Don’t get me wrong, I don’t always dislike Christmas. There’s just moments when I realise that the stress I’m feeling is largely due to Christmas; it’s unpleasant.
- A majority of the people I celebrate Christmas with don’t give a rats bottom who Christ is.
- Buying and giving presents is only fun when you find something really great or have good ideas for presents.
- Too often I have buyer’s remorse or post-buyer’s anxiety over the presents I’ve given. For example, I bought my husband a game that seemed like a great idea, but we haven’t played it yet because it’s best with 3 or more people; I made my Mum and Grandma calendars and had them printed, but even though I organised them well before Christmas they haven’t arrived yet because the company was slow to invoice me, slow to correct their invoice (which was 200% too expensive) and PayPal was slow to process my payment. Now I know my Mum has a calendar and my Grandma has “too many”.
- There’s never enough time for Christmas cards. I really wanted to send some Christmas cards, or more correctly end of year cards. To thank people for things they’d done this year and let them know I was thinking of them.
- Making phonecalls seems like an easy thing to do but I always either don’t have time or forget.
- There’s too much family. Okay, so this isn’t entirely true, I only have my family and two groups of in-laws. Our families are pretty understanding. We alternate Christmas Day between the families each year. So, we only see the others for a short time Christmas evening or Boxing Day. It still makes me feel guilty when I don’t get to see or contact certain people (see 4 and 5).
- There’s so much anticipation. This applies to hating birthdays too (not that I always do). The build-up to Christmas is so huge – how could one day possibly live up to that?
Thank goodness it’s only once a year. Perhaps one day I’ll figure out how to be a better Christian, daughter, granddaughter and a more balanced person who will survive this holiday without tears.
Aww π I’m sorry your Christmas was stressful this year! I can identify with so many of your points, though!
#3, you can always play Munchkin with just the two of you, so you can learn the rules. Then you’ll see how fun it is and want to invite lots of people to play! Don’t be disappointed in that purchase. It’s a blast!
My family’s way of combating #7 is to start opening presents early. We count up the presents, subtract the “big” present and a few others for Christmas Day and then start opening them that number of days early (usually about a week). That way, we can enjoy one present a day instead of tearing them all open Christmas day, being overwhelmed with stuff and disappointed that it’s all over.
I’m a guru in this, but I have a suggestion on how you could make things easier on yourself.
Instead of sending “year-end” cards, you could send “middle of the year” cards to check on everybody. You could write updates about yourself (and your husband), and you could ask how they are doing in June/July. You could also send a few photos of the things that you do with your husband (short vacation/BBQ/went to the beach, etc).
That way, you get to keep in touch with your in-laws instead of just seeing them once a year during Christmas.
That’s a good idea, Pelf! And another thing you could do is put it all into a PDF (is there any kind of open source version of InDesign?) and then just send an email. For those few who don’t have email, just print it out. That’ll save you a lot in postage and for the more green, they’ll be happy you’re not killing trees π
That’s a great idea pelf! I think starting a habit of sending letters or even small notes would be really good. I have so many boxes of notecards that I’ve received as gifts (with Monet paintings or something similar on the front), I use them sometimes, but I could use them more.
LaurenMarie – your digital idea is good too. I did look into a layout/publishing program a little while ago for a project I was doing (still haven’t finished actually!). I didn’t find any particularly good looking ones that were free (Scribus looks okay, but difficult to install). However, Swift Publisher looked nice and not too expensive. We also bought iWork, the layout capabilities of Pages (word processor) would probably be fine for that sort of thing. Then exporting as PDF is easy.
Incorporating pelf’s photograph idea, one could get a set of Moo notecards printed with a photo of yourselves or a place you visited and send people notes that way.
Thanks for your lovely suggestions guys! I’m also feeling better today because although Mum’s and Gran’s calendars haven’t arrived yet, I did visit Gran for afternoon tea. I hadn’t seen her for Christmas or New Year yet. Have now! π
I like those Moo cards. I saw them back in summer and I need an excuse to get some! I liked the idea of printing some of my portfolio pieces on them and handing them out as business cards.
Yes, I’d love to get some minicards, but I don’t have use for business cards at the moment π Perhaps I’ll find a use for them soon.
Yeah, LaurenMarie’s idea of sending digital copies of the “How are you” notes is definitely a good one (how come I didn’t think of it?!). And I’m sure your green relatives appreciate your initiative π
Plus, if you could send digital notes, I am sure you could do it like, thrice a year? Since it doesn’t involves too much printing and envelopes and postages.
That way, your relatives get to “hear from you” more than once a year! π
I agree with #2. Three thoughts, I read a saying once that goes, “The best gift of all is the gift of time.” The older you get the more meaning that will have. π Do your parents or inlaws need help with a specific task. How about treating them to a dinner, or a family get away. Two, take Christmas back and make it yours. Make your own family traditions. Make your gifts. Volunteer. Do something special at your place of worship. Don’t let the TV-hype or the store-hype (all starting earlier) tell YOU or your family how to do Christmas, or holidays in general. Turn the TV off to reduce the anxiety. Our family haven’t bought gifts in years, but we treat each other as if it were Christmas every day of the year (not once a year) :-). When my mom was dying from cancer, it wasn’t the stuff that mattered. Each to his own, but really evaluate the need for stuff, and the kind of stuff. Don’t waste it on the small stuff. You really do vote with your money. Over the years, she accumulated a lot of stuff that stores pushed as “collectible”. It’s only “collectible” if you don’t touch it, it isn’t mass produced (i.e., China), someone else wants it now, and you probably will have to save it, insure it, for a very long time. The grandkids and family members want education, exciting work and travel experiences. They need, and want to, live light. So was the stuff really worth it? HHmmm….
Did you see Oprah
show, where an older couple had a 3,000-square-foot house and when cleaned they had 75 tons of garbage. She hoarded everything. They slept on the floor. Oprah has a lot of guest on who are addicted to shopping and are on the brink of financial ruins. I think they are empty, feeling alone, and are trying to fill the void in their spirits with stuff. Which is amazing when you think of it. 6.6 billion people on the planet, 303M in the US, and people in the US are feeling alone. π
One relative sends cards right after Thanksgiving.
http://www.shutterfly.com is kind of neat to personalize things. You can upload a photograph put it on a magnet or keychain. Of course you can do some of this stuff at CVS and Walgreens now. You can go in person, or do it online.
sorry your christmas was stressful. I find it such a joyful holiday, though i guess not everyone does!
Thanks Natalie,
I think it will be quite a bit better this year π