I absolutely love the holidays! We decorate the house, attend fun Christmas parties with friends, do special homeschool unit studies and go to beautiful community events where the true meaning of Christmas is being presented. Sounds absolutely wonderful, doesn’t it? If I could place a sound effect here, it would be the sound of a car screeching its brakes as it crashes into a brick wall. My first sentence sounds so eloquent but as I read it all I hear is work, work, work, and more work. How in the world am I going to get everything done? Is anyone else feeling overwhelmed with me?

How can we make holiday memories with our family without going crazy? I have come up with six simple steps to will help take the stress out of it for everyone.

• Keep Things Simple
• Organize Your Calendar
• Pick Your Priorities
• Plug Them in Your Calendar
• Plan Some Down Time
• Be Flexible, But NOT!

Keep Things Simple

Now I am a person who has all these pictures in my head about how I want things to go. I think that if it doesn’t include a twenty step process, it is going to fail and the memory I want to create with my family won’t be as good. However, I am learning that this is simply not true and there is wisdom in keeping things simple. Do you know what happens when I create that twenty step process? Well, it doesn’t get done anyway! Can you guess who gets stressed out about it? Yep, me! I am learning that not only is simpler better because it is just easier, but also I am more at peace. Which is a bonus!

Most of the time I get better results if I can execute my plan without feeling overwhelmed which means we have to adjust our expectations. I plan these elaborate moments but I am so stressed out when I execute them that it comes across to my family like “I am ordering you to have fun!” It just doesn’t work!

What if I chose a different path? What if I adjusted my expectations and planned things to roll out more peacefully? Or, even leave room for spontaneity and unplanned detours? I think it would be a better experience for everyone.

Organize Your Calendar

Before the month of December arrives, I start putting my calendar together. There are things that are a part of this month which will take extra time and I need to accommodate that. My schedule is always a nightmare no matter what, but it’s even worse during holiday time. At this point, I am contacting people to find out when they are planning things like play practices and parties. I have a pretty good idea of what is going to be expected of us but I always get extra clarification from anyone when I need it.

As the appointments are rolling in, I am entering them into our family’s scheduling app, Cozi. I use this app because both Rick and I have access to our schedule so we know what we can or cannot commit to.

Pick Your Priorities

We do feel like our quality family time to make memories is a high priority. The holidays are not about just running around enjoying what everyone else is offering. I want to create meaningful memories where my children are pausing to remember what the season is all about.

Christmas time is a wonderful time to teach some amazing attributes. There is a sense of generosity everywhere and oftentimes, our children’s hearts are soft and tender towards those lessons. I don’t want to miss those teachable moments because of the hustle and bustle of the season.

Christmas is also the perfect time to do some sensory teaching. There are so many opportunities for the children to learn and explore so many different topics using their five senses.

Related Topic:

Making Memories with the Five Senses in Your Homeschool

We have the advantage of homeschooling our children so we can incorporate these lessons into their school day. However, I have to intentionally schedule the ones I want to teach or it won’t get done.

We have several Christmas traditions we do every year. In the next couple of posts, I am going to detail what we do and how we do it. There are certain ones that are the kiddos’ favorites, so I take that into consideration when I am deciding which Christmas activities we are going to do.

I also consider any character traits I can be demonstrating or teaching. We have one that specifically teaches kindness on a daily basis for the entire month of December and I feel that our family needs that this year. (I will go into detail about it in my upcoming posts, I promise!)

All of this to say, I have to pick my priorities. I am not going to be able to do everything well so I need to pick my top ones. Quality family time and extracurricular activities need to find a balance because both are important.

Plug Them Into Your Calendar

After you have decided what your priorities are, plug them all into the calendar. I schedule our quality family time like any other event. I put the name of the activity on the date I plan to execute it.

My family Christmas activities generally take about two hours each so I am careful on what days I schedule those. I make sure they are not coinciding on a day where we have to be somewhere and it would prevent us from enjoying ourselves. Sometimes choosing not to do something is better than cramming it all in.

CrewTip: The Concept Behind My Crazy

Carry your calendar around with you all the time. Don’t commit to something without consulting it first, even if it means you have to contact the person back at a later date. This will help prevent you from double-booking yourself and will reduce your stress level.

Plan Some Down Time

As you look over your calendar, how full is it? Planning some downtime for you and your kiddos is imperative to have a holiday season that doesn’t drive you crazy.

I am always evaluating our sleep schedules during this time of the year too. This is an area that I often need to boost not only for my kiddos but for myself too. Bedtimes usually are a bit later than normal so I may adjust our start time the next day accordingly. Another good idea is to schedule a morning to sleep in but be sure to put it on your calendar!

What do you need to unwind and decompress? Put that on your calendar too! Your needs are just as important as everyone else’s and planning to take a little time to meet those needs will bring you peace.

Be Flexible but NOT!

Being flexible is going to get you through the holidays, I have no doubt. However, you can’t be too flexible. There is always going to be a ton of last-minute events and things to do. You have to weigh that against what you have already planned without making impulsive decisions. Stick with the plans that you made when you were not stressed.

For example, it never fails, there is always a community event that looks wonderful. I think maybe we would rather attend it than doing one of our in-home Christmas activities, but I have to think about what will benefit our family more. Which would meet the needs of my family more? Going into a chaotic crowd to experience the event or stay home in a quiet, cozy atmosphere to experience whatever we had originally planned. Each event has its place and value. There are perks to going out and perks to staying in. In fact, there is no wrong answer, it is whatever you feel is best for you and your family. I will say this, you can’t discount an evening at home as being less impactful than a big planned event. My kiddos will remember me investing my time into them and someday they will do the same with their children.

The holidays are supposed to be a peaceful time of year where we remember the birth of Jesus and all that means to us. As I finish my schedule for this season, I am going to keep this in mind. We will never get this time back again and next year things are bound to be different somehow. So we need to intentionally stop and enjoy these moments.

I hope and pray you will do the same! Merry Christmas!