Christmas Trees, Santa Letters, Shopping, And More!

Depending on your personality, when you read that title, ‘Christmas Trees, Santa Letters, Shopping, And More’, you envision fun times and joyful events or stress and times you’d just as soon skip. So where do you fall in? To be honest, most people are somewhere in the middle. Most of us truly enjoy the holiday season, but, and that can be a big but, we will admit that Christmas can be a stressful time of year.

There are lots of reasons for the stress. For many of us it’s the money. Let’s face it, times are hard and many people are struggling just to make ends meet. When Christmas comes along that can add to their budget burdens. Everyone wants to give gifts to family and friends at Christmas time. And fortunately there are lots of inexpensive gifts that can be purchased. A handmade gift is usually treasured more than something that is store bought.

But let’s move away from money concerns. Let’s say that money is not an issue at all. Maybe you just don’t enjoy the get togethers. You know the ones; for instance, the times when there’s a house full of people and all the kids are rambunctious and excited. Like maybe when there’s a group of kids at the dining room table writing letters to Santa Claus. Times like that can sometimes get a little loud and rowdy. The kids get more excited as time goes by, and you get more frustrated. You want them to have fun writing their Santa letters but you also want some tranquility.
Then there’s the shopping. Now some people love to shop and others hate it with a passion. And other people like to shop only for themselves, and still others only like to shop under certain conditions.

So what can you do to make all of these holiday times less stressful and more joyful? Try planning ahead. If money is an issue maybe you can start your shopping early in the year. If you purchase just one gift per week or every other week you won’t have to spend a huge amount of money all at once. Another option is to consider shopping at a store that has a lay-away plan. And once again, handcrafted gifts make wonderful keepsakes that are treasured for years to come. If you can crochet, knit, do woodwork, or other crafts, consider making some of the gifts you give. And don’t be afraid to scale your gift-giving list down a little.

As far as keeping the kids settled down when they are writing letters to Santa or doing other things related to Christmas, like decorating the Christmas tree; I have found that getting myself involved in what they are doing works best. I actually even write my own letters to Santa. When I do I let the kid in me come out and I find that I enjoy the project.

Shopping has become a non-issue for me. I do much of my shopping online. For anything that I ‘enjoy’ shopping for, I go to the store. Otherwise, I use my computer and credit card.