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10
Ways to Keep Your Expectations From Making You Crazy This Christmas
by Pamela Cole Harris
Christmas
is a wonderful time! Everyone is full of good cheer, the milk of
human kindness and 20 pounds of candy. All gifts are given with
love, are exactly the right size, are exactly the right color, or
exactly the right thing for exactly the price you could afford.
Right?
Well,
if YOUR Christmas seems to fall short every year, here are some
ways to keep your sanity and enjoy the unexpected joys that the
season brings.
1. News Flash! You are not perfect! Nor is your family! Give up
the myth that they should be!
2.
Don’t make the season complicated! Simplify! While elaborate
decorations may appeal to your decorating ego, putting them up takes
time and energy that may be best spent elsewhere
this Christmas.
3.
Everything doesn’t have to be homemade. Pies, cakes and cookies
are perfectly acceptable if they are bought at a bakery. And your
children just might celebrate if you decide not to make that knitted
scarf this year!
4.
Relax. Take time out from the hustle and bustle to just sit with
a cup of tea or cocoa and read. Or take a long hot bath. If you
take some time for yourself, you will be better able to cope with
the holiday chaos.
5.
Let other people pitch in. You are not the only one who can do Christmas!
Ask someone to do tasks you usually do, such as make the eggnog
or cookies. And then LET THEM DO IT – even if they don’t
do it just the way you want! Don’t constantly look over their
shoulder.
6.
Don’t make the season an ordeal for your children by expecting
perfect behavior. Children can easily be overloaded with the food,
sights, expectations and social whirlwind of the season. Again,
simplify for their sake — and yours!
7.
If you can afford to hire a cleaning service before company comes
for Christmas, do it! Give it to yourself as a Christmas present!
You will enjoy the season more because you won’t be worn out
from scrubbing that tile with a toothbrush!
8.
If you can’t afford to pay cash for a gift, wait until next
year to buy it. Save for the gift in the meantime. The short term
thrill of buying the gift will be more than overpowered by the struggle
to pay it off months into the new year.
9.
Get out of the house and walk when you begin to feel stress. It
will help you calm down and keep off those extra pounds. And it
will give your family a break from you!
10.
Don’t do guilt – to yourself and others. Don’t use
your expectations of the season as a weapon against your friends
and family. Enjoy what comes this season. It may not be what you
expected – it may be better!
And remember – love doesn’t come wrapped in paper, or
tied with a bow. You can’t get it for $19.95 if you call now
or for two easy payments of only… you name the price. But love
is but in the corners of a small child’s smile, the twinkle
of a father’s eye or the drape of an arm across your shoulder.
If you are
expecting something else, you just might fail to recognize it! How
crazy!
Pamela Cole Harris is an editor and writer with 35 years experience.
Visit her website, http://www.homeandgardenmakeover.com,
for her unique view of home decorating and remodeling (and a free
monthly newsletter!). Or for original content unique to your website,
written especially for your keywords and your audience, visit http://www.pamelacoleharris.com
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