The Mindset Shift You Need For the Holidays
The holiday season can be so magical and full of joy, but it can also be the most stressful time of the year. As a parent, there is the extra element of creating memories for my kid and trying to keep my sanity in a busy time.
I believe there are a few shifts we can make in priorities that will help things go more smoothly and increase everyone’s enjoyment. Here are a few tips - take what might be helpful to you and leave the rest.
So much of my overwhelm comes from trying to do EVERYTHING. We truly need to prioritize what makes the most sense for our families and traditions. We sit down as a family and decide on our most important holiday traditions and I put them in a checklist in my Notes. Our favorites are: decorating the tree and talking about all of the ornaments, a holiday light drive in jammies with cocoa, baking Christmas cookies, visiting my family in Denver, and some kind of Christmas craft. Visiting Santa hasn’t been on the list for a few years and I am fine with that. Being purposeful about what matters to your family can winnow down your to do list and make things feel less harried.
Take time to go through the house and declutter prior to the holidays - especially kids toys. I don’t think you need to involve the kids in this. I start with the easy stuff - kids party favors, fast food toys, used up craft supplies or coloring books or toys with broken or missing parts. Then you can work on toys that haven’t been played with in 6 months to a year. If the kids ask, you are creating room for new toys coming over the holidays and it is time to pass them on to another family. (Caveat - please do not donate broken toys or things that should be in the garbage. It creates extra work for the people who process donations!)
In gift-giving, I have found the gifts my daughter gets the most use and play out of are rarely the ones she is super thrilled about opening in the moment. Games like Uno, craft kits, toys like Magnatiles - all toys she has used a ton but didn’t necessarily ask for and didn’t know how much fun they would be. The point is that even if you don’t get an over-the-top excited response when your kids are opening their gifts it doesn’t mean you did it wrong, and I would rather that than fill up our house with plastic that Aily will play with a handful of times and forget about. I keep a list in my Notes app (does anyone see a theme? I use my Notes app all the time) and I add to it over the year with ideas for Aily, Charley and my family. I don’t have the foresight to purchase all year long, but having ideas certainly makes it easier when I shop, which is usually Black Friday and Cyber Monday, almost entirely online.
Being purposeful about your holiday season will help you keep life organized and make everything a bit easier. A little ease in this time of year is always a benefit!
Happy Holidays to all of you. We always look forward to the opportunity to help you make your lives easier with simple organizational strategies. Reach out if you have a household problem we can help you solve!
