Find Your Christmas Cheer: Overcome the Guilt and Dread of the Season

It’s the best time of the year. All our troubles will be far away. How many of you think this way about Christmas? On the contrary, many people I talk to start to dread the holidays well before Thanksgiving. What was once a joyous time for them has become a stressful time of overeating and being pulled in too many directions. For too many couples, the stress comes between them.

I remember one year when we had a new baby, we didn’t even put up a tree. It was just one more thing to do, and baby was too young to notice. I fretted about buying nice gifts everyone would like and making baked goods from scratch for friends and even business associates. I even delivered them myself all over the city. What was I thinking? Thankfully, I have changed my ways and find I am more peaceful and excited about the holiday.

Here are some tips I have picked up over the years:

*Schedule it out—decide the things you really like to do during the holidays. As early as possible in the season, preferably with your spouse, make a list of the things you enjoy and don’t want to miss. If you enjoy caroling, baking or visiting lights displays or musical performances, add to your list, and try to schedule them first.

*Add the items you feel are mandatory, and include religious observances that are important to your family. Schedule these important activities before your calendar gets full of holiday parties and other obligations. Be creative, maybe you can combine a social group get-together with one of the activities you have on your list (seeing a concert together or baking together). I even schedule time for addressing cards and wrapping presents. Once I have everything on paper that I need and want to do, I feel so much better. I can see that it’s not an overwhelming list, but rather something small or fun to do every few days.

*Would you like to start new traditions? We enjoy collecting Christmas ornaments whenever we travel, so putting up the tree is like traveling around the world. Our kids enjoy writing letters to Santa and choosing charities to support as a family gift. These things don’t add to our time commitment, but they enhance our enjoyment of the season.

Read the rest of the article and other family tips at www.LifeGems4Marriage.com.