I am trying to remember today that most of my holiday stress is self-imposed. I have a lot to do, and it’s probably more than I can realistically accomplish. So I am dividing my to-do list into three parts:
- Must Do
- Ideally Would Do, but the World Won’t End If I Don’t
- Would Be Great, but We All Know It’s not Happening
The critical details are that the house must be clean enough that my parents won’t be repulsed, we must have food to feed them, and we must have a wrapped gift for everyone we’ll see on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Everything else is merely icing on the Christmas cookie. My mantra: Stress is for rookies, and this isn’t my first Christmas Rodeo.