Your One-Stop Shop for Holiday Merry-Making

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Abstract

ying to do as much as I can. When I can’t do something, I just let it go and move to another item on my handy dandy merry-making holiday list.</p><h2 id="00c2">Now, let’s get to the merry-making list to end all merry-making lists… until I write one next year.</h2><ol><li>Make and decorate homemade ornaments. My favorite recipe is a cinnamon ornament recipe involving applesauce, cinnamon, and glue. It’s easy to make, and we used cookie cutters to make holiday shapes and also traced my children’s hands to hang on the tree. These ornaments can be decorated or left plain to hang on the tree.</li><li>String popcorn to hang on the tree.</li><li>Take a pine cone, coat it in peanut butter, and roll it in birdseed. Then take it outside as a gift to the birds and squirrels and other wildlife that may pass our way.</li><li>Decorate a tree.</li><li>Go see holiday lights.</li><li>Make, and drink, homemade hot chocolate.</li><li>Make homemade marshmallows (for the homemade hot chocolate).</li><li>Go see a holiday-themed play.</li><li>Go caroling. Yes, I know that people don’t do this anymore. Bring it back. Go caroling at a hospital or nursing home or assisted living facility. Carol at schools or churches or in your neighborhood. Grab a few friends, and please, please, please bring this back! I, personally, cannot bring it back due to a spectacular lack of singing ability; let me tell you it would not bring about holiday cheer if I went around caterwauling at the neighbors.</li><li>Go see Santa Claus. We are never too old to believe in magic.</li><li>Take a Polar Express train ride.</li><li>Have a holiday movie night complete with pajamas.</li><li>Make and decorate holiday cookies.</li><li>Make and decorate gingerbread people.</li><li>Bake loaves of bread- one for home and one to share with others. (We can make homemade garlic butter or honey butter or jam to go along with it.)</li><li>Hang up lights. Even in apartments, we can hang a string of lights inside.</li><li>Make homemade seasonal potpourri. Simply put orange peels and apple slices along with a cinnamon stick on the stove to simmer or in a rice cooker (or crockpot) and enjoy. (This also makes a wonderful herbal tea. Add honey for sweetness.)</li><li>Go see a holiday ballet.</li><li>Go to a holiday concert.</li><li>Attend a holiday parade.</li><li>Visit a holiday-themed shop or village.</li><li>Send out handwritten holiday cards.</li><li>Have a little fun with the Elf on the Shelf or Reindeer on the Roof.</li><li>Take holiday pajama pictures.</li><li>Watch every Hallmark Christmas movie. (There’s even a drinking game you can play while watching. Check out Pinterest for more details.)</li><li>Watch a favorite holiday movie from childhood.</li><li>Read a holiday-themed book aloud as a family (or to yourself). There are so many good choices. How the Grinch Stole Christmas, A Christmas Carol, The Velveteen Rabbit, The Nutcracker, and more!</li><li>Listen to a holiday album.</li><li>Sing loudly to Christmas carols while driving.</li><li>Pass out candy canes throughout the day to family, friends, and even strangers.</li><li>Smile and wish people a Happy Holiday, Seasons Greetings, or another holiday greeting (ignore any controversy this may incite and hug that holiday spirit tighter

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).</li><li>Buy a holiday snow globe to admire.</li><li>Make homemade holiday gifts to hand out.</li><li>Learn about the holiday traditions of other families and cultures.</li><li>Choose a new ornament that represents your year.</li></ol><h2 id="bb1f">So often as adults, we look at the holiday season as being something for the children.</h2><p id="450d">We tell them about Santa Claus and act like we are too old to believe. We make their holiday magical while we struggle with budgets and obligations and forget that we need some of that magic, too.</p><p id="5b06">We’re not too old or too responsible to feel unbridled joy at the singing of carols or to get positively gleeful about holiday lights or a special holiday performance. We’re allowed to indulge in what is looked at as childlike joy any time of year but most especially during the holidays.</p><p id="d207">I am checking as many things off the list as I can reasonably manage. When this time of year is gone, I won’t be able to go back and recapture some of the joy for myself. All I can do is make memories now.</p><p id="4be8">Whatever we’re going through, we can still look for ways to make the holidays magical for our children- and for our inner child who still needs each holiday to be merry and bright.</p><p id="7ea6">Read more like this:</p><div id="dbe9" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/winter-introvert-style-bd5169e77160"> <div> <div> <h2>Winter, Introvert-Style</h2> <div><h3>To say I am an introvert might be understating it. I’m one of the 1–2% of the population who identify as INFJ on the…</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*BjXLlZDCW88YsX0LXblqMw.jpeg)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><div id="96e2" class="link-block"> <a href="https://psiloveyou.xyz/hallmark-movies-are-relationshipgoals-ae7f97a6e646"> <div> <div> <h2>Hallmark Movies are Relationship Goals</h2> <div><h3>Let me just say: there is no shame in my Hallmark game.</h3></div> <div><p>psiloveyou.xyz</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*dTIajIXBzepCCtOvAsz6ZA.jpeg)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><div id="7073" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/epic-holiday-fails-and-how-to-avoid-them-7ea77d333c3e"> <div> <div> <h2>Epic Holiday Fails and How to Avoid Them</h2> <div><h3>The holiday season is here again. We all seem to be besieged by lists, bright lights, and Mariah Carey’s All I Want for…</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*2Dk7rWLgnms61Pl5McwZew.jpeg)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div></article></body>

Plus 5 Pro Tips for the Overwhelmed

There was a running joke in my family that I once married the Grinch when my family is, in fact, the Whos of Whoville. For those of you who have never seen How the Grinch Stole Christmas or read the book, you’re completely missing the whimsy and charm of this inside joke. But there was truth to it.

