How To Survive The Hustle And Bustle Of Christmas

The Christmas season is busy. The “hustle and bustle” of this time of year is considered to be just part of it. I do enjoy all the special activities, events and traditions of Christmas. I love decorating the house, driving around looking at Christmas lights, baking cookies, Christmas programs, holiday gatherings and all that stuff. But, I want to be careful that those things don’t over shadow what Christmas really is about – the birth of our savior Jesus Christ. So, each year my delima is this: With an already packed schedule, how do we enjoy all the festivities of Christmas without getting “busy” and losing sight of God’s greatest gift to us? As with almost everything else, I have a plan.

Clear The Calendar

Our family is no different from anyone else’s. We have lots of commitments and appointments filling up our calendars throughout the year and the Christmas season is no exception. When I look at our schedule for December, there is no room for any special holiday fun without making us crazy. So, what do we do? We clear the calendar. Some of the kids lessons or classes or monthly outings get put on hold until after the new year. I don’t volunteer for anything except Christmas stuff with my family at church. Usually, other groups we are involved with take the month off, but even if they don’t, we do. Even school goes into Christmas-mode. We scale back to the basics to make room for some Christmas fun.

Decide The What And Who

Now that we have a cleaned out calendar, we can start adding in the Christmas programs and those holiday family traditions that we don’t want to miss. As a family, we decide what we want to spend our Christmas season doing and who we want to spend it with. We have a list of family traditions as well as a list of new things we might like to try. We also make sure we have enough family downtime as well. Our family doesn’t go to every party we’re invited to or every fun activity going on when there is a blank spot on the calendar. There is a lot to be said for being at home snuggling under a warm blanket with the family with no lights on except for the Christmas tree for an evening or two. There are times when I do love having the house full of friends, especially at Christmas. We try and have friends over for dinner or dessert a few times during the month of December. Those are often the best times with the most lasting memories. We try and keep at least one weekend night free a week for impromptu get-togethers. They can be more enjoyable than a planned out event! Christmas is a wonderful time of year. Don’t get caught up in the endless shopping and parties and meaningless stuff. Keep the hustle and bustle under control. Plan to spend your holidays with the people you love most and focusing on the real reason for the season.