Have you ever heard the phrase “May-cember?” I just heard it said for the first time this past spring. A friend explained it to me as a phrase to sum up how crazy life gets at the end-of-school-year, like at Christmas time but without the holiday cheer.
I totally get this reference - and not just as a past teacher who had to cram in assessments, conferences, student projects, and graduations all into a three week chunk! As Felicia just mentioned in our last podcast chat, those months ending in ‘“ber” get filled to the brim with all of our obligations that just pile up on top of each other.
School starts in September, then we’re off to the pumpkin patch in October, and then all the eating and gathering holidays get here faster than we ever expect them. While there’s lots of fun to be had, there’s also lots of potential for holiday stress that can add up too. It’d be impossible to say “Yes!” to every single form of holiday fun and celebration - it’d be a recipe for parental burnout for adults, and our kids. Both as a parent and as a teacher, I’ve seen myself falling prey to illness easiest when I have been stressed, tired, and overworked. That’s the last thing any of us wants during the holiday season!
Luckily, we don’t actually have to stress ourselves out trying to do all of the things for every single holiday. We get to stop and gauge what we want and what’s realistic, for our family and our energy level, and find ways to simplify the holidays that still give us lots and lots of joy despite doing less during the holidays
One of the simplest ways: look to “The 3 Things Rule”
Felicia summed this up perfectly during our chat, and I want to replay her sound byte every morning during the month of December! She said that holiday magic doesn’t live in the things that are shiny and new every year. The magic comes from nostalgia, repetition, and settling into the familiar. Basically we feel the holiday magic when we let ourselves do whatever it is we enjoy most during this time of year. It happens when we indulge in the things that make it feel like that special time of year.
For example, if you are like Felicia’s family, and the three things that make December feel special to you are baking, seeing lights, and drinking hot cocoa, then finding time to do those three simple things can create that feeling. When we look at it that way, anything else that happens on top of becomes an awesome extra! But if nothing else happens, you can feel good knowing that you’ve done what matters.
The 3 Things Rule:
1. Pick 3 traditions that define the holiday feeling for you.
2. Put them on the calendar.
3. Everything else is just 'extra credit.'
When we limit our "must-do" list to just three meaningful “want to do” traditions, we aren't being lazy - we’re giving ourselves a better shot at feeling the holiday magic. It’s a way to ensure that there will be time and energy to actually enjoy the hot cocoa - not just cram it into an open time slot in your busy schedule for the sake of checking it off your holiday to-do list.
I want you to take a few minutes, grab a sticky note, and write down your three things. That’s your list - your beautiful, achievable, plenty-good-enough to be magical list. Give yourself permission to do less, and see if it doesn't actually feel like a whole lot more.
(Want to hear Felicia and I chat more about the specific ways we declutter our holiday obligations? Listen to the full podcast episode here.)
