This is an amazing time of year. This past week, we got out the kid’s stockings (that’s all) and my son wrapped his arms around my legs and said, “I’m just so happy.” It doesn’t take much, but turning the calendar to December, to evoke joy in people!
But the challenge for us as moms is that most of what brings our family joy in this season is because of our “doing!” And, it’s the “doing” that can drain OUR experience of the holidays.
10 things that can compound the “doing” in this season are:
1. Financial worries (will I be able to do everything I want for family and friends)
2. Time worries (will I have enough time to shop, cook, wrap, sing, laugh, and visit with family…)
3. Spiritual worries (will I stay focused on the true meaning of Christmas…)
4. Emotional worries (will I be able to keep calm amidst the seasonal shift…)
But the challenge for us as moms is that most of what brings our family joy in this season is because of our “doing!” And, it’s the “doing” that can drain OUR experience of the holidays.
10 things that can compound the “doing” in this season are:
1. Financial worries (will I be able to do everything I want for family and friends)
2. Time worries (will I have enough time to shop, cook, wrap, sing, laugh, and visit with family…)
3. Spiritual worries (will I stay focused on the true meaning of Christmas…)
4. Emotional worries (will I be able to keep calm amidst the seasonal shift…)
5. Our children’s joy (will they be excited on Christmas morning…)
6. Our children’s joy (will they have the memory of baking Christmas cookies with mom…)
7. Our children’s joy (will they be enveloped in the wonder of the season…)
8. Our children’s joy (will they have enough experiences of Christmas before it’s all over…)
9. Our children’s joy (will we make time to sing carols, decorate a gingerbread house, make homemade gifts for the children to give family members…)
10. Our children’s joy (will they ultimately understand the true meaning of Christmas amidst EVERYTHING and EVERY EXPERIENCE!)
The majority of our worry at this time of the year is wrapped up in our children. We want them to have an understanding of the season, and be caught up in the joy of the Christmas!
This kind of worry can compound our “doing,” leaving us drained -before we know it, the season is over and we are left wondering – “did I even experience Christmas?” I have felt, during Advent, as if my expectations of the season have in various ways propelled me through the season, and I’ve “missed it!”
What we need to do is Reign in the Season!
Slow down and make choices for peaceful celebration of the season:
1. Incorporate an opportunity for joy for yourself this holiday season! Take a day just “to be”! In other words, sip on some coffee, reflect on the gift of the season, and get in touch with the grace that abounds around you.
2. Limit the number of “experiences that you want to have this season” Remember that Advent is 24 days; it will only feel like 24 days if we slow down and truly enter into the experiences of that time. There are many things we can do, but think about a few that you really want to accomplish this year and do them.
Then, let the rest of the month unfold…
3. Make choices for traditions! If you grew up without many traditions, start you own. Or, if you have traditions, but they don’t really fit into your family, spruce them up a bit! Children sometimes recall events from their childhood, but they almost always remember traditions!
Some ideas for New Traditions:
1. Light a candle every Thursday up until Christmas (we do this on Sundays of Advent – but this “Thursday idea” might speak to your family). Make a big deal about it – Call everyone around and light the Christmas candle - use this time to share with your kids what the season is about.
6. Our children’s joy (will they have the memory of baking Christmas cookies with mom…)
7. Our children’s joy (will they be enveloped in the wonder of the season…)
8. Our children’s joy (will they have enough experiences of Christmas before it’s all over…)
9. Our children’s joy (will we make time to sing carols, decorate a gingerbread house, make homemade gifts for the children to give family members…)
10. Our children’s joy (will they ultimately understand the true meaning of Christmas amidst EVERYTHING and EVERY EXPERIENCE!)
The majority of our worry at this time of the year is wrapped up in our children. We want them to have an understanding of the season, and be caught up in the joy of the Christmas!
This kind of worry can compound our “doing,” leaving us drained -before we know it, the season is over and we are left wondering – “did I even experience Christmas?” I have felt, during Advent, as if my expectations of the season have in various ways propelled me through the season, and I’ve “missed it!”
What we need to do is Reign in the Season!
Slow down and make choices for peaceful celebration of the season:
1. Incorporate an opportunity for joy for yourself this holiday season! Take a day just “to be”! In other words, sip on some coffee, reflect on the gift of the season, and get in touch with the grace that abounds around you.
2. Limit the number of “experiences that you want to have this season” Remember that Advent is 24 days; it will only feel like 24 days if we slow down and truly enter into the experiences of that time. There are many things we can do, but think about a few that you really want to accomplish this year and do them.
Then, let the rest of the month unfold…
3. Make choices for traditions! If you grew up without many traditions, start you own. Or, if you have traditions, but they don’t really fit into your family, spruce them up a bit! Children sometimes recall events from their childhood, but they almost always remember traditions!
Some ideas for New Traditions:
1. Light a candle every Thursday up until Christmas (we do this on Sundays of Advent – but this “Thursday idea” might speak to your family). Make a big deal about it – Call everyone around and light the Christmas candle - use this time to share with your kids what the season is about.
2. Choose a family to do something surprising for. Many people do a lot of service to others in need in this season and I hope you will continue to do this, but this idea is to “treat” a family even if they don’t “need help.” In other words… just because!
3. The week of Christmas, write your children a note each day.
Give them a thought for the day; share with them a tradition from your childhood, or just say, “I’m thinking of you!”
Give them a thought for the day; share with them a tradition from your childhood, or just say, “I’m thinking of you!”
4. A friend suggested this: Take all the Christmas Cards you receive this year and put them in a basket. Then, have the family choose a card from the basket each evening and pray for that family – how awesome is this?!
Most of all - slow down and BREATHE! This is a season, and it too will pass. What do you want to be your memory of this season?
Until next time, we take a sacred pause…
Most of all - slow down and BREATHE! This is a season, and it too will pass. What do you want to be your memory of this season?
Until next time, we take a sacred pause…
