The Hustle and Bustle of Christmas
December 14, 2009 by Marci
photo by the idealist
Christmas decorating, Christmas shopping, cookie baking, cookie exchanges, play practice, Christmas plays, gift wrapping, Christmas parties, driving by Christmas light displays, Christmas crafts, making Christmas memories.
That’s what I’ve been doing these past couple weeks. A friend asked me yesterday what we have been up to lately and I told her. “Wow! You are busy!” she said. Since I really dislike being associated with that word, I started to mount a defense in my mind. Then, I stopped. I didn’t have time to explain and really, I don’t need to. It’s Christmas. I’m not busy. I’m experiencing what can only be experienced this time of year. If I was “busy”, I would miss out on the important stuff in life and those most precious to me would be neglected. It is quite the opposite. These past two weeks have been full of activity – fun, memory making activities with my family. It has been wonderful!
So, how are we fitting all this activity in and managing not to be “busy”?
Well, it’s simple. If you have a glass full of water and you want to pour more in, you don’t just start adding more water. The glass can’t hold anymore. The water will overflow and you will have a huge mess to clean up. But, if you start by emptying some of the water out of the glass, then you have room for more water. There is no overflowing mess.
We knew our capacity. We knew there was not enough room in our lives for much more activity. So, we took some stuff off the calendar, rearranged some schedules, and just said no to some things that just didn’t fit into what we wanted right now. We made room for what we felt was important.
So, I haven’t been blogging as often. My housecleaning schedule is a bit off. I have emails I need to answer and books I need to finish. Honestly, those things can take the back burner. We are in the middle of a wonderful, joyful time of year. We are celebrating the birth of our savior all month long. It is important to me that my kids remember the joy of the season and what it really means. I don’t want them associating it with stress and hurry and busy.
Is your Christmas getting “busy”?
If Christmas is stressing you out and you are missing out on the joy this season brings, it’s not too late!! Start by examining your schedule and choosing what can be cut out. You might need to re-evaluate your expectations. Do you have to buy quite so many presents? Do you have to go to every party? Does every room in the house need to be decorated?
Slow down and enjoy Christmas. It’s about the gift God gave us, not about the gifts we give. Spread the word.
Comments (6)
Great post. It is exactly what I needed to hear. We have become too “busy” and really started to cut out all the extras so that there was time to decorate, bake, make fudge, watch holiday movies… everything else can wait!
YES! Totally slow and chilled out Christmas here! Loving it!
At the beginning of the season I began to feel a bit discontent at the lack of our decor luster, but I CHOSE to be happy with what I have, get a little creative, and wait to add to make any purchases until the sales so I can enjoy a FEW new pieces next year.
We did our gift exchanges with extended family over Thanksgiving (our family lives about 8 hours away by car) so we will enjoy a quiet Christmas at home. We’ve decided to get FEWER gifts for our little ones. Makes the gifts that much more special, AND easier to shop for!
I’ve helped coordinate a party for the women at church, but that was at the beginning of the month. Our community group did a little something special on our regular meeting day, and I decided to opt out of a cookie exchange over this past weekend because, though fun, it was just ‘one more thing’
I’m hosting my very first linky party next week (WED) highlighting Christmas Family Traditions. I’ll bet you’ve got some great ones to share! I hope you’ll stop by to link up!
~Cheers!
Heidi – Your linky party sounds like a great idea! Christmas traditions inspire me!
What a great post, Marci. We also don’t go to excess because I would just crack
[...] mean we haven’t been involved in lots of Christmas activity. Last week, I wrote about the Hustle and Bustle of Christmas and I shared how we can have lots of activity and yet not be “busy”. It’s all about cutting [...]
Our family just keeps growing. This year we were blessed with three beautiful granddaughters bringing the total to 10 grandchildren, six children and six spouses. One lovely daughter-in-love shared her idea for posting a wish list of items she wanted for her baby on Amazon.com. Much like a baby registry for a shower. Other daughters followed her lead so I was able to select items, order them, they arrived quickly. I unpacked them, assembled them, popped in batteries, and wrapped them. No duplicates and discussing which grandma would get what…She’s a genius. And they were ready to play with at our Christmas celebration.