I wrote this for my local MOPS group newsletter and since the blog has been a bit quiet lately I thought I might share. We went up to NYC along with my parents for Thanksgiving this year and had a very memorable blast! I'll try to post pictures from our adventure soon.
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Christmas always finds some way to stress me out. Or maybe it’s the other way around
really. It seems like I look at my
calendar and to-do lists for the month and have an absolute meltdown. I get so hung up on all the things I
need to do that I can’t enjoy them when they’re actually happening. I get so frustrated at myself every
time, yet somehow every year those same feelings seem to surface.
I somehow doubt I’m alone in this either. In fact, in a survey taken back in 2006
the research group Greenberg
Quinlan Rosner found that 38% of Americans report an increase of stress
during the holidays. And women
disproportionately feel that stress!
Now that I have a little one in my house I certainly don’t want to
project that stress on to her (which by the way ends up happening A LOT). So what is a girl to do?
For starters I’m trying to let go a little bit. You see I’m a bit of a perfectionist,
so if all the Advent calendars aren’t ready to go by December 1 or all my
presents aren’t Pinterest crafty I tend to freak out a little bit. Something Dr. Diane Jones-Freeman said
at our last meeting though has been bouncing around in my head the past couple
of days: “I don’t have a perfect life but I have a good one.” I’m not King Midas and I don’t have a
golden touch. In fact as I was
recently reminded by a parody of this old fairytale on Sesame Street, I don’t
want the golden touch. So this
holiday season I’m hoping to breathe a little easier. And enjoy a few extra Peppermint Oreos while I’m at it!