I’m now divorced, but in the decade that I was married, all of the holiday cheer generated in my family came from- you guessed it- yours truly! I was a one-gal Christmas parade all season long. My enthusiasm for the holiday season started early and lingered long after I had packed up the Christmas tree that I always put up and decorated by myself. I’m a person who loves celebrating. Celebrations, in general, are kind of my thing.

Perhaps we’re not all brimming with holiday cheer. In fact, the holidays are a difficult time for many people.

I think it’s important that we try to get what joy we can out of each holiday that comes around.

But before I get into my list of all the things we can do for holiday fun, I first want to offer a list for all those who already feel over-burdened and overwhelmed by the frenzied activity of the holiday season.

Choose something on the list below that appeals to you to do to celebrate the holiday. Do this one thing with intention, totally focused on enjoying it. Forget all the rest.

Say no to an obligation that doesn’t bring you joy whether that’s opting out of an extra holiday event, declining a party invitation, or simply taking on fewer responsibilities during the holiday season.

Say yes to something just for yourself. Say yes to a self-care day or a nap or a sweet treat. Say yes to time for yourself doing something you want without having to put everyone else first.

Learn to prioritize what you want for the holiday season. While most of us hate to disappoint others, if your idea of a fun holiday season isn’t going around to 8 different family members’ houses, then don’t do it. Seriously. Quit doing things you think you “have to” do. Figure out what you truly want to do that. Make it happen. Even if what you want to do is NOT celebrate at all. Take care of yourself, and let everyone else worry about themselves.

Take the toxicity out of the holiday season. If there are people who you see at the holidays who make you feel bad about who you are, don’t feel like you have to spend time with them. Instead, celebrate the season with the kind of people whose company you enjoy and who cherish time with you.

Most of us probably fall somewhere between the Grinch and Elf when it comes to the holiday season. While I know we can’t do everything at the holidays, I always enjoy trying to do as much as I can. When I can’t do something, I just let it go and move to another item on my handy dandy merry-making holiday list.

Now, let’s get to the merry-making list to end all merry-making lists… until I write one next year.

Make and decorate homemade ornaments. My favorite recipe is a cinnamon ornament recipe involving applesauce, cinnamon, and glue. It’s easy to make, and we used cookie cutters to make holiday shapes and also traced my children’s hands to hang on the tree. These ornaments can be decorated or left plain to hang on the tree.

String popcorn to hang on the tree.

Take a pine cone, coat it in peanut butter, and roll it in birdseed. Then take it outside as a gift to the birds and squirrels and other wildlife that may pass our way.

Decorate a tree.

Go see holiday lights.

Make, and drink, homemade hot chocolate.

Make homemade marshmallows (for the homemade hot chocolate).

Go see a holiday-themed play.

Go caroling. Yes, I know that people don’t do this anymore. Bring it back. Go caroling at a hospital or nursing home or assisted living facility. Carol at schools or churches or in your neighborhood. Grab a few friends, and please, please, please bring this back! I, personally, cannot bring it back due to a spectacular lack of singing ability; let me tell you it would not bring about holiday cheer if I went around caterwauling at the neighbors.

Go see Santa Claus. We are never too old to believe in magic.

Take a Polar Express train ride.

Have a holiday movie night complete with pajamas.

Make and decorate holiday cookies.

Make and decorate gingerbread people.

Bake loaves of bread- one for home and one to share with others. (We can make homemade garlic butter or honey butter or jam to go along with it.)

Hang up lights. Even in apartments, we can hang a string of lights inside.

Make homemade seasonal potpourri. Simply put orange peels and apple slices along with a cinnamon stick on the stove to simmer or in a rice cooker (or crockpot) and enjoy. (This also makes a wonderful herbal tea. Add honey for sweetness.)

Go see a holiday ballet.

Go to a holiday concert.

Attend a holiday parade.

Visit a holiday-themed shop or village.

Send out handwritten holiday cards.

Have a little fun with the Elf on the Shelf or Reindeer on the Roof.

Take holiday pajama pictures.

Watch every Hallmark Christmas movie. (There’s even a drinking game you can play while watching. Check out Pinterest for more details.)

Watch a favorite holiday movie from childhood.

Read a holiday-themed book aloud as a family (or to yourself). There are so many good choices. How the Grinch Stole Christmas, A Christmas Carol, The Velveteen Rabbit, The Nutcracker, and more!

Listen to a holiday album.

Sing loudly to Christmas carols while driving.

Pass out candy canes throughout the day to family, friends, and even strangers.

Smile and wish people a Happy Holiday, Seasons Greetings, or another holiday greeting (ignore any controversy this may incite and hug that holiday spirit tighter).

Buy a holiday snow globe to admire.

Make homemade holiday gifts to hand out.

Learn about the holiday traditions of other families and cultures.

Choose a new ornament that represents your year.

So often as adults, we look at the holiday season as being something for the children.

We tell them about Santa Claus and act like we are too old to believe. We make their holiday magical while we struggle with budgets and obligations and forget that we need some of that magic, too.

We’re not too old or too responsible to feel unbridled joy at the singing of carols or to get positively gleeful about holiday lights or a special holiday performance. We’re allowed to indulge in what is looked at as childlike joy any time of year but most especially during the holidays.

I am checking as many things off the list as I can reasonably manage. When this time of year is gone, I won’t be able to go back and recapture some of the joy for myself. All I can do is make memories now.

Whatever we’re going through, we can still look for ways to make the holidays magical for our children- and for our inner child who still needs each holiday to be merry and bright.