The first week – Hive and Nest

If you have uttered these words I have a bone to pick with you:

“let’s plan it for the first week of December so we won’t interfere with people’s holiday plans.”

I have to say that I am tired–SICK AND TIRED–of every holiday event being planned for the first week of December.

Between December 1st and December 7th we have two choir concerts, one band concert, one recital, two school parties, two church parties and Mister is turning 45 so I’m supposed to plan some sort of fun getaway.

Between the 8th and the 24th we have one grown-up Christmas party. That’s all.

Doesn’t this seem a little unbalanced to you? Shouldn’t Christmas things be a little spread out? Am I the only one this is happening to?

It’s taken me twenty years to figure this out, but if I decorate before December, it makes the holidays much less stressful. I am one of those crazy people who doesn’t like to squeeze every drop out of Christmas. I prefer it short and sweet. Usually I put off decorating til December, but then it interferes with all the “fun” activities and I start getting really stressed out. So this year I skipped all Black Friday shopping and got out all the Christmas Decor. The tree is done.

I’m also getting really stressed out by all the people who are constantly advising me to “simplify” Christmas. Great idea! Which one of my children’s programs should I skip? When you have a bunch of kids it’s not really possible to simplify very much.

(Last year I got rid of all the Christmas decorations I don’t absolutely love and now I have almost nothing to put around the house. That’s what I call simplifying.)

I’ve already given up neighbor gifts (sorry folks, no more personalized gingerbread people!) and I try to skimp on teacher gifts as much as possible (nothing personal, teachers. I love you all.) Mister and I decided to forego the fancy party with people he knows through his old job (Not that I don’t love watching usually dignified people getting super drunk).

I don’t know what more I can do to make things easier this December. (Probably getting everyone’s presents a long time ago would have been helpful.)

Maybe in another 20 years I’ll have this whole Holiday thing under control so that I don’t pass out from exhaustion every December 25th at 6 p.m.