My kids have a wonderful Christmas every year. In fact, it is their favorite time of year. All of us are happy and relaxed and the Hub and I get time to talk and laugh and enjoy. We have the time to focus on what Christmas really means and celebrate for a good long while. And we do it by Letting Go.
I think most people realign their goals and set their focus anew at the end of the year. But for me it is all about Christmas.
That is when I find myself facing hurdles I cannot mount and realizing that most of the goals I had set for myself were actually wishes. This year is no different.
After homeschooling for a number of years, we have settled into a routine that flips the longer vacation time most people take in the summertime and plops in right in the space between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day. The reason? Well the first few years of homeschooling I tried to keep the same schedule that all the other kids in the neighborhood follow: the local school district’s calendar. I thought to myself that Christmas preparations would be just as simple as they always had been.
But I was sadly mistaken. Homeschooling and Christmas preparations absolutely don’t mix. I found myself up at one in the morning baking cookies or wrapping presents or making gifts followed by an early morning literature or math lesson. I managed to hold on through the holiday season, but I was ready for a long vacation by the time January rolled in.
And so, a number of years ago, my kids and I made the decision to eliminate summer break completely in favor of a vacation between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day. And life has never been better.
Like all of us, I suspect, I began filling my holiday break with ever more ambitious plans. More baking, sewing, crochet projects. And then I realized I could fit a major house organization project into the break as well. Generally all of this works out fine.
But the key to making it work is adopting the motto: Letting Go.
Plans are great and all, but if you over-plan, or unexpected activities get in the way, Letting Go.
When you realize that you won’t have a hope of getting even halfway through your list, Letting Go.
For me, the Letting Go realization comes a week or two before Christmas. That is the time that I refocus, reorganize, and trim the plans so that I get that last important piece done. And then, a week before Christmas I stop. At that point our life is all about Christmas. Not present wrapping or cleaning or baking or schooling. Just Christmas with a beautiful fragrant tree filling up the living room, a roaring fire in the fireplace, Christmas music, and our little homeschooling family. Happy that it is Christmas time.
