Sadly, the holiday meltdown happens every year no matter how hard I try to avoid it. Why?
For those like me who aim to create holiday magic, our ideas and fantasies often outweigh our time, energy, and resources. We can see what we want to do, but everything takes longer than expected, and we sometimes don't get the cooperation we imagine either.
Yesterday I was filled with good ideas--it was definitely a holiday high morning, and then reality struck when a few good ideas met with unexpected complications and lack of cooperation--that put an anchor to my zest to get it all done so we could relax in the final days leading up to the holiday.
The best way to avoid the holiday meltdown is to start early and keep your expectations realistic. It's also a good idea not to share your ideas upfront should those ideas change. And, as we've learned all too well during this pandemic year, we have to keep our expectations flexible as there's lots of unknowns out there related to illness, weather, transportation, work expectations, relationships and more.
Hopefully today's meltdown was the first and last for this holiday season. I know I'm not alone with this experience--I remember my own mom frantically baking cookies, dressing the babies, and wrapping gifts all at once on Christmas Eve as she readied for the annual Christmas Eve party at Uncle Neal's. We always had a great time at the party, and it was always a challenge getting six excited kids and my mom, dad, the presents and goodies to the party as well.
Onward.