Turns Out…I Don’t Need To Send Christmas Cards Early (And Other Good Things I Won’t Be Doing This Christmas)

Writing a post of this ilk has become a tradition for me. I find it helpful to sit down and list “good” things I don’t have to do at any given time. Understandably, Christmas is what has been forefront in my mind of late.

Everywhere we look there are beloved traditions and seemingly happy families frolicking in snowy meadows in matching plaid parkas while sipping hot cocoa and singing carols in four-part harmony. (Okay, maybe that’s just in Hallmark movies…and on Instagram.) Sometimes we feel compelled to participate in a seasonal phenomenon to better fit in with the crowd; sometimes we feel compelled to carry on an old tradition because that’s what we’ve always done. Either way, it can start to feel overwhelming.

Last year I decided I didn’t have to write a family newsletter to be included with our annual Christmas cards. I had prepared and sent a newsy update for over a decade but simply didn’t feel like doing it anymore.

I decided it was okay to say No to things where it didn’t matter if I said Yes. (That sentence makes it sound easy. I debated the pros and cons of each decision for almost a month.)

This year, forget about dithering over newsletters – I can’t even send cards!! Despite ordering them extra early and addressing them with care, most of our Christmas cards are sitting in a drawer waiting for the newly-reopened postal service to get back to normal. After over a month on strike…this will take a while.

I like to cross holidays tasks off my to-do list with lots of time to spare. It brings me great delight to cross out Mail Christmas cards before the calendar turns to December. But this year I didn’t have a choice and nothing bad has happened.

Other “Good Things” I will not do this Christmas:

• Make a family Holiday Fun List. I made a few of these when the kids were little, complete with fancy fonts and festive clip art. Eventually I learned we can still watch Charlie Brown’s Christmas, hand-deliver cards to local friends, and drink hot cocoa while looking at Christmas lights even if we don’t cross it off a list.
• Give people homemade baking. John buys delicious chocolate bars when he is in Finland and, for the second year in a row, that is what local friends will be receiving from us. I’ve decided I will not spend hours slaving in the kitchen cooking and cleaning and tying pretty ribbons on bags. Home-baked goods are lovely – and I’ve gone that route many times – but I suspect recipients would rather a chocolate bar that is shelf-stable over some crumbly cookies from me. And it takes seconds instead of hours.
• Buy matching family pajamas. This does not appeal to me in. the. slightest. I know this is a very common – and much beloved – tradition for many families. It’s adorable and you do you. I track down second-hand (thrift or consignment store) winter/Christmas pajamas and give those to the kids on Christmas Eve. They rarely match (but have occasionally, by coincidence). I can’t think of something I’d want to do less than try to source matching PJs?! This year, I’m not even getting the kids PJ tops. They always end up wearing random t-shirts with their PJ bottoms anyway, so I decided I’d save myself a step and some money and only buy bottoms. Plus, it’s easier to find bottoms vs. sets when thrifting!
• Make gingerbread houses. NO THANK YOU! The mess. The sticky icing everywhere. And then where do you store it? We’ve put together a few kits (that other people have given us, I might add; I have never willingly sought out such torture). Ugh. The kids sort of enjoy it, but not enough to ask to do it. It’s a very fun tradition for many families, but it doesn’t have to be fun for me.
• Have a real tree. Real trees are lovely. But artificial trees are great too. And that’s what we have this year. The world is still spinning on its axis (much to Belle’s disbelief).
• Squeeze everything in before Christmas. I feel like I often fall into the trap of trying to do everything before Christmas, when there is a full week that tends to feel rather Blah in between Christmas and the New Year. I’m determined to spread the joy of Christmas into the doldrums of late December/early January.

Your turn.

• What was your favourite Christmas tradition as a child? Now?
• Any traditions you’re mindfully opting out of this Christmas?
• What “good thing” do you do every year but secretly dread?
• Do you buy/wear matching PJs and decorate gingerbread houses (or Christmas cookies) every year?

Header photo by Isabela Kronemberger on Unsplash