Holiday Blues

Holidays can be such a difficult time when you don’t have a partner with whom to share it. For me, I spend Christmas Eve with my kids (who spend most of their time on their phones…snapchatting their dad), my parents and my sister and her family. While it’s always a wonderful family filled day, and I know thay my family makes sure I have extra gifts to open so I’m not sitting around watching everyone else open (Mom, I know you read this, and thank you), there’s still that underlying feeling of being all alone. Even when I have brought a significant other home, it has felt awkward and lonely.

So, when it comes to Christmas shopping, I hate it. I was never good at it before. But now, I do anything and everything to avoid it. This year, I have done all I can online, but I’m still not close to being done. Between holiday parties and work, I have Sunday to get it done. When you are already pretty down about it, dealing with crowds who are feeling pretty similar, is just no fun.

This time can be rough, but we will get through it. One of the tools I use is to count down the days. So, today is Friday. I have 3 days to complete everything before Christmas Eve. If I want to scare myself shitless I can say to myself, “Wow, you don’t have much time.” So, to make myself feel better…I say to myself, “Wow, you don’t have much time.” Wait! Before you think I’ve lost my marbles, hear me out. The first meaning is, holy cow! you have so much to do and so little time. No way will it all be done on time. The second is simply, hey, there’s only 3 mor days for you to worry about this and then you can sit back, relax and enjoy the family time. Yes, the next 3 days are going to be sooooo hectic. But it’s three days. It’s like a really busy work week. I really should get all my holiday shopping done throughout the year, but who am I really kidding. I say that every year, and every year, here I am. So my New Years Resolution is to stop lying to myself and just know I’ll be procrastinating for Christmas again next year.

So, how do I plan to get everything done in the next three days? Simple. Tonight, I’m going to spend it with my girlfriends for a wonderful holiday party. Tomorrow morning, maybe some wrapping of what I have and figuring out what I need. But I work all day tomorrow, so I’ll be gone from around 11:30 am until around 11 pm. So, instead of 3 hectic days, I’m giving myself Sunday. One day to get it all done. But first, I have to go to church to watch my daughter play flute. So…1/2 a day. I won’t be putting on any old big girl panties to tackle Sunday. It’s a day for my Wonder Woman panties.

So. Happy holidays to everyone reading. I hope that even if the holiday season is a tough time for you, you can choose to look at the positive and realize you are so close that you can soon get to a time where you can relax.