Okay, Listen Here

Okay, Listen Here

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Holiday Stress

Well, after hosting our friends as guest bloggers for most of November I am back.  I hope every one had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday.  It was great to have some time off to spend with family and friends! 

I had already planned this blog topic before I read Kathy's blog on Wednesday, but the topics seem to have been designed together.  In the words of Boss Hogg, "I love it when a plan comes together!" 

As I mentioned already, I enjoyed spending time this past weekend with family and friends but those fun times can also be very stressful.  Already my calendar is filling up with committments during the month of December. For many of them I will need to shop for a present to take and make a dish of food to share.  Of course, the parties will be a lot of fun and it will be wonderful to see everyone during the holidays but even good fun things can add stress to our lives.  I love to bake and decorate my home but today I find myself twitching at the thought of needing to get my greenery up this weekend while it is still green.  So even though I enjoy both the process and then end results of decorating, I am struggling a bit with actually getting it done.  Of course, it is early days yet but I just know that the closer I get to Christmas the busier life will become.

One way that I have coped with holiday stress the last few years is to take a day off during December.  My church has a ladies luncheon on a Monday early in December and I have taken the day off to go and enjoy that.  I began this personal holiday tradition one year when I needed to assist with the luncheon but it was so nice to have a day off that I continued to take off to just attend the luncheon.  It is nice to be able to sleep in a little and know that I have a day to put a little bit more merry into my Christmas.

What are some ways you cope with holiday stress?

3 comments:

  1. Stress? Cope? LOL! Those two things together seem to be an oximoron, don't they? Because inevitably, no matter how hard we try to stay sane, we always end up pulling out hair.

    Your blog post has done two things for me, Stephanie.

    1. Reminded me that the plans I have of putting up my greenery this weekend, are a great idea.

    2. I don't want to do it, but someone has to. And thankfully, feeling this way isn't a solitary sensation. Good to know I'm in good company.

    Here are some things I do:

    Put on holiday music while decorating, or your favorite holiday movie. Helps lighten the mood and put joy into the activity that you might have not felt when you started.

    Make hot chocolate and take the time to stop mid-way, sit down and enjoy a steaming cup while admiring the work you've already done.

    Invite family or friends to help you decorate. Chatting with friends is one of the best stress coping mechanisms we have.

    Sing. I love the movie Elf for that very reason. The scene where the Zooey Deschanel sings in the shower and Will Farrel is sitting in the bathroom listening, then joins in. "Baby its cold outside" Love that scene and the music stays with you.

    Listening to Christmas music all day at work certainly gets you in the mood. LOL!

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  2. Blogger is gobbling comments like a starving person at an all you can eat buffet! I could have sworn I commented on this.

    Marilyn

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  3. Kathy those sound like great suggestions. Maybe I can find time to try a few. :-)

    I have never seen the movie Elf. I hear it is funny. Maybe I will try that one first!

    Marilyn, I agree that blogger is eating comments. It ate several of mine this week.
    Thanks for stopping by and commenting until it would show up!

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