A Christmas Gift to Myself

Despite having a new baby this year, this Christmas is very different than my last Christmas as a mother with a new baby.

Two years ago, for my daughter’s first Christmas, I did it ALL! Baked numerous holiday goodies from scratch, went to all the Christmas markets, did holiday crafts, spent 75 hours knitting a baby blanket (that she never uses). All while I was getting maybe 4 hours of sleep, completely exhausted and overwhelmed as a new mom. I really don't know what I was thinking! But I fell for this idea of what it meant to be a mom at Christmas.

This year? It's Xmas Eve, and...
No homemade goodies.
No holiday crafts.
No stocking for our son yet.
No wrapped gifts.
Our fall wreath is still up.
We haven’t cleaned in at least a month (and that’s being generous).

You see, I decided to give myself the greatest gift of all this year. The gift of no additional pressure, stress or expectations. Instead of trying to do it all myself, we picked up some goodies at the grocery store, enlisted my mom’s help to make special Christmas ornaments for the kids, and decided the rest isn't important. We already have everything we need and I wanted to actually enjoy the holidays this year!

There is a huge spike in stress around the holiday season, especially for mothers. We spend all day cooking, baking, decorating, writing thoughtful cards, wrapping gifts…with no time for us to enjoy it all. If you're still struggling with too much to do, give yourself permission to do less. Leave those last gifts unwrapped, do those Christmas crafts after Christmas, and don't make 10 different dishes. I promise, your family will still love you and Christmas will be just as magical!

Merry Christmas, if you celebrate, and Happy Holidays to everyone!

So much love to you all,

Surabhi