Around this time of year, the internet is often flooded with How To tips for the holiday season. What you really need to know is how to avoid the typical pitfalls of the season. Below is a step by step guide for setting yourself up for failure.
1. Start shopping on December 19 (the last weekend before Christmas): This is historically the busiest shopping day of the Christmas season. Unless you love crowds, long lines, and impatient shoppers…Just Don’t.
2. While out shopping be sure to buy your relatives with young children toys that make lots of noise and take up a lot of space: My family has a lovely habit of buying musical instruments for my son – mostly just to get my goat. I love their sentiment but if I spot another recorder in my son’s stocking I’m going to pitch it before the morning. Silent Night was actually written in response to the unrelenting beeps, booms, squeaks, and general clatter of instruments designed for kids.
3. Fill your house with breakable Christmas decorations when you have children under the age of 6 sharing the house with you: Take it from me…trying to keep the kids away = #fail (you might as well let a pack of monkeys loose in your house and try to keep them at bay). Trying to put the decorations out of the way = #fail (they are sneaky little buggers very capable to pulling up a chair to gain access to “that shiny thing” on the mantle). Best to stick with plastic until at least the age of 7.
4. Attempt to recreate a pinterest worthy anything: Why put the pressure on yourself? Your grandma’s cookies may not be camera worthy but they are damned delicious. Stick with tried and true recipes that you know and love.
5. Run yourself ragged: I happen to love cooking for my family and filling the house with baked goods, however even I have my limits. My husband tidies up the house, my son helps me bake, and my friends and relatives often offer to bring over wine or a side dish to chip in. The golden rule of surviving the holidays: If someone offers you help, take it! No one wants a grumpy host that has been cooped up in the kitchen all day, stressed out and snappy!
6. Set high expectations: Though we’d all love to be served up the Cleaver family version of Christmas, for most of us this is simply not reality. Family dynamics are complicated. Some relatives might exist solely to push our buttons. The important thing to remember is that it likely won’t be perfect. If you can put a smile on your face when Aunt Jemma asks for the tenth time when you’re having more children and decide not to let it ruin your day, count that as a success!
Good luck everyone! Happy Holidays!
The Good Enuf Mommy
This post is part of our #taketime link up Click to link up your holidays post!
You Might Also Like…
Married with Kids: The Ultimate Survival Guide
Sleep divided up into two-three hour increments does crazy things to your psyche. The patient, loving, and considerate spouse you once fell in love with is now basically a raging hormonal being that will rip your head off in one bite if you ask her what she did all day with “all her free time” before she breaks down into uncontrollable sobs. Ah- love.
1. Record your voice saying, “Don’t touch that,” “Come here,” and “Please stop!” Press play several times a day. You will hear yourself saying this a lot so you better get used to it now.
Sooo true!! The more annoying the toy the bigger the fail!
These are hilarious, and YES to having anything fragile in the house…. the kids WILL destroy it! Ha!
Ha! Good reminders! I am seemingly very calm about Christmas this year……which is weird, which makes me believe that something bad will happen! LOL!
Agreed! We're doing puppy chow in mason jars for all non-immediate family. Just went and got all the necessary stuff. Immediate family members are taken care of for the most part.
My husband is the king of last minute shopping! We're talking days before Christmas… Drives me nuts, haha.
YES to all of this! Great list.. and number 3 gets me every time! I just seem to really like breakable things!
My family is so guilty of #2. I hate noisy toys! And, it is always someone without kids who seems to buy them for us. They have no clue how irritating it is to hear the toy played 67 times in a row!
Haha I love this! I am a nanny and it always kills me to see parents decorate their tree with expensive or brakeable items!
Oh yes! nailed it! #2 for us gets donated, immediately. I'm so over noisey and/or battery operated toys that have insane decible readings. I'm all about a Silent Night! 🙂
Haha – Especially #4!! I have failed at this way too many times. Love this post. It is also interesting to hear that 12/19 is the busiest shopping day of the year – I would have thought closer to Christmas, so this is good to know!
Lol! For #3, I have to add…sneaky pets! Our dogs broke several ornaments last year thinking that they were balls. -__-
I AM that last minute shopper…. Procrastinator to the core! I also have drums and a keyboard on my list for my sisters kids this year 🙂 They live out of state so she can't kill me. HA
I pretty much do all of these and fail at Christmas every time! Ha! :). So funny and we ALL do it!
