December can be either a very stressful or a very magical month to those of us who celebrate Christmas. This year I chose to make December as peaceful and magical as possible. Admittedly, I almost always try to finish my Christmas shopping as earlier as possible, and I make it a rule to avoid malls in December if at all possible. And those two things in themselves make December so much nicer. But, this year I decided to try two new things. First, the little man and I have a calendar with fun activities for every day of the month up to Christmas.
So far we’ve made a Merry Christmas banner, a pretty Santa house, coloured together, and built things out of Lego. It has been a lot of fun, and it has helped remind me that to children Christmas is something special. It is more than just spending money and eating tasty food. It is about family, and fun, and time together.
The other thing I’ve been doing is for me: I’ve been working through Ruth Soukup’s (of Living Well Spending Less) Stress Free Christmas. She is offering a free video series and holiday planning workbook, and both are fabulous. (You can learn more here.) Ruth also has some great tips on reducing stress during the holidays. I especially like her reminder to practice self care. For us stitchy ladies, that means sitting down with our needles once in a while and making a couple of stitches.
Also, this quote from Ruth’s new book Living Well, Spending Less: 12 Secrets of the Good Life is apropos to both our daily crafty lives and to our aspirational holiday plans:
So, whatever you are doing (or not doing) during December, I hope you take some time to make it magical, fun, and peaceful.
Great advice! Here’s to a stress free Christmas!! Enjoy the precious time with your little man 🙂
I absolutely agree that Christmas is much more about family and spending time together than it is about the crazy commercialisation it often becomes. I’m sure your youngster will have some wonderful memories to look back on and remember Christmas as a wonderful time.