Unless you are one of the lucky few to jet off to a worry-free sunny escape during December, there probably isn’t a single one of us who hasn’t experienced holiday stress. Short of locking oneself in the bathroom for a quiet moment alone, there are things that we can do to reduce the anxiety and distress, many of which involve changing our own mindset. Our own expectations, fueled by the picture-perfect ideals that appear in magazines, movies and media, may be unrealistically high. Adjusting them and aiming instead for “imperfection” may be key.
Here are 5 tips to reduce holiday stress this year:
- Cut Down Your To-Do List. Okay, easier said than done, but start by looking at each item and asking yourself if it will make any difference to how much you and your family will enjoy the holidays if it doesn’t get done. Will you remember in years to come that the cloth napkins weren’t ironed? Or that you didn’t have a fresh floral centerpiece?
- Consider Using Prepared Foods. Instead of cooking everything from scratch, consider buying that dessert or side dish already prepared and ready to warm up and serve. Appetizers in particular can be time-consuming to make, so take advantage of frozen offerings or platters with crackers, cheese, fruit and antipasto for guests to help themselves.
- Forego wrapping gifts. To cut down on unnecessary wrapping and garbage, reuse large gift bags or paper bags with handles (we all have them stashed away) to fill with presents. Get younger children involved by decorating the bags. Need something a bit bigger? A cloth tote bag or even a pillow case will hold plenty of surprises for Christmas morning.
- Delegate. Attention, control freaks: most family members will feel more involved by helping out during the run-up to the holidays. General cleaning, last minute errands and decorating can all be done by others. And if it’s not exactly the way you would have done it, we’re sure nobody will notice or mind.
- Focus on the People, not Perfection. Holidays are a time to spend with family and friends, not focusing on what was perfect or not. We’re fairly certain that if everyone is having fun, those are the memories that will stick.
Which holiday memories stand out for you? The one when the dog jumped on the table and grabbed the turkey? Or when you short-circuited the house with too many Christmas lights? See, imperfection is the best.
