I love Christmas, but sometimes there are parts of the holiday season that can be stressful or not fun. It can be overwhelming making gift bags for teachers, baking for neighbors, taking Christmas photos, sending Christmas cards, putting up the Christmas tree, buying the gifts, decorating the house, stringing the outdoor lights, preparing a Pinterest-worthy meal on a Pinterest-perfect table.
That stresses me just reading it.
I remember having so much to do each year. Some years when I was home with the kids I would begin shopping in September. Those years I was so organized were great. But now, I have far too much going on. Everything has to be done at the last minute. So much for being organized. It ain’t happenin’ here.
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Which brings me to a few tips I’ve learned over the years that make Christmas more enjoyable. If you enjoy the holidays, then you probably already do these.
Skip the stuff you don’t want to do. Did I say that out loud? I used to make cookies for neighbors and teachers. I used to take the kids photos each year. I used to mail Christmas cards, and put lights up on the outside of the house. A lot of things I used to do, just don’t get done any more. And you know what? The world didn’t end when I stopped sending Christmas cards. I will say you get dropped from almost everyone’s list, but as long as you don’t mind that, you’ll be fine.
If you want to do those things then please continue. No judgement here whether you do them or don’t. I think they are wonderful things to do. But if they stress you, if you don’t enjoy them, if they make you miserable, then clearly they are not worth it.
Come up with your own traditions. For us, we love to have Christmas crackers on Christmas day, which I talked about HERE. We enjoy drinking homemade wassail when we set up the tree. It’s hot apple cider with cinnamon and other spices. We attend a performance of Handel’s Messiah. And we drive around the neighborhood enjoying the Christmas lights. I also attend my friend’s cookie exchange party every year. You didn’t think I made those gorgeous cookies did you? I think it’s fun to set up your own traditions. Keep the ones you like and get rid of the ones you don’t care for.
Don’t feel bound to traditional foods. We started out with very traditional Christmas foods on Christmas day. Then we switched to more exotic foods, and now we have settled on some of our family favorites. For Christmas morning, we have some combination of homemade cinnamon rolls, pumpkin pancakes, egg casserole and homemade biscuits with chocolate sauce. For our main Christmas meal we have Chicken Bryan Texas along with some other goodies. It’s delicious and I’ll try to share it later.
So those are my tips for keeping it festive and stress-free. Okay maybe not stress-free, but much less stressful. Keep the stuff that works for you, and get rid of the stuff that doesn’t. And f you are feeling adventurous, try something new.
I hope by keeping just what works for you and getting rid of the rest, you can focus on your friends, your family and the Reason for the Season!
Oh do share the recipe, my experience is that Texas cooks and recipes are awesome! I really enjoyed your post!
Boy oh boy Anita, are we of the same mind or what 😉 I’m very happy to see I’m not alone when feeling overwhelmed with annual holiday “to do” lists that I generally do not especially care for. For goodness sake, we are entitled to enjoy the holidays too! And if over committing, over crafting, and are just plain over IT, so be it!
Your dish sounds great! Share, please!
My Mother was #3 in a family of 9.children. Her youngest sibling (my Aunt) is only 6 years older than me. I am the oldest granddaughter. When Mom passed away, I became the glue that held all the families close. Yearly Christmas cards were the main source of family updates, so everyone looked forward to them. Sadly, only three of her siblings are still alive to carry on the correspondence. As much as I dislike the task, I still write out dozens of cards each Christmas season.
As a side note, Christmas is right now the only time all my children and grandchildren can get together to catch up and celebrate. Six of my ten grandchildren are in college! My home and heart will be full in a few weeks!
Thanks Anita for letting me know I don’t have to do it if I don’t want !?
Thanks for the update…
I love that your real….
where did you get the truck with tree cookie cutter…
love it
Happy Christmas stress free
Edy, I got that cookie from my cookie exchange so I don’t know. I bet you could google it to find it.
I LOVE your Chicken Bryan Texas!
Love your tips. We agreed many years ago to make different dishes and not your traditional ones from when we grew up. We love the variety and it makes it so much more fun to guess what folks are going to be cooking and bringing over.
Boy oh boy do we think the same. Some things (old parent tapes) just do not work any longer. If I send Christmas cards, I wait until the week between Christmas and New Years when I have the time to do it. Still waiting for the card that says “hope yourChristmas was wonderful and wishing you a very happy New Year”. I use to have cookie exchanges with neighbors, until I found out two of them were diabetic and one other threw them out for fear the grandchildren had helped make them. Besides that, everyone else was already over weight. Hee, hee – that was an easy stressor to let go of. I love seeing our children prosper and create their own traditions, and we spend Christmas Day talking to all six kidsand whatever grand child happens to be around. Keeping the spirit alive and within our means. Not knowing what to buy is a real stressor, so we send a family Visa card to use for a day or event together as a family. Granddaughter takes her kids on a mystery day and they love it. Merry Christmas to you and yours. JudyC
I LOVE the mystery day!!!
