Merry Christmas & Happy Hanukkah !

Wow December got here SO quickly, while I wasn't looking !!

Boy oh Boy I am getting Frazzled already -- so much to do!

How is everyone else handling the holiday stress????



I've yet to have one of those Christmas Days they always show on those Hallmark commercials--where the family is standing around the piano--looking into each other's eyes and singing with tears of JOY running down their cheeks. Does ANYONE have one of those kinds of Holidays?
--Pookie

hi i cant believe it christmas almost so much to get done it never ending but it always manages to get done without too much stress lol it always harder for me to lose the weight at hoildays everyone is pushing so much food at you it feels good to turn it down but there are days when i just have to have it anyhow lol

Hi Stram,

You are right about FOOD being a big problem around the Holidays. The STRESS makes me want to eat and all the HOliday Goodies make me want to eat too !!

This year I am not even trying to get everything PERFECT. I gave up on that a long time ago-- Martha Stewart I'm NOT :-) I am not even Betty Crocker!

I am TRYING not to get too Frazzled. I have already run into the LONG lines at the post office and the store parking lots that are FULL. I actually saw 2 guys jump out of their cars and start PUSHING each other over a parking spot!!!! I got out of there fast !!! I always try to get everything done before Dec, but it snuck up on me this year! --Pookie

I love preparing for xmas but try not to take the fun out of it by buying into all the stress.....it is a real balancing act....trying to keep the magic alive for the kids, connecting with friends and family and all the activities that come with the holidays.

Liz

Hallmark Christmas??? I think that is just on t.v.!

I'm not too stressed but if I don't start getting some shopping done it will come to that, lol.

I'm not much of a baker so don't worry about that. Don't have many to buy for so it's not been stressful there either. I go shopping early, when the stores open, and during the week to avoid crowds. I think the most stressful part of the holidays for me is the decorating and the cooking. I do all the cooking myself and cook enough to last a few days. By the time it is ready I don't even feel like eating. But I do take breaks in between so I'm not to frazzled. And I love to listen to the Christmas music while cooking and decorating...it calms the nerves.

I used to stress out about it big time.. but now I just have kind of given it up to others around me. I don't have a house, just a tiny apartment, so I can't have everyone to my place. I tried in years past to "host" at my husbands grandmothers - but it's too much work and I really felt like people weren't all that grateful. It cost me a lot of time, a lot of money, and I got hardly any help... so this year I'm just going to go with the flow, and try on being one of the ingrates. *LOL* Not really.. but I sure am not offering up my services. We'll do stockings at home for me hubby and brother in law (lives with us) and then whatever his family decides to do... I'll just go along and try not to be disappointed... I know some day I'll have my own house and I can try to be Betty Crocker and Martha Stewart ... I'll deal with the stress then. *L*

Also helpful - we draw names. If we had to find gifts for the 15+ people in my hubbys family... we'd go broke.

Oh come on, we've all seen National Lampoon's "Christmas Vacation," and so we all know that even with the very best, most happy-family intentions, the holidays just never seem to feel like the commercials! But they're always wonderful anyway, and every year we manage to not murder someone in our immediate family is a success!