1. Suzanne McMinn is the go-to source for home-baked and hand-crafted gift ideas. You still have time to make or bake something personal if the budget is tight.
2. Less can be more. What’s more important, a big holiday celebration or getting through the season with your sanity intact? Make a list, solo or with your family, of what’s most important. Scale back to the things that really matter and skip the stuff that’s just causing stress.
3. Opportunities to give to those you don’t know are all around; hospitals, shelters, giving trees, Toys for Tots. Random acts of kindness help those who need it and reward you with the reminder that you’re a vital part of something bigger. It can be as easy as tossing your spare change in a Salvation Army bucket on your way out of the grocery store. I put in the charity mention here because holidays can be very depressing, and one of the ways to overcome depression is to reach out and give to others.
4. Pandora will stream your favorite kind of holiday music all day, for free, via the internet. Joy to the world!
5. Take a walk or a drive through your town and admire the lights.
My holiday karma kicked in yesterday when (immediately after I finished the last of my shopping) my daughter came home in a panic because she forgot two gifts that she needed today, and had no idea what to get for either person. Of course. And I had only 12 hours to shop for both.
I had a full afternoon scheduled — house cleaning, catching up on my filing, doing the last of the decorating, answering some interview questions — and I knew I could get angry or I could just deal with it. So I put everything else aside and went to the mall with her, and made a determined effort not only to get the right gifts, but to have fun while we were shopping.
We made at least two circuits of the entire mall, looked in all the windows, tried on poison rings made by a Celtic jeweler (you had to be there), talked to a couple of Iraq vets collecting donations while dropping a few bucks in their jar (they gave us lollipops; I love soldiers!), tried on silly hats, admired Betsy Johnson’s wacky necklaces, snacked on hot pretzels and argued over the latest fashions. I admit, when it comes to my kid, I would love to dress her in glity/glam stuff. Naturally she hates anything that sparkles and wants to dress like Morticia. This reminds me of how Goth I used to be at that age. 🙂
After talking extensively about her two friends’ likes and dislikes, I also found two lovely gifts that delighted her as much as I know they will her recipients. It was one of the best and most relaxing afternoons I’ve had all winter.
Being with family and choosing fun over anger kills stress dead in its tracks.
That sounds like a fantastic time, and more fun than cleaning and filing. Although changing course to deal with the unexpected is not easy.
You should borrow my daughters. They love to wear anything frilly or glittery and run around the house sprinkling pretend fairy dust from flower wands.