Although I consider myself organized and structured, I can be a procrastinator when it comes to things I don’t do on a regular basis.  My christmas cards are a perfect example of that.  Every year, I have the best intentions with regards to sending out christmas cards.  I always type up a letter on festive stationary, giving an update on our family and what all has gone on in our lives that year.  Sometimes I even order photo cards with a few pictures of the boys to include with our letter.  However, many years have gone by when I put all of that effort into our cards and letter and never even get them in the mail.  I don’t know why I do that!  I love the holidays.  I love sharing tidbits of our life with friends and family we don’t get to see often, yet I fall short on the delivery.

Well I decided this year would be different!  Yesterday (11/18) I typed our letter and ordered my photo cards.  All I have left to do is address the envelopes and stick them in the mail.  I plan to do that this week, and I will let you know when it’s done, so I can have some accountability!  :) 

Another thing you can do to get ahead in the holiday season is to prepare your house for the decorating process.  Whatever room you put your tree in, make sure it is completely free of clutter.  If you take pieces of furniture out, go ahead and do that.  This is a great opportunity to do some deep cleaning; vacuum your baseboards, clean your ceiling fan, and dust your window sills.  When you pull out those decorations (for me, they’re in two rubbermaid bins in the garage), keep everything neat and organized.  Don’t just throw the empty ornament boxes back in the decor. box.  Keep everything tidy so it is easier for your to “undecorate” when it’s all over. 

Next is the gift giving process.  I cannot stress enough: plan, plan, plan!  You will be much less likely to overspend if you have a plan in place.  Just as you would not go to the grocery store to shop for a month without a list and menu, you never want to go out Christmas shopping without a plan and a list.  Better yet, give yourself a budget.  I don’t know what the exact statistics are, but Americans rack up TONS of debt over the holidays because we always end up getting the urge to overdo it.  Just when we think we’re finished, we see “just one more thing” that our child MUST have, or you add “just one more” friend or coworker to your gift list.  RESIST THAT URGE!  I start my Christmas list in January of each year!  As soon as I get a new planner for the year, I start a running list in the back as ideas come to me for specific people.  This really helps when November rolls around and I get a blank look on my face as I think about tackling my shopping. 

This year in particular, we’ve informed our kids that they will be getting one gift each from Mommy and Daddy, and two or three gifts from each set of grandparents.  You may be thinking that is a little harsh, but the last two Christmases in our family have been absolutely rediculous.  Our boys got so many gifts last year, they were just tossing stuff aside as soon as they opened it.  They didn’t care who it was from, and some gifts they even said, “I didn’t want this, can I have the next present?”  YEAH.  That infuriated my husband and me!  We want our kids to know the real meaning of Christmas and the reason we celebrate.  We’re tired of Christmas circling around the opening of presents and what time dinner starts.  Thus, we are attempting to simplify the selfish parts and emphasize the true meaning of Christmas. 

I encourage you to do as much as you can to get ahead on the things that have stressed you out in the past.  Make your desserts ahead and put them in the freezer, wrap your gifts as soon as you buy them.  Send you Christmas cards out the week after Thanksgiving.  All of these things will add up to quality time you can spend with your family rather than rushing around to get everything done.  Enjoy the holiday season for what it is.  A time to be thankful, generous, worshipful, and joyful.  Notice I didn’t include ‘stressed’! 

~audrey

Over the years, my dear husband helped me come to the realization that I was a major control freak.  I never accepted help for anything because I was afraid it either wouldn’t get done, or it wouldn’t get done the way I wanted it done.  Of course this issue with control continued into motherhood.  When my first two boys, Joshua and Jesse, were very little, I did EVERYTHING for them.  When most parents were putting a bowl of spaghetti in front of their toddler, I was cutting it up into millimeter sized bites and feeding it to them on a spoon.  My babies never wore bibs.  They never had the opportunity to get messy!  I can’t remember the first time I allowed Joshua or Jesse to have a ‘sucker’, but it certainly wasn’t in the first two years of their life.  The clothing that Owen, my sixteen month old, is wearing right now, is clothing that both Joshua and Jesse wore when they were that age.  It is in ‘like new’ condition.  That is partly because Joshua is just as much of a neat freak as his mother and he never liked to be dirty as a toddler.  The other reason is simply because I didn’t let them get nasty.  As I’ve gained more wisdom and knowledge, little by little, whether through experience or the advice of other mommy friends, I’ve learned to loosen up.  For example, my best friend laughed histarically of the picture of Owen with chili all over his hands and face and the bowl sitting right in front of him at his highchair.  Joshua and Jesse have NO pictures like that.  However, now that I have four other mouths to feed, the convenience of having my toddler feed himself appeals to me more than the idea of a clean baby after mealtime.   Does it leave a little more work for me after dinner?  Yes.  But was I able to actually sit down and eat my own food at the same time as the rest of my family?  Yes!  Ironically, I feel like I have better control of my household as a whole as I’ve gained experience over the years.  I cook more, the laundry stays under control, my house stays pretty clean, and I’m on top of our finances.  Yet through that process, I’ve learned to let go.  I’ve learned that life is simply too short to push my kids aside for one more hour just so I can finish cleaning my kitchen.  I’ve forced myself to look back on my own childhood and what I was able to experience when I was six years old.  Life was fun.  We were care-free!  And that lead me to examine how my children would describe their lives on any given day.  I want them to be able to look back and smile because… “Mommy would let us splash naked in the puddles of our driveway after it rained.  We went on wild adventures in the backyard with flashlights and mom’s gardening shovels.  We rode bikes by the river until our legs could no longer push the peddles.  Daddy took us camping all the time and we’d stay up late looking at stars and roasting marshmallows.  Mommy and Daddy always found a way to turn discipline into a life lesson, never without quoting the word of God.  We turned everyday errands into acts of service for those less fortunate.  We learned the value of a servant spirit.  We had a great childhood!”  I’ve learned to evaluate my priorities daily.  At the end of each day, I ask myself; did I spend valuable quality time with the Lord, my husband, and my children?  Because the truth is, whether I cleaned my house, did a load of laundry, or had a gourmet meal on the table doesn’t matter in view of eternity.  Have you learned to let go?  Do you choose to laugh as many times as possible every single day?  I challenge you to let yourself relax.  Enjoy all the little things that you take for granted in your life.  Take a long bath with your favorite book.  Go to bed with dirty dishes in the sink if it means 20 more minutes of quality time with your husband.  Or better yet, let your kids do the dishes and let them splash each other and make a mess while they do it!  They’ll remember that much better than what you made for dinner or whether the kitchen was clean when they woke up the next morning.  Life is too short to sweat the small stuff.

~audrey