STRESS-FREE HOLIDAYS FOR SENIORS

Looking back on my blog history, I confirmed that I posted this piece, in one dress or another, both in 2011 and 2013. It is time to trot it out again. We all need reminders to keep the holidays sane.

National Stress-Free Holiday Month - is there such a thing as a stress-free December? Many people have begun to simplify the whole process in several ways. Some of these suggestions might work for you.  

Here’s a good topic: Decorations. To do or overdo, that is really up to you. Paring down your possessions throughout the year is the perfect strategy for cutting down on the holiday ornamentation. Pass on some of their favorite ornaments to your children and grandchildren. (They make great holiday gifts.) It can be counterproductive and a great deal of work to use all your decorative pieces just because you always have. Toss out or give away all but the real treasures you look forward to seeing again each year. To pare down even further, consider using more candles that can be used throughout the year, and fresh flowers that are very colorful but don’t require future storage.

Think about lowering your electric bill and eliminating the hassle of storing, sorting and installing outdoor lights and decorations. Select a great wreath for your front door and remember to leave the porch light on every evening until you go to bed.

Of course, the Gifts. If you’re at the base of a very large family tree you might be having a hard time just thinking of suitable gifts for everyone on those branches and twigs. It’s no longer fun when it becomes a chore going out to buy, and then wrap, and perhaps mail the gifts, or when the monetary end of it gets out of hand, especially for those on a fixed income.

Some families stop giving gifts to those married or over twenty-one, those no longer children. Some families pull names for an adult grab bag swap, in others they exchange gifts under a certain dollar amount. In many families they’ve eliminated gifts for all but those in their own households - after all, is it great fun to open them. Instead, they make a charitable contribution in the name of the whole family.

Next: Cards or Letters. Some have opted out of the holiday mailings, but if you haven’t, whichever you choose to send, you can make life easier for yourself by tackling the job early. Right after the holidays, update your card list (be ruthless!), then save money by buying your cards at the January sales. Begin working on your holiday letter as the newsworthy events occur. Start writing the cards and finish the holiday letter just after Thanksgiving. Sounds easy and, when you start early and stick to it, it is.

       

Last but not least in our hearts: Food!!  Are you still cooking the whole meal from soup to nuts? You are either a glutton for punishment or someone who really, really loves to cook. Let some of the younger generation start to hone their culinary skills. Pass the torch, and then promise to bring along your specialty: the family favorite appetizer, zesty carrots, or praline pumpkin pie. How’s that for stress-free?

Many families are choosing to have their major holiday feast cooked by others. Some have it catered and brought to the house - a great idea, but there is still the clean-up to be done. Others go all out and eat out. Many like to have a festive restaurant meal on the night before their holiday, then rest and recuperate and open some presents the next day. Many must have the main meal on the main day. Either way, you can use Google to search for restaurants in our area that will be open on the various holidays. This is the least work, the least worry all ‘round.

December is a month for all - enjoy all thirty-one days!  You can do it!        

WRAPPING PRESENTS

I suppose I should preface all of this with a Curmudgeon warning.

 

 

A few "brown paper packages tied up with strings"... 


My Christmas wrapping is finished, and a nice carton full of presents is on its way to Texas.  I must pat myself on the head this year: it wasn't a conscious effort, but I didn't buy one single thing for wrapping.  I had the tissue paper and the roll of brown builder's paper from two years ago (caution: you'd better love this heavy but very inexpensive paper because it seems to last forever. I've even used it with parti-colored yarn for wrapping birthday presents and still I've got half a roll left.) I had several editions of the Toronto Globe and Mail, brought by our son from his Canadian business trips. I had gently-used gift bags, and I had tags made from last year's Christmas cards. I've always got lots of inexpensive yarn instead of ribbons and bows. I hate stick-on bows with a passion!
Each year the shelter and decor magazines and blogs are chock full of opulently wrapped Christmas packages.  I suppose in some homes they are part of the overall decorating theme, though a turquoise or aubergine Christmas does strike an off note, and they're wrapped early enough and left lying about so that they'll be seen and admired.  Boosh-wah!  All that fancy wrapping will be ripped off and trown away.  Do you think all those fancy wrapper people recycle and reuse? Not on your old lady's corset cover!

