Preparing for a Stress Free Holiday Season

“Don’t Let the Holidays Stress You Out”

Thanksgiving is behind us and now that December is in full swing, holiday decorations abound.  Where I live, we have plenty of snow on the ground to get one into the holiday mood.  As I work around the house or take time for my hobbies, I love to listen to all types of holiday music.  In fact, I am listening to music as I type this newsletter. I truly find this time of year uplifting and joyful, but it was not always that way.

When I was younger, worked full time and our four children were in elementary school, I found this time of year very stressful.  I felt obligated to come up with a unique Christmas gift for my sixth grade students to make for their parents.  There were always Christmas cards to send out, baking to do and house decorating.  To top it off, our two oldest children have early December birthdays.  While everyone else was Christmas shopping on Black Friday, I was scrambling to buy birthday gifts.  Then I had to get birthday cakes and sometimes plan a birthday party.  I remember that one year I did not even do my Christmas shopping until December 23^rd, followed by marathon gift-wrapping.

Now that we are retired, I have simplified what I do this time of year so that we can enjoy ourselves.  I still make sure the birthday and Christmas presents are taken care of and I still send out Christmas cards.  The only holiday baking I do these days is making my husband his favorite cookie-sugar cookies in shapes with frosting and sprinkles on top.  I made myself five simple rules I follow each year to make the holidays fun, enjoyable and relaxing.

My 5 Holiday Rules

Rule #1: I will not go into debt for the holidays.  How do I manage this?  On January 1^st, I set a budget for the following Christmas.  Our children are grown and our grandchildren are way beyond the toys stage.  They all know they will be getting money from us as well as one thought out gift.  I divide the amount of money I have budgeted by ten and each month I set aside that amount.

Rule #2: I do not leave all my shopping until November and December.  All of our children and grandchildren are very easy to shop for.  Therefore, throughout the year I pick up gifts I know I am going to give.  By December 1^st, all I have to do is wrap everything.

Rule #3: I make my own holiday cards.  This is one of my hobbies.  I design them in January and purchase the supplies I will need.  Our list is not long, only about 35 people including immediate family.  On rainy days in the spring and fall, I make the cards.  That way they are ready to sign and address mid-November.

Rule #4: We do not try to spend Christmas day with everyone.  Our four children live in three different locations and we are at least three hours away from the closest ones.  In order to spend some quality holiday time with them all, I work around their schedules.   It makes each of the visits very personal and special.

Rule #5: Be spontaneous.  Because we are not stressed and plan ahead, we have time to do anything else the season has to offer.  If we are invited to a party, we have time to go.  If we want to get away some place for a few days, we can. 

There are some wonderful sites to give you ideas for decorating, cooking, etc. Some of my favorites are:

https://lollyjane.com/christmas-tree-stand-ideas/ allthingschristmas.com christmascountdown.co.uk

Of course, I get many of my ideas from Pinterest-from recipes, ideas for homemade gifts and card making.

No matter where and how you spend this time of year, try to take the stress it can cause away by planning ahead.

Finally, if you are interested in reading a wonderful and uplifting holiday themed novel, head over to Amazon.com and check out the Christian romance novel, “The Town Named Christmas,” by author Ruth Kyser. It is a great read for this time of year.

What would the holidays be without sharing a recipe. This is one I have never made but am always in the hunt to try something new.

As you may or may not be able to tell, my husband is of Polish decent.  One of the things I want to do this holiday season is make a special Polish cookie for him and our children and grandchildren.  It is something his father used to try to describe to me but did not remember what it was called.  His father’s mother always made them at Christmas time.  Thanks to one of my high school classmates, who is also of Polish decent, I recently found out what they are called and how to make them.  They are Kolaczki (pronounced Koh-lah-ch-ki) and are not hard to make so I decided to try them.  I am gathering all the ingredients this week and then will make them.  I thought I would share the recipe with all of you.  They are not the most calorie friendly, but after all, it is the holidays.

                 Kolaczki Recipe

                    PASTRY

1 ½ cups butter

3 cups flour

½ tsp. salt

Cream the cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy

Stir in flour and salt

Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill for an hour

Preheat oven to 350°

FILLING

¾ cup dried apricots (or dried fruit of your choice)

1 ½ cups water

2 Tbs. sugar

1 tsp. lemon juice

Add apricots and water to a saucepan

Add 2 Tbs. sugar.

Simmer until tender (about 15 minutes)

Mash or puree in blender

Roll out the dough by first dusting the surface with sugar

Roll to ¼ inch and cut into 2 inch squares

Place a teaspoon of filling in the center of each square and fold over opposite corners and seal well

Bake for 15 minutes or until corners just begin to brown

Cool and dust with powdered sugar

If you would like to see more recipes that I will be including in future posts, be sure to sign up for my newsletter at the bottom of this post.

“Warmest thoughts and best wishes for a joyful Holiday season.”