christmas planning.

Someone asked me the other day if the Christmas panic had reached me yet.

For the first time in a decade or longer, the answer was “No. I’m on top of it.” And I plan to keep it that way.

What has made this holiday season the least stressful one that I’ve had in recent memory?

A number of things, as far as I can tell.

1. My year of Simplifying and Preparing. By the time we got to December, my to do list was fairly non-existent. What a change from last year where it was hours-long every single day! I actually had time to work on my holiday doings.

2. I’ve been creating “prep lists” for myself for each month this year. This means my brain is less scattered, and I can easily get things done, one at a time.

3. For Christmas this year, we settled on the Wear, Read, Want, Need Christmas, with one additional big gift. It has made it easy for us to do the shopping, and we’ll all get things we’ll use.

For next year, I have a few ideas of how to make a few of the things that are still challenging a little easier. I’m not going to wait until December to buy gifts for people outside my immediate family. I’m not clever about choosing gifts, and it is a very stressful proposition for me. No matter how hard I try, I still don’t end up with gifts that I (nor the receiver, probably) like.

I’m also working on new ideas for our holiday letter. Always hard for me to write, and it always seems a bit dull. But I’ve got plenty of time to think about it!

Happy Holidays!

lights – 30 nov 2014