Simple Holiday Joys
I’ve really been savoring the season this year. I don’t know if it’s because I’m a mom to a young toddler, seeing the season through his eyes and trying to make it as magical as possible, or if it’s because of age and reflection on holidays past, but whatever it is, I hope I can keep it up for years to come. That’s not to say I haven’t had my moments of stress, frustration or exhaustion. But it does feel like I’ve honed in on what makes the season feel joyous for me and tried to let go of the rest. It’s also been helpful to remember that you don’t have to do it all, every year. I spoke about it a little bit in this post, but it was somehow incredibly freeing to realize that just because something is a tradition, doesn’t mean it’s must-do every year. Some years you may miss things—due to illness, or time or just because it isn’t bringing you joy—and that’s okay! You can always pick it up again the following year, or decide to give it up.
I’m a list-lover and while a holiday bucket list is right up my alley, I’m realizing it can also make what’s supposed to be fun, feel like a chore. So this year, while I still had a million things I’d like to do, I really spent some time reflecting on what were my holiday must do’s, the top priority things that were really important to me during this season and tried to keep it minimal. Then the rest of things became deprioritized. Restructuring it in my mind this way turned out to be really helpful—when I’d start to get stressed that I wasn’t cramming in that addition holiday activity because Levi wasn’t up for it or I didn’t have the perfect holiday outfit for an event, I’d ask myself if whatever was stressing me out was one of my must-do’s and if it wasn’t I’d pull back, relax a little bit and sometimes I’d have to let it go. You’d think with this mentality, I wouldn’t have gotten to quite as much as previous years, but I actually think we did just as much, and maybe even more and certainly with more ease and enjoyment. I’ll say all this with the caveat that what I’m talking about here is all frivolity—holiday lights shows, Santa photo ops, treats baked etc.—there are many more important things I value in life in this season and everyday, but that’s not what I’m addressing here.
All that said, here are some simple holiday joys I had this year.
Decorating early and going all out. We got our tree Thanksgiving weekend and got the whole house decorated very early on. It meant I had more time to continue to add if I wanted, which I did, and more time to enjoy it. When the house is filled with all the lights and decorations it ups the cozy factor by at least ten. I went a little wild with adding velvet red ribbon to everything and our house looks like a Hallmark movie set and I’m obsessed!
Making lot of Christmas cookies and sharing them with neighbors. I’ve always wanted to bring baked goods to our neighbors, but have been a little shy. In one part, because I’m a perfectionist, and in another because I don’t know all of them that well. But this year with sweet Levi, who makes friends wherever he goes, I decided to go for it and it ended up being so wonderful because it started so many conversations with neighbors I never would have had before. Now that the first year is done, it will only be that much easier to continue the tradition!
Listening to instrumental Christmas music in the background of doing regular things throughout the day. I love regular Christmas music too, but something it can be distracting and I know it’s not always Brendan’s favorite if I play it too much. I found a Spotify channel called Christmas Cocktail Jazz and it’s been such a lovely playlist to have on quietly throughout the day.
Drinking tea out of a vintage holiday mug (featured here!)
Wrapping as I got presents in. I love wrapping paper and bows. But when I save everything till last minute, it becomes a chore and I also feel like I don’t have as long to appreciate the finished product. This year, I started wrapping pretty early and not only did it mean I wasn’t stressed out doing it, I also got to put things under our tree which turned out to be a fun decoration throughout the month.
Wearing an over-the-top vintage Christmas sweater, large Christmas earrings, a nutcracker pin, a poinsettia silk scarf, basically anything clearly Christmas-specific. Having specific holiday-themed accessories and clothes is FUN and can bring a little more joy and festiveness to an activity. We even got some Christmas tree headbands and light up necklaces for holiday lights walks in our neighborhood.
Watching SO many Christmas movies. And I mean SO many. Partway through December while hemming and hawing over which Christmas movie to watch, I felt paralyzed trying to make the “right” choice. I decided to just pick one. And then we decided we wouldn’t watch anything else on tv except Christmas movies until Christmas. This took the pressure off the individual choice because we would get to any and all we wanted (and then some). Did we end up with some duds? 100%, but it was still worth it! The paradox of choice really does get to me and this solved it completely and even the bad Christmas movies still felt somewhat cozy and set the mood for the season. Definitely will do this again next year.
I’m sure like all things, these things will evolve with time and some wont bring me joy in future years and other things will be added to the list, but I really enjoyed reflecting on the season and feel like I got the most out of it that I could!