Completely agree!! Also here in Texas, and have found our best Christmas is when we do what we enjoy! Bake cookies together and other goodies , Christmas eve services and big Christmas dinner with foods honoring our different family ancestors! Merry Christmas! !!
Thanks, Anita! Words from a wise woman! Happy Christmas to you and your family! I would love your recipe for the chicken dish!
My thoughts exactly!!! I have 4 kids (8, 10, 12, & 16) so for me to be a lot less stressed out, I try to focus on just us, the ones under my roof. It’s very hard cause I grew up sharing the holiday with everyone, aunts, uncles, cousins, & then some. Thanks for reminding me not to do so much to please everyone!! I don’t want to forget the real reason of Christmas!! Reading this helped me get my focus back on track. From my home to yours, Merry Christmas!!!!
Merry Christmas to you Kristi.
Pizza w/Arugula? What a great idea. I have a college kid coming to Advent coffee this w/end so will try this!
Hoping you post your Chicken Bryan Texas recipe! We also decided to go non-traditional for our Christmas dinner this year. It’s such a relief to know I don’t have to make a Thanksgiving-type spread! Merry Christmas to you and yours!
Wise words. Over the years I have let some things go, but wasn’t settled with it. I will now just enjoy doing what I want to, and be happy about it!!
Merry Christmas to you and yours, Anita. Thank you for bringing so much joy and inspiration to my life!!
Please post your Chicken Bryan Texas recipe!
“A lot of things I used to do, just don’t get done any more. And you know what? The world didn’t end…” I believe I said these exact words to my sister just last week. It’s nice to give myself permission to not do everything. Whew! Thank you for posting and I look forward to the Chicken Bryan Texas recipe!
The stress is very great when the husband hates Christmas.
I’m very sorry to hear that Linda. That must be difficult.
Mine doesn’t like Christmas either. We still have the kids and grandkids and their friends over for dinner and I am always stressed.
Why do husbands have to give us grief during an already stressful time. Mine gives the silent treatment when he gets mad-life is too short! I feel better now knowing I’m not the only one who gets stressed during most holidays from my own husband!
Thank you for saying that all out loud!
Christmas cards were a huge stressor for me. Tried to talk my hubby into sending Valentine’s Day cards-ala julia/paul Child-but, No. So he bought the cards, wrote our letter, hand-wrote a note inside each of 40+ cards, printed labels, stamped, mailed them. Don’t think he realized what a big job that was. Thankful HE did it. I also do not bake much anymore.
What I have added to my Christmas preparation is reading through the book of Luke.
Good for him, doing it himself! And yes to reading Luke as your Christmas prep. What a great idea!
I needed to hear from someone else that if everything doesn’t get done it will be okay. I am OCD and have to have everything perfect. If it is not perfect in my eyes, I apologize to everyone. My stepson told me that everything I do comes with a disclaimer. My husband says Christmas is like moving. Everything comes out of boxes to make room for what is being taken away to make room for all those decorations. We have lived out of state for so many years and spent many Christmas holidays alone. Now we live in proximity to several family members and it is great to have us together. I have learned to ask each family to bring a dish to alleviate some of my stress. I prepare the main course and dessert but still need to cut back. I also am sending Christmas cards to a few people out of town (they require letters) and leave out sending to people I see fairly often. Thanks for permission to do so. I hope everyone has a healthy and safe holiday season. Enjoy!
Wonderful tips! The past two years we took a week’s vacation in early December (crazy I know) which really cut into my prep time. So those years looked for ways to cut back and save time. I put up my MIL’s little 4 1/2 foot tree instead of our large 7 1/2 foot tree. It was easier & quicker to decorate. I didn’t display all of my Santa collection, just putting out a few of the bigger ones. Also I did most of my shopping online prior to our vacation.
Some years I skipped sending Christmas cards, however the past few (since the birth of our twin grandgirls) I have sent photo cards. This year a friend posted on Facebook that they decided not to mail cards out – opting to donate the cost of doing so to a charity instead. Nice idea!
Merry Christmas!
Hey Anita, you’re so right! I’ve been waiting for months on a construction project to begin, so haven’t done any decorating for Christmas. Maybe an ornament here or there, but it’s been liberating! Is that the same Peggy that says your stuff would kook much better in her house? I’m sure she and I would get along great! And if she loves that chicken dish, by all means, share with us all! Y’all make me smile;)
X0 Ginger
Yes Ginger that is the same Peggy! I’ll get some photos soon so I can share it with you.
So very true Anita!!!!!! So true!!!!! It helps sometimes just to hear from someone else to not feel like you have to do it all!!!!! What’s most important is remembering what it’s all about….the birth of our Lord and Savior and being with our precious families creating memorable memories!!!!!! Merry Christmas to you and your beautiful family!!!! ❄?❄?❄
Oh, Anita, I can so identify. When my kids were young, I was done shopping y October. I have not stopped mailing cards, but have pared down my list. I only bake pizzelle cookies, as that is a tradition I have made with my 90 year old mom and 30 year old daughter. My next door neighbor bakes the rest of my cookies every year as a return of the favor we do of watching over their house while they are travelling. I still make my house look gorgeous with decorations and candles, but insist that the family schedule a time to help me decorate and ESPECIALLY undecorated! Merry Christmas to you and yours! Love your blog
Love your advice for the less stress season!
