Christmas Time Is Here

 I love Christmas. I don't think you have a choice when your name is "Noelle." 

I love the warm moments, sitting by the fire with the Christmas tree glowing, and my sleepy puppy snoring next to me. I love when my kids come home from school buzzing with excitement, looking forward to hot cocoa and Christmas movies before bed. I love that after months of striving and straining in this weary world, I can take a month to reflect that the light of heaven came to earth and all I have to do is welcome him.

There is so much to love about Christmas.

But the beginning of the month always finds me worn out and kind of depressed. The good intentions, best-laid plans, and rampant consumerism drain me. 

Don't get me wrong, I get excited about parties (well...kind of), to-do lists (enneagram 1), and gifts (gifts are my love language for crying out loud). 

But I don't love the pressure.

This year it felt like it started extra early. All over Instagram influencers were decorating before Thanksgiving and there was a major outcry from every retailer to buy early because of supply chain issues. 

Normally I'm an early adopter of all things Christmas, but this year I found myself resisting because of the pressure. It made me uncomfortable and a little bit twitchy so I pumped the breaks and decided I wouldn't officially begin singing Christmas carols and making gift lists until after Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving came and went and I had to deal with an infected tooth and a brutal root canal. Perhaps this also hampered my Christmas spirit. 

From Friday to Wednesday my husband and I went on a buying spree. And by "spree" I mean we bought the gifts we discussed and budgeted for. Still, it felt like we were metaphorically running through the aisles of every online retailer, filling our cars with abandon, and feeling a knot bloom in our guts as we clicked "checkout" again and again. 

I spent those days (in pain from the root canal and) majorly distracted. If I started reading, I'd suddenly remember a gift exchange I needed to get a gift for or be struck with an idea for the perfect stocking stuffer. When someone tried to have a conversation with me I turned the subject to gifts and then quickly sent myself reminders on my phone: "don't forget the piano teacher" or a list of children's books my niece and nephew would love. 

This is not a new phenomenon. Almost every year I hit this moment of frantic shopping and I feel terrible. I have to take a couple of days off, remind myself Christmas will not be ruined if my children don't receive the exact same number of gifts, and focus on enjoying the short days of December that call me to rest, days where light and love sustain me. 

Every year I have a recalibration around December 2nd. My pace is unsustainable and unhealthy before then so I have to do something about it. 

So...what is it that I finally do? 

I sit on the couch and watch a Christmas movie with my kids, no phones allowed. We bake, we read, we color Christmas pictures. And of course, we do puzzles.

 

I scale back the to-do lists and the lists of commitments. We keep the traditions and gatherings that are important to us and eliminate the ones that are not.

And, I take control of social media instead of letting it control me with its screaming about Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, Cyber Monday, Giving Tuesday that somehow morph into Cyber Week, Lightning Deals, and Pre-Christmas Sales. I cull the accounts I follow and make sure I'm limiting those that advertise anything or are run by moms who seem too perfect. I fast from my phone, leaving it in another room or ignoring it for a few hours while I'm out living my life. This always makes me feel better.

It's not a fool-proof plan, and I know I will struggle later in the month with different things, but for now, this is what is bringing me peace. 

How do you stay peaceful and mindful during December?