#4 made me laugh… I tend to spend so much of my evening time on Pinterest and don't even make half the stuff! As for #1— I sent this to my hubby so he gets the hint 😉
I don't know which one of these I love the most…. I'm terrible for last minute Christmas shopping. I really don't like grandparents or close family members with lots of delicate untouchables. I have a two and three year old people!!! All of these are great though. Sharing everywhere xo
Omg this is great! But seriously though, I am always late to start shopping! I actually only have a few small things so far for my daughter! I'm a total procrastinator! And I totally have breakables around the house LOL #FAIL!
Haha pretty sure I've done all of these at one point or another in my life. Definitely regret the karma for #2 now! Love this list so much, and thanks for the link-up!
In the past I have been guilty of number 1, but I have been really working hard this year to not do it! I'm happy to say that I'm almost done with my Christmas shopping and it's only the 1st. Online shopping has helped a lot.
I definitely do the majority of these…hoping to stop myself this Christmas!! Good reminder 🙂
Yes to every single one of these!! My MIL is the worst offender with obnoxious toys! I'm hoping to have my shopping done by this weekend, we'll see how it goes… And this is the year I have finally accepted that I have no control over the decorations and they are all plastic! Love this post!!
I run myself ragged too, thanks for the reminder!
Haha I love this list. I'd have to add having a toddler, and expect them not to try and play with the tree or anything on it, then seeing that it was knocked down or that things were off from it 🙂 Had this happen…learned my lesson…put the tree high up, or wait to put it up til almost near christmas lol
Amen! And the noisy toys- WHY?! lol I used to be a last minute shopper too- but I'm getting much better. Thanks for sharing!
This is funny and so true! I'm pretty proud I try to knock out my shopping early and over time. I will admit guilt to putting in on a drum set for my nephew when he was 4 lol
Ha! I love it. All so true. We'd all be much better off if we stuck to this list of "don't"s!
I love this — especially the one about trying to not put out breakables for toddlers and kids under 6. I have a 15-month old and we thought we were smart by putting just soft, non-breakable ornaments on the bottom part of the tree. FAIL. She gets on her tippy toes and reaches for the pretty, sentimental, breakable ones! Happy Holidays!
This is so funny! I agree with it all, although I seem to have a different opinion than most on what "loud" toys are. We got my 4 years old a drum kit last year. No one has kids to have a quiet house.
Loved the post!! Thanks for sharing the tips in such a cool way!
So wait… Are you telling me I shouldn't do these things??? 😉
LOL!!! I had a good laugh at this. "Attempt to make anything Pinterest worthy." It just NEVER ends up like the picture 🙁
These are all so true! I've learned to just let most things go since having kids. I do my bets to have a "magical" holiday but just feeding, clothing and schooling them leaves little time for any fancy preparations!
If you don't set a budget and stick to it, you might not realize you are failing until after the holiday and then it's like "crap!! we spent so much more than I'd like". We do a range for people. I like having the extra wiggle room in case something I've been eyeing goes on sale.
My grandparents are so good at #2, they just gave my toddler a megaphone for his birthday!!
hahah love #1. That's me sometimes, not gonna lie, but I think I improved this year by starting late November 😀
I'm definitely the last minute shopper. I try to get ahead but it never fails that I'm running around in the last few days when all I want is to sit and sip fine wine in front a holiday movie. Great list!
Running myself ragged and filling the home with breakable decor is ALWAYS what happens during the holidays :). I am proud that this year I had all my Christmas shopping completed and wrapped the first week in Dec *sigh of relief.* After staying up until 3am last year wrapping gifts and being exhausted all day on Christmas, I refused to let it happen again!
It seems like we all make some of these mistakes at least once! They definitely suck the joy out of the holidays. I think once you settle on what works for your family, and ignore everything else you are really able to enjoy the time with your family.
These are really funny! I'm avoiding Pinterest for this exact reason. 🙂
I'm so glad I don't have to deal with the stresses of the holiday season yet! All I do is buy presents, and everything else is taken care of. Lol!
Yes! We have no decorations on the tree except for plastic balls, and nothing else anywhere else. Maybe when the twins are 10. 😉 No pinterest for me either.
Love it! Interestingly enough, my husband is in our den right this minute doing some very stressful online shopping! Thank goodness for 2 day shipping!