With Thanksgiving less than a week away, Christmas will be coming only too soon. My 4 year old is greatly looking forward to it of course. But, she also has no sense of time. She keeps asking me the order of holidays. She now knows that it’s Halloween, then Thanksgiving, and then Christmas.

Just this morning though, when I told her Thanksgiving was next week, she asked me if Christmas was the next day. When we saw Christmas decorations already being put up in our neighborhood the other day and I asked her why she thought they were skipping Thanksgiving. She said that the neighbors couldn’t wait for their presents too.

Needless to say, the little people in my house are eagerly awaiting the holidays. And to be honest, so am I. I love this time of year. It doesn’t stress me out or at least I don’t let it. I take precautions each year to ensure my holidays are more fun than frenzy. Check out my tips below to find out how.

Don’t Stress About Get-togethers

This year getting together for the holidays can be difficult. Some people feel more strongly about taking precautions than others. Some people prefer boosting their immune system with healthy foods, supplements and good sleep, over completely distancing themselves from the people they love.

Everyone is different, we can’t force people to get-together if they are not comfortable. But we can get together safely with the people who we have been quarantining with. For example my husband’s mom and 7 siblings will be having their own household get-togethers. However my mom and aunt who are retired and both live alone, will be joining us for the holiday.

Don’t worry about what you wish could or would happen, just move forward with what is happening. Zoom is offering free unlimited Zoom meetings on Thanksgiving so that families can get together virtually this year. They may do something similar for Christmas as well.

Small family get-togethers can feel just as special if you make it so. Still get out the fancy dishes or the silly hats. Still set the table with the holiday trimmings. Enjoy that you don’t have to cook for the whole horde for once and can enjoy actually sitting down and enjoying the people you love.

Order Cards Now

Even in normal years, I like to order my Christmas cards well in advance so I have plenty of time to address them and mail them out. Since I am lucky enough to be related to our family photographer, many years we are able to schedule our family pictures and get the cards ordered well in advance.

However, in the past we have taken cute pictures of the kiddos at home or even just took photos from throughout the year for our card. Whether you set up your iPhone to take pictures at home or have a photographer do it, it is not something I would stress over.

It’s more important to me to have the ordering done early than to stress about a photo shoot. Then I can address a handful of cards each night for a week and be all ready to send out some Christmas cheer.

This year we won’t be seeing many of our relatives and friends for the holidays that we usually would. Sending a cheerful photo card can be a great way to spread your love and show how much the kids have grown over the past year.

You don’t even have to get them printed. You can create a personalized photo card and then just send out the file to family and friends via text or email. You can check out some of my card designs in my Etsy Shop.

Do Schedule Virtual Calls

Since so many people are celebrating the holidays on their own this year, they will have a lot of people that they will want to call and reach out to this holiday. Nothing is worse on Christmas morning when a 3 year old wants to share their holiday joy on Christmas morning but no one picks up their call.

If you have family members you want to see virtually on Christmas, schedule their calls. That way you know and they know to make that time available. You can do big group calls or smaller one on one chats. Whatever make you feel like you can get the quality time you need.

You can schedule your calls at different intervals throughout the day so your kids keep having new people to share their new presents with.

Wrap as You Shop

I like to wrap presents at the end of the day that I purchased them/the day they are delivered. This gives me something to do with my hands while I relax in the evening. It also means the kids won’t find unwrapped Christmas presents if they happen to snoop or I happen to be lazy.

This prevents me from having a mad rush of wrapping right before Christmas. Plus, if I run out of paper or tape or labels or bows, I will know in advance and will have time to pick those items up or order them from Amazon Prime.

Make New Events

Usually the holiday season comes with a ton of events: the school show, the ugly sweater party, the office party, the visit with Santa, etc. The list goes on and on. These are the things that keep you and your family excited about the season as you head towards Christmas.

This year, most, if not all of those things are not happening. But we still want to keep the joy and excitement of the season. Instead, you can create your own mini celebrations as you head toward the holiday. You can have a hot chocolate and movie night where you make your own fancy hot chocolates with all the fixings and then watch a Christmas movie.

You can order a gingerbread house kit and make a house together as a family. You can get out your craft supplies and make cards for nursing homes or older neighbors who are even more likely to be alone on Christmas this year.

You can have a cookie decorating party with the kiddos and then drop off the cookies with the cards you made to spread holiday cheer. You can hold your own Christmas concert in the living room and broadcast it to your family over Zoom.

Instead of the normal celebrations and get-togethers, you can create your own new ones. Different doesn’t mean bad. Maybe you can start new traditions that you will continue for future holidays.

Other

Don’t be a perfectionist, be a happiest. In other words, don’t worry about the perfect decorations, arrangement of ornaments, holiday card photos, crafts, etc. Do your best and then take a rest. Enjoy the spirit of the season.

Make sure to maintain the other things that you do to reduce stress the rest of the year. Exercise, perform a hobby, have sex, practice gratitude. Keep up with the things you do to keep yourself sane the rest of the year.

When in doubt, do less. A great holiday season isn’t about doing it all. It’s about doing what you do with joy and being fully invested in the experience. Not stressing about a million other things.

What do you do to reduce the stress during the holidays? Let me know in the comments.

Cheers,

Emily