You are so right about doing your own traditions. Christmas comes no matter what and it is always special.
So true! Thanks for reminding us that if it causes stress, then it isn’t joyful! I think we get overwhelmed by what we see in magazines. What we don’t realize is that magazine pictures are set up by many people, not just parents trying to juggle life. We must try to resist the OCD impulses and just do the things that give us joy and peace.
I love your tips and please post your chicken recipe. Merry Christmas!
Thanks so much for sharing. Those are all really good ideas.
It’s our first Christmas without our head of household who passed a few short months ago. He was larger than life on this earth so there are so very many memories. We are going to shift gears this year away from our many traditions and try some new dishes and new activities. Keeping the mind occupied will hopefully keep us moving forward.
Wishing you happiness this season and into the next.
Ah, yes. The Reason for the season.
Chicken Bryan Texas ? Hmmmm. As a fellow Texan, I gotta know what this is !
Thanks for sharing they are some really good ideas.
Merry Christmas Blessings
Hi Anita,
Thank you for your post; your comments true in our home. Time passes much too quickly to overburden ourselves with stressful “have-tos”.
I certainly appreciate the reminder to focus on what brings us joy and what allows us to truly enjoy this season.
Thank you again,
Loretta
Great post…such good advice!
Love that cookie with the tree! Everything looks beautiful.
Anita, I really love your posts and your decorating style! ! You know it seems the older my children get and with the grandbabies–the more stressed and unorganized I get! Lol So I agree cutting out some of things we just dont want to do is fine!! I was really glad to read your article and know I’m not the only one that feels like this!! Keep those posts coming!
Christmas blessings to you and your family! Thank you for all you share!
Chicken Bryan Texas, is that fancy for Aggie Chicken? I gotta have that recipe. Thanks for the words you shared.
We started a stress free Christmas eve and christmas day dinner several years ago after our daughter left home for collage. We we so caught up in her schedule and getting ready for christmas that I forgot to plan either of the dinners. We ordered Pizza Christmas Eve and Chinese on Christmas day. It has now become a tradition that my daughter looks forward to and talks about how fun it is to have these foods on such a special holiday.
I have also scaled back to what is really important to me (and to my family). Although we are still busy, it does take some of the stress out of it. Christmas is a holy time for me and my church is always important, but now it is such a special time. Thanks for your great ideas. May you and yours be especially blessed!
Why stop at Christmas? My sisters and I host a holiday at our home. Example how this is done. Whomever holiday it is, that sister and her husband are responsible for preparing for 30 plus people. This was great when we were much younger. For three years now I’ve been trying to get my six sister to please let’s stop this, and allow each one of us to have dinners (if we chooses) with our own immediately family, instead, 4 out of the 7 sisters says no! The agreement alway the majority wins. I don’t know how to get the other four sister to see we need to make our own family traditions. Also, this has got to be to much for one household. The cooking, the cost the cleaning of the house etc. I even tried them to agree upon potluck, but they say, “why not just cater it?” I even told them it to pricy to do that. Help!
Wise words Ivory. I think that is very important to do only what works for you and your family. I guess you can tell them you are just not going to be able to participate and see how that goes. But yeah, I doubt they are going to take it very well.
Thank you for posting this. This year I decided to only put up a door wreath, nativity and candlelights in the windows…no string of lights, no garland, no wreath on every window. While I love the look of those things, I just don’t enjoy the process. I was feeling a little guilty, but I want to really enjoy this time with my son before he goes off to college next year and cutting out some of these things gives me more time to focus on family and the true meaning of “Christ”mas. Today, on our first day of Christmas vacation, I am glad I read this to remind me to enjoy the time and not get wrapped up in doing things just for appearances.
Yes I need the reminder myself Angela!!
Anita,
Great message!! I have also started paring down my must-haves during Christmas. Do what brings you and your family JOY!! Remembering the reason for the season. Merry Christmas to you and your family!!
Anita,
I look forward to your blog. I made some chocolate covered cheesecake balls. Fun to share with friends at our annual UMW Christmas party.
I do hope you and yours have a very Merry Christmas!
You go Girl. Love looking at all the ideas to create a dazzling Christmas/Holiday. In attepting to do that it can take joy out of the season. My Hubby and I bounce off each other extremely well with our creativity and amaze our friends. We love that. That is our Christmas, however, we can get mired down in all “that” STUFF. THERE IS NEVER ENOUGH TIME FOR ALL THAT STUFF THAT YOU WANT TO DO. Thank the powers that be, schedules have a way of changing and loosening up. Gives that fabulous man i married and me, an opportunity to slow it down and enjoy juz being happy with each other in our pretty decorated nest all by our lonesome for a while. Ahhhh, sigh. Life is wonderful. ?