Stress, Traditions, & Letting Go {Free Printables}

The following two free holiday printables are the outcome of my overthinking these past few weeks. I’ve been thinking a lot about the upcoming holidays, and stress, and attempting to do it all with so little time. And doing any of it well. And stress. And making holidays meaningful and focused on the message of the season and not shopping, cleaning, wrapping, and blogging. AND STRESS.

Christmas keeps creeping up earlier and earlier each year. There’s so much to DO. Plus all those ideas on PINTEREST. How are we supposed to fit it all in unless we start the holiday season mid-September?!

Breathe.

Before the frenzy of the season ramps up, I made a list with my family. We brainstormed all the family activities we associate with the holidays and came up with a holiday traditions list:

Find the Free Printable Holiday Traditions List Here

Quick tip: these printables are hosted on Google Docs. You simply follow the link and can either print it or download it from there.

But a list is just a list. Not all activities are created equal. Perhaps Christmas Cards stress you out– the photos, ordering, addressing, mailing– and this year you’re ready for a change. Or maybe you rode the $109 Polar Express last year and the kids were scared of the Santa, ignored the hot chocolate, and you could have had a better experience simply by riding the local SEPTA train instead for $18 roundtrip. Ahem.

My husband and I took a look at our holiday traditions and chose the ones that mean the most to us, those we wish to add this year, and the traditions we can let go. We don’t have to give them up permanently, but we decided to let a few go this year and see if they deserve to be added back later. Having this list in hand immediately gave me a sense of peace. No need to waste energy on activities and additional “to-do’s” that suck the joy from the season.

Which traditions are we letting go? We’ve decided the Polar Express is a ‘no-go’ and we’re going to take the local SEPTA train into the city to go see the Macy’s light show instead. I’m also letting go of outdoor family photos because we simply ran out of time (but it’s the FIRST thing on my list this spring!) Also, I’m not going nuts baking 8 types of cookies. Each person in our family will choose a favorite, and we’ll make them… together.

Find the Free Printable Holiday Traditions Organizer Here

What are we adding this year? Last year, Darlene from Fieldstone Hill mentioned this article about truly giving on Christmas morning (READ IT!), and it changed me. All this focus about flooding the kids with gifts isn’t the true message of the season. I was moved to seriously cut back on the gifts I’m giving the kids this year, and once they’ve opened their gifts and stockings we’re going to sit down as a family and GIVE. Give to others. We’re going to choose gifts of food and supplies for families in need, because I feel doing so better honors Jesus’ calling on His birthday. My kids love animals, so I’m going to hand them the Heifer International catalog and have them each chose a gift to give. I’m pretty sure my son will choose a water buffalo ($250) and my daughter a camel ($850), but no matter what they choose, that’s what we’ll give. Though I’m personally pulling for the honeybees ($30) and flock of geese ($20).