I bring this up because I know how I get around the holiday season. It was assumed that things would be easier around this time since the kids are adults, and I am not running around buying toys. It was assumed that I should always be cheery and merry. Not the case however!

Buying for grown children, and other adults in the family can get extremely stressful. What do you buy people who can afford to get whatever they want anyway? Especially when you are on a budget. Then there is all the other related activities. Cleaning, baking, preparing for dinners, having parties, as well as still going to work everyday. If I was 20 years younger, this wouldn’t even be an issue.

Talking to myself helps, but I only do that when I am alone. Thinking to myself, especially on the job, interferes with my work concentration. Trying to organize everything by writing it down on paper, never works, at least for me. Something always comes along and changes everything.

So how do you handle that overwhelming feeling when it hits you like a brick?  For starters, take a deep breath. Then realize you are but one person. Maybe you should consider dropping something off the list, that won’t really make a difference in the outcome of your Christmas, being great or not great.

For instance, I did that last year and will do the same this year. I used to bake several different kinds of cookies. It was time-consuming, but everyone loved them. When I would collapse at the end of the night after baking, it made me re-evaluate how much I was doing. So now, I bake one kind of cookie. It is a favorite of my husband’s and I like them too. Besides, we don’t need that many cookies around here anyway.

Another option we looked at was cutting back on some of the indoor train garden. This was overwhelming my husband, since that was his baby. This year, we will not do the big one that was a staple here for so many years. It’s exhausting to do and the cats would knock down all the village attire to boot. Instead, we will have a small platform to sit the tree stand on just so we can secure it. Maybe when the grand kids come, we can bring it back, with help of course.

It has all become a matter of balance. For those who are retired, or don’t work outside the home, it may not be overwhelming at all. But then it still could be. Some people work better under the pressure of having to get it down with a date on the calendar. Others just have so many things going on, that this time of year makes it more difficult. Nobody ever said that this time of year was a happy time for everyone.

Try not to let it get the best of you. Maybe fit a day in there where you do nothing. Or if you can’t go that extreme, then just change it up, give some things up, and create a calmer environment. The holiday will come and go, but you will fall right back into your old routine of daily life once again!