Making a list and checking it twice
Hey moms! I see you trying to create magical Christmas memories for your family. You are working through your shopping list, decorating the house, and planning special activities. You are baking cookies, planning parties, and searching for matching Christmas pajamas. You are thinking of ways to make Advent more meaningful for your family and looking for ways you can serve your neighbors and community. If you are like me, you’ve created in your mind a list of all of the “essential” things needed for the “perfect” holiday. I don’t know where exactly my list came from. I think it’s a mix of my own childhood, social media, and too many Hallmark movies. All I know is that when I get too tied to that list, my anxiety starts to rise, my patience grows thin, and I find myself threatening my children through gritted teeth to just have fun. I’m singing songs about “peace on earth” and “all is calm”, while my heart is anything but calm or peaceful.
If you can relate to this, I encourage you to take a few minutes to think through your own list of Christmas expectations. Which ones are actual obligations and which ones are self-imposed? Which ones bring you and your family joy and which ones just cause more stress? Several years ago, I asked my daughters about their favorite family Christmas traditions. Some of their answers surprised me. Some of the things I held as essential did not make their lists. It seemed like the simple things resonated more with them. This helped me decide which things I needed to let go of.
“Some of the things I held as essential did not make their lists. It seemed like the simple things resonated more with them. This helped me decide which things I needed to let go of.”
Quite a few years ago, one of my girls told me she wanted her own box of her favorite cereal for Christmas, so she wouldn’t have to share it with anyone (this is what happens when you have several siblings!). I laughed at the idea, but I decided to get each kid their favorite snack food as a gift. This is one of my girls’ favorite traditions. Each gift costs me $3-5, but it’s their favorite thing.
To simplify life in my house, we usually wrap gifts in bags, we eat nachos for Christmas Eve dinner, and I gave up on the idea of a Christmas cookie baking day. Our wonderful church people supply us with so many Christmas treats, I really don’t need to bake anyway!
My goal in simplifying things is to create more time in my day and in my mind to focus on Christ. My attitude shifts from expectation and comparison to one of reflection and anticipation of Christ. I certainly don’t always do this perfectly, but I’ve learned that when I start to feel overwhelmed, I need to take a step back and change my perspective. I need to take a few things off my list, crank up my favorite Christmas music, and thank God that because of His great gift to us, I can experience true joy, hope, love and peace through Christ each and every day.
