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 | holiday stress |
Okay, all of you who keep posting about how you’re holiday-stress-free and done with your shopping and mailing and baking? That’s just mean.* Because while I am trying really really hard here, I have finished neither my shopping nor my baking, and I am not stress-free. I am the opposite of stress-free. And this is not good.
We’re down to the usual suspects in the Still to Shop For category, including Dane’s brother, who is single and doesn’t need anything, and my brother, who is not single but still doesn’t need anything. Last year we gave the former gift cards for fast food and the latter a scone pan. I’m pretty sure the gift cards got used, at least.
This year I keep asking why we can’t just give everyone a trio of Heifer rabbits. Or a water buffalo. (Dane keeps answering either, “I don’t think Heifer will send them a trio of rabbits,” or “They don’t really have room for a water buffalo.”)
And to make the gift giving even more exciting, Dane is having second thoughts about two of the gifts he already bought—which is no big deal, we’ll just get something else, except WHAT THE HECK ARE WE GOING TO GET? Ahem.
And no, I can’t entirely abandon the baking (though let me assure you, I’d like to, given that I have a baby or two in my arms at all times), because one of our Christmas traditions is a Christmas cookie baking day with some of our kids’ aunts. We call it Baking With Ants, which is funny because, you know, ants? And aunts…? Come on, homophones are kind of funny. Especially if you’re four or seven. Which apparently I am.
So you just go on with your carefree, caroling selves. I’ll drown my anxiety in on-again-off-again sleep for the next six hours or so (it’s already after 11pm here) and wake up refreshed and ready to sort all this out… tomorrow.
*Yes, yes, I’m joking. I’m happy for you, really. Now go on and spread some more Christmas cheer, since I’m clearly not doing my part. (I feel like I ought to put in a little smiley here to show that I’m really not bitter, but I’d rather convey that without emoticons. So you’ll just have to take my word for it.)
Yes, but this is because we don’t shop for our siblings, and don’t do Christmas crafts of any sort (hopefully they get enough at school), we shop online, …and baking? Also very minmal.
To me, though, you sound unbelievably organized and on top of things, particularly since you have a newborn. When Mira was born at the end of November, I think I skipped Christmas altogether.
I keep buying gifts and returning them because I change my mind or I discover that the gift is actually junk and I don’t want to spend my money on that. So I’m stuck in either the “I’m done if I return that one gift” category or “I’m done if I buy one more gift to even out the gifts for the boys” category.
Or, return the gift and buy two more smaller gifts. I can’t decide. I’m pretty sure the one gift is going back but I don’t know what I’m doing after that.
And I still have stockings to do and baking, so I hear ya there. You can only use a sling or a bouncy seat so much.
Thank you, dears. And you know what I forgot to worry about entirely? I haven’t yet taught the kids to do the candle lighting thing, where one person lights the next person’s candle. (We have to re-learn every year.) And that’s kind of important– don’t want them setting anyone’s hair on fire at the Christmas Eve service.
Oh you make me look bad. I barely shop, I barely decorate and I don’t even know what you mean by “Christmas crafts.” But I did help the kids make a gingerbread house and I sort of made Christmas cookies with them (none fit to see by ANYONE EVER, but they liked eating them) — using pre-made dough and icing, does that count?
I just suck at these things.
Totally counts.