Say What? Christmas Already?

Christmas is coming – are you ready?

Don’t feel bad; neither are we.

Oh sure, my mother in law has been QVC-ing her little heart out since August in anticipation of the winter holidays, of which my family celebrates several (Christmas and Hannukah are the first two that come to mind). And yes, I admit to having purchased a few more miniature homes for my already quite elaborate Christmas Village scene.

But other than Example Numero Uno above (hyper-ready) and Example Dos (me…the eternally lagging behind daughter-in-law who makes weird sporadic purchases), I know of very few examples of families that are actually ready to start thinking about Christmas…much that have everything wrapped up in, well, one big shiny bow.

Now, around here we absolutely love holidays – can you tell? We really are the crazies that look forward to Halloween in August and start planning the Thanksgiving meal the minute the leaves begin to turn. So I’m not knocking preparedness, but honestly…have you seen how the past few years, the Christmas commercials roll out like a tsunami alongside the first styrofoam pumpkins and orange-wrapped Snickers of autumn?

We’re talking as much as three months in advance of the Season of Joy…and let’s not forget the Christmas in July and August specials. Whew.

Who’s ready?

Not us.

And you know what? We’re thrilled anyway! Because folks. Christmas is coming! That uber-busy, occasionally too expensive, rushed, crazy, and delightful time of year everyone loves so much is right on our heels, and ready or not, we are going to have one fabulous time. We know you will too.

Fun choices, less stress. Click for holiday party decor ideas.

Here’s a little secret I’ve learned: the winter holidays are not about getting in every last possible gift, decoration and Hallmark-esque smile by Dec. 25 or bust. They’re about celebrating together with what we have, and making the season bright with our smiles, our half-burned cooking (raising hand and shifting eyes with embarrassment over here), our impromptu family get togethers where someone invariably brings the gross ambrosia salad and someone else ends up crying (usually a child but not always), the holiday songs we remember nine tenths of and improvise with hilarious made up words for the other tenth.

Fear not, dear readers. If you feel very, well, unready, help is on the way. We’ll be loading up this site with tips on putting together very special holidays without crushing your budget and without stress and strain.

There are so many options when it comes to having a fun holiday season. It’s up to you to pick those that work for you – not drive yourself crazy trying to ensure a Christmas that rivals the Waltons in feeling and the Kardashians in expenditures. Again: you do what you can with what you have. And you enjoy. You laugh a lot. You get together with family. You make mistakes. Those mistakes go lovingly into a scrapbook because you never want to forget them…and the giggles that followed.

That’s the spirit of the season.

Merry Christmas a little early, folks. I’m off now to hunt down a great deal on wrapping paper. And you know I’ll be back to spread the word once I find it. 😉 Now where did I put that debit card?