5 Ways To Have A Simple Christmas

Oh to have a simple Christmas. You made it through Thanksgiving, Christmas is coming and you are already feeling overwhelmed. How will you get through it? It isn’t even December 1st yet. There is just so much to do in the next 25 days.

You want to keep Christmas simple yet you find that difficult with so much on your to-do list.

The truth is, there is the pressure to have a perfect Christmas but there are ways that you can have a simple yet special holiday season.

5 Ways To Have A Simple Christmas-

1. Have you kids help. Now obviously if you have younger children this isn’t going to work as well, but as they get older, have them help. I haven’t had to decorate the Christmas tree in years. My boys are old enough to do it now. This takes a lot of stress off of me having to do everything to get our home to look like Christmas. Older kids can also help you wrap presents, bake cookies and help you set up Christmas dinner.

2. Travel plans. Traveling during the holidays can be stressful. Not just traveling on an airplane but also on Christmas day. If you feel like you have to go to three different houses with four young children, try to make other plans. Don’t feel like you have to take on so much on that day that it doesn’t make it fun anymore. Try to plan things on other days around the holiday and put your foot down if you feel like you are being guilted into going somewhere on Christmas day. I know some families have realized that taking their kids all over on December 25th just isn’t going to work so they plan to spend the whole day at home and invite people to come and see them.

3. Plan ahead with gifts. Make lists, make plans, make budgets. Do this early. If you have a plan the gift giving won’t feel so overwhelming in December. Think about who you will buy for and what that person might like for a gift. Make plans to go out shopping far enough ahead of time that you won’t run into a ton of people while you are doing it. It will make the shopping time less stressful and you can get everything done before the mad rush begins.

4. Plan for a baking day. There are so many Christmas goodies out there. I want to make them all. But even that can get a little overwhelming. It would be a good idea to plan a baking day with either your own family or friends. You can bake for hours making all of your holiday treats at once. You can freeze some if you need to but then you don’t have to feel like you need to bake everyday of the season. It can also be fun for the kids to get together with their friends and bake some cookies.

5. Don’t do anything you don’t want to do. If you don’t like Elf on the Shelf, don’t do it. If you started, find a way to make it simple. There are ways. If you spend the whole month of December doing things you don’t want to do, it will steal your joy. Make your Christmas special and unique for your family. Don’t worry about what everyone else is doing. You know your kids, what makes them happy and what you can skip. If you know your kids will complain about the cold the whole time you are out caroling, it might be best to skip it until they are older. Think about other ways you can bless people like bringing someone some Christmas cookies instead. There are a lot of options out there for celebrating Christmas so never feel like you have to do X, Y and Z in order to have a nice holiday. That will allow you to have a simple Christmas.

What would you add to this list? What do you do to have a simple Christmas? Any great tips?