Are You Too Busy?

The holidays are finally approaching! This is absolutely my favorite time of the year, I look forward to Christmas from about the middle of July so i'm thrilled that it's almost here. But this is without a doubt the busiest time of the year for our family because along with Christmas and Thanksgiving, all 5 of our birthdays are crammed in from November to March. Needless to say, I am often running frantic during these months!

I'm sure there are many woman that are equally as busy during this time of the year so I wanted to talk to you girls for a bit about a few ways to make things a little less stressful during the holidays. So i've come up with a couple of challenges for us girls (and i'm even going to sneak one in for you guys too!).

#1. Remember that you can not do it all!
It is absolutely impossible to try to do everything for each member of your family during this time of the year, or any time of the year for that matter. You are one woman and simply can not to the job of 2, 3 or 5 different people! Which leads to number 2...

#2. Delegate!
I am the worst about doing this! I have such a specific way of doing things and the perfect idea of how something should be done or cleaned and I know that my 2, 4 and 6 year old children simply can not do it that way so I don't even have them try. This is where I need to relinquish control and teach them how to do things. And most importantly, I need to give up my idea of perfection. It really doesn't matter if the wash rags are folded exactly the same, as long as they are in the closet when we need them.

#3. Spread things out!
This time of year there are always 100 things that need doing or functions that we feel we have to go to. In our family we have 5 different family gatherings at Christmas, all of which we could try to cram into 2 days if we wanted to make ourselves go crazy. Instead we spread some of them out a little and you know what? It's still just as much of a family Christmas get-together even if it happens the first part of January! It really is ok. Christmas is about celebrating Christ, not about pleasing every member of your family by seeing them at a specific time on a specific day.

#4. Just say "NO"!
It really is ok to say no to things. It's extremely hard for me to do that so i'm talking to myself just as much on this one. But if you try to stretch yourself too thin and be everything for everyone then no matter what you do it will be difficult to be anything for anyone.

#5. Ask for help!
If you're like me and your to-do list is a mile long, figure out what on there can be done by others and get your whole family to pitch in. If my house is a mess and it needs to be cleaned in a certain amount of time, I could run around like a crazy person and try to do it all myself. I'd probably only get about half of it done and just end up frustrated. Or, I could get my husband and kids involved in the project, get it done in half the time and avoid getting frustrated in the first place.

#6. Bonus for you guys...HELP!
Ok guys, here is the biggest secret to making things run smoother in your home during the holidays. Help your wife! I know it can be so easy to let her do everything because chances are, she's very much like me and has a certain way of doing things. But even if that is the case, get in there, figure out how to do it and do it. (Girls refer back to #2 on this one!) I promise guys, you will help her out so much, fill up her love bank and help her finish early which will leave more time for the two of you to spend together all in one easy step. You really can elevate a huge amount of stress for your wife which will in turn elevate a huge amount of stress from your home.

So there you go, there are my 6 easy steps to a stress free holiday season! Just kidding, they're really not easy to put into practice nor will they make your holidays completely stress free. But they sure can help to elevate a lot of the stress you may face over the next 2 months...or just from life in general!