It’s not unusual to get to a point in the holiday season when you decide that you’ve just had enough.  You don’t want to buy another gift for a relative you don’t even like, make small talk at another party, put up another string of lights, or bake another cookie.

When that happens, it’s good to step back and examine your feelings. Are you just tired? Would it help to take a night off, have a bubble bath and a mug of hot cider, and just deal with it all later?  Could you ask someone to help?  Unless you live alone or there is some overarching reason (like illness or business travel), preparing for the holidays should be a group effort.  Even if the results aren’t picture perfect, there’s nothing wrong with letting the kids help with the cards or the cookies or having the husband wrap his own presents or letting your roommate decorate the tree the way she likes it — even if two red ornaments are hung next to each other.

We often try to create the perfect Christmas memories but instead create only the perfect Christmas stress.  Ten years from now, no one will remember that the first batch of ginger snaps had burnt bottoms or that the outside lights didn’t get put up.  They will remember if you were too stressed to enjoy the holiday.  It’s often the silly Christmas mistakes that make the most special memories, because they remind us that, though we a mistake-prone humans, we are loved.  And isn’t that what Christmas is REALLY all about?