How to wrap up Christmas in 6 days

There are six days left until Christmas. Maybe you're fretting over not having enough time, energy or money to do everything that you would have loved to have done for the holidays. Today would be a good time to reassess your priorities and if necessary cut yourself a little slack.

I was looking at my last post How To Enjoy Christmas and had to congratulate myself (and my husband) for actually managing to wriggle out of that one social gathering that we had felt obliged to attend. And you know what? It was quite painless, a phone call and explanation that we were planning on sticking close to home and relaxing a little (versus driving for six hours for a second turkey dinner within a 24 hour period and only arriving back home at 1:00 a.m. barring snow or freezing rain). Maybe you too feel the pressure to participate, to shop, to travel, and to visit people whom ... (Don’t get me started..!.) Yes, sometimes you just have to suck it up and visit. If that is the case be thankful they're not staying with you. And if they are landing on your doorstep with suitcases in hand promise yourself that next year you will do things differently - we all have choices.

As for wrapping up the rest of your to-do list; itemize all the food items that have to be made and the ingredients that need to be purchased. Can anything be made ahead of time and frozen? It may not be too late to delegate or get another family member involved in the shopping or preparing.

Do you have gifts left to purchase? Again my first recommendation is delegate however if you are a martyr or a control freak and insist on doing it yourself, try to do the shopping in as few locations and as few outings as possible. At this point there is no point in browsing. If you find a suitable item within your budget buy it now, avoid saying I'll come back Friday and get this one if I don't find something I like better. That is just self-punishing.

Also if you are working this week it may be too late to begin making anything unless it is a super-quick craft idea and preferably something that you've made before and know that you can do it again quickly. This is not the time to try Martha's Lusterware craft or to begin to sew a quilt.

Are you hosting? Don't spend hours house cleaning. My advice is sweep and spritz. That's it, only sweep and spritz. Sweep the floors and spritz the bathroom and kitchen surfaces. If your house is messy from crafting or you've had no time to pick-up after the kids get a couple of laundry baskets and walk through each room and load up the basket with whatever will take too long to deal with properly. Find a place in a closet or basement and just leave it all there until next week. When your family come whining that they can't find their black leggings or their i-pod point them to the hidden laundry basket(s) and let them dig through it.

Caleche in Old Montreal

While it may sound counter-intuitive, do schedule yourself a massage or take a leisurely lunch time walk out of doors (not the mall!). Meet with a friend for a cup of tea but choose someone who is upbeat and positive so that you leave feeling encouraged and happy.

If you are able drop a few coins in the cup of a street person or give a little something to a charity do so. It helps them and reminds us to be thankful for the abundance and blessings in our lives.
Try to streamline this week as much as possible. Few of us will manage to have a picture-perfect Christmas but with a change of attitude we can all have a perfectly wonderful Christmas.

Thank you for visiting My Turquoise Kettle Life today.

Wishing you and your loved ones a most precious Christmas,
Sandra