds of cookies, the family finally settled on chocolate chip cookies as the only kind they would eat. They were usually well received, and nobody cared much about the alternatives.
There are two approaches to addressing the weight increase. Bring a sense of recklessness to the festive season. You should expect to gain weight and resolve to do something about it in the new year. Alternately, you may learn to regulate your food intake. Don't stuff yourself at holiday gatherings; instead, sample each dessert.