“I regretfully cannot make it.”
Say it with me, “No.”
“Let’s catch up after the New Year!”
Or maybe just the classic, “Hell no! We won’t go!” If you’re feeling spicy.
This is your permission to ABANDON HOLIDAY BURNOUT! Give yourself the gift of sanity, Mama. We all know what’s ahead in the last six weeks of the calendar year. CHAOS. Yes, we know there will be joy-abound and memories to cherish, but those will be the on-stage moments when the curtain is wide open, hair and make-up done, and a wine-stained smile on our dark-circle-eye face. The “backstage” of our lives will be the hustle of a 7 am trip to pick up the cookies for the office lunch before Thanksgiving holiday leave, the 9 pm purchase of a gift card for your kiddo’s teacher, the mad dash to prep a dip for your gal pal gift exchange night, and the holly jolly that will be decking halls, seeing lights, and hitting the season’s events, all while making sure we snap pictures. And my household has the added events that come with my son’s December birthday. As Frank Costanza says, “SERENITY NOW!”
Do I love the holidays? Yes. Am I willing to forfeit my sanity for them? No. We must preserve the helm of our household ship, Mamas! There is life to be lived on January 2nd and beyond. We are the captains, keeping everything afloat, and we mustn’t forget that after all the hubbub and shuffling, there will still be a home, a family, and a whole being of our own selves to tend to and help do more than simply survive. Leave a quarter-tank in the reserve, gals! At the very least, make sure you hold space for the “things” that make you feel calm and human – workouts, walks outdoors, reading in the tub, whatever USUALLY floats you through a week in the other ten months of the year. Don’t stop doing your sanity-providing routines. Also, resource your village in moments of forced toil. This is the time to ask a friend for their one cake pan you don’t have that they do own. Save a trip out to a store in all the harried craziness. And finally, remember that those events you attend don’t require you to always stay until the cows come home.
Abandon holiday burnout. Let’s catch up after the New Year! Yes, I mean it.