Well, I'll climb down from off my high horse.  Old Ebenezerella Scrooge here is into a one-woman tiff - a very personal fight - with the Christmas Excess powers-that-be.  I'll not change a thing world wide, but I can express myself, can't I?

 

A STRESS-FREE HOLIDAY

 

National Stress-Free Holiday Month - is there such a thing as a stress-free December? Many families have begun to simplify the whole process in several ways, some of which might work for your own family.

An introduction to my first article might be in order here.  This is an article I wrote in response to what I see as the often hectic, even manic, process of getting ready for Christmas - here politically correctly referred to as 'the holidays'.  It really shouldn't be so stressful that once the big day arrives you are ready to collapse. Over the years I've managed to streamline things for myself, and I offer a hint or two to help make the season easier, if not brighter for Seniors - for everybody.

　
First category on our lists: Gifts! I’m sure that if you are at the base of a very large family tree you are having a hard time just thinking of suitable gifts for everyone on those branches and twigs, much less going out to buy, and then wrap and, perhaps, mail the gifts. It’s no longer fun when it becomes a chore or when the monetary end of it gets out of hand.  Some families stop giving gifts to those married or over twenty-one, those no longer children. In some families they do a grab bag swap, in others the adult exchange gifts under a certain dollar amount. Many families have eliminated gifts for all but those in their own households - after all, is it great fun to open them - and they make instead a nice charitable contribution in the name of the family.


Next: Holiday Cards. Many folks streamline the card process by having them printed with their names, and then use printed labels for the addresses. Good for them! Good for me! I then can streamline my own list by eliminating them from it. When you care to send the very least, without even a hand-written “Hi, how are you?”, it says to me that we must not mean too much to each other. Cards are one of my favorite parts of the holidays. I make, write and address them all by hand, so I am less than appreciative of the shortcuts.
Then there are those almost ubiquitous holiday letters. I read this recently: “Holiday letters are a lot like fruitcake. People either love them or hate them.” Too true! I can love ‘em or hate ‘em, depending on how well they’re done. I’ve retired friends who are great travelers and who send letters filled with wonderful pictures and highlights of their experiences. I’ve other retired friends who regale their readers with pages of the minutiae of their own, their children’s, and grandchildren’s daily lives - boring, to be truthful. Can you guess which ones I keep and which I toss right out? 

Cards or letters, you can make life easier for yourself by tackling the job early - everything begins in January. Update your card list early in the new year (be ruthless!), then save money by buying your cards at the January sales. Begin working on your holiday letter as the newsworthy events occur. Start writing the cards and wrapping up the holiday letter just after Thanksgiving. Sounds easy and, when you start early and stick to it, it is.

Here’s a good topic: Decorations. To do or over-do, that is up to you. When we moved to Sun City, though our house here is bigger, it was the perfect opportunity to cut down on the ornamentation. I passed on their favorite ornaments to our children, and gave away a lot of the extraneous décor. What I kept, for indoors and out, now fits in three 14-gallon totes. This year I may decide to pare down even further, using more fresh flowers because they don’t require future storage! It can be counterproductive to use all your decorative pieces just because you always have. Pass most of them down, cull out a lot, and cherish the very best of the rest. It’s always fun to pull out the decorations, saying hello to old favorites. It’s less fun to have to take everything down, dust it all off, find the right boxes, and pack it up again. Revel in the simplicity of minimal décor and less to store! Oh - that rhymes!


Last, but not least in our hearts: Food!! Are you still cooking the whole meal from soup to nuts? You are either a glutton for punishment or a control freak. Let some of the younger generation start to hone their culinary skills. Pass the torch, and then promise to bring along your specialty - the family favorite appetizer, zesty carrots, or praline pumpkin pie. How’s that for stress-free!?
Many families are choosing to have their major holiday feast cooked by others. Some have it catered and brought to the house - a great idea, but there is still the clean-up to be done. Others go all out and go out. Many like to have a festive restaurant meal on the night before, then rest and recuperate and open some presents the next day. Many must have the main meal on the main day. Either way, you can use Google to search for restaurants in our area that will be open on the various holidays. This is the least work, the least worry all ‘round.


December is a month for all - enjoy all thirty-one days! You can do it!

(originally entered December 5, 2010)