Christmas Craziness
Every year I’ll tell myself that I’m not going to go crazy during the holidays.
Every year I swear I’m going to enjoy this time of frantic shopping, parties, and family get-togethers.
And every year, I get to around the 20th of December and realize that I’ve been officially diagnosed with Christmas Craziness.
Christmas Craziness is an affliction most commonly seen in women, particularly mothers, and is characterized by an manic need to clean, bake millions of cookies, write and mail Christmas cards, cook a gigantic meal, and accomplish everything with an air of selfless love and calming grace.
Don’t get me wrong, I really love giving presents and getting together with everyone, it’s the pressure to do everything perfectly that is really way, way too much.
I can’t find my spatulas, but I can find a meat cleaver. Umm…
Said pressure has driven me to do very weird things.
Like last night I realized at 11 pm that I didn’t have gifts for five very important people in my life.
I didn’t have gifts, so I MUST bakes some cookies.
And since we’re still in the middle of the kitchen remodel and we still don’t have a working sink or stove top, and I still can’t find half of my utensils, I found myself removing said cookies from the tray with a meat cleaver.
Surprisingly enough, the meat cleaver was very effective.
But it’s ridiculous to feel this much pressure over a single day of the year!
Every single year I declare that NEXT year I will not go crazy. Next year I will get everything right and won’t leave things until the last minute.
Next year will be perfect.
But what if I stop questing for perfection? What if I just chilled out and calmed down and took the meat cleaver to my “to do” list and accepted the fact that perfection, in any form, is simply unattainable?
I think that would make for a much better holiday.
So here’s to NOT baking cookies in the middle of the night. NOT feeling guilty for taking an evening off to work on a project you want to work on. NOT stressing out over every single little detail.
Now, I don’t know about you, but I’m taking the rest of the day off! I’m going to pop a bottle of champagne, crack open my cheese ball, and spend the rest of the afternoon curled up in bed with a silly book.
Let’s go CHILL!
Leah Day
P.S Just in case you’re still very much in the clutches of Christmas Craziness, the cookies in the photo are Betty Crocker’s Monster Cookies. They’re fast, huge, and YUMMY!
to add to my craziness, I am hosting a giveaway on my blog, come over and leave a comment!
~a
ps, thanks for all your wonderful videos. I just LOVE you
~a
My kitchen is being remodeled, too, but I still have a sink and a dishwasher! I love the way we get creative when there's a task to be done. "Whatever works" is my motto!
I've enjoyed your blog and will continue to be a reader. Merry Christmas.
Here's to no Xmas craziness and most of all 'here's to YOU! Thank you for giving us all great videos and tips.
Merry Xmas to you and your family.
Hear hear! to leaving the self inflicted Chrisymas stress behind and focussing on the real idea of it all: giving and sharing love 🙂
Thanks for a wonderfull blog – now go do what you really want to do right now.
Ann
from Denmark
Yes, Christmas crazies get the best of us!!! Love the photo, hmmm, do I need to go get myself one of those new flippers???!! If you say it works great, and does other jobs as well, maybe I now need to run to the store to get me one for all th cookies I haven't made yet???!! ahhhhh, Christmas!! I haven't baked yet!!! Thanks for the reminder!!! But I need to go shopping first……. lol!!
Merry Christmas and thanks for the wounderful blog!!
Haha … such a timely blog post. Today I made proper American cookies (as opposed to British biscuits) in an attempt to feel like a domestic goddess. It was only after I had managed to make the kitchen look like a bomb site (did you know if you add flour to the mixing bowl … whilst the kitchen aid is whizzing round you end up looking like a snowman?) and added yet another 1/2" to my waistline by eating the vast majority of said cookies why I don't bake !
Thanks for all your videos. I have really enjoyed watching them. Happy Christmas to you and your family.
This post cracked me up, Leah! Guess who was up at 4 am making peppermint bark? I understand the craziness…let's just embrace it, lol.
Thanks for the laugh. Off to open that bottle of wine…
Leah, I have definitely been there. Many years ago, we used go to Madison WI to for my husband's aunt's annual Christmas eve party (1.5 hrs away), then drive all the way back home, getting in at around midnight, then getting the kids to bed, we would then stay up till about 1-2 am getting all the Santa gifts out and arranged. The kids would get us up at 6 am to unwrap, then we had to be at my mother-in-laws by 10 am for brunch with my husband's brother and his family. THEN we'd drive another 1.5 hrs to my father-in-laws (his parents are divorced) and spend the rest of the day because it is not only Christmas, but his birthday as well.
One year we were late for brunch and they ate without us, and there wasn't much left. I just FREAKED OUT! We were really just trying to please everyone, and I felt it just wasn't appreciated. After that, I have refused to go to Madison on Christmas eve, and I have told my M-I-L that if she wanted us to attend a brunch, it better not be on Christmas morning! (I guess I'm mean). Now we have a much saner holiday.
I guess the moral of the story is, you have to say "no" to somethings. Expectations have to be reasonable! Cut yourself some slack and let some things go. You don't have to be perfect! I realize this is hard if you are detail oriented enough to make competition quilts, but take deep breath and say to yourself…"I can say no!!!"
Hi Leah
This story sounds verxy familiar to me, probably to every (young) mother:o)
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Greetings from Germany
I know exactly what you mean and I would be doing the exact same thing!