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Daria

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25 comments on NaBloPoMo day 22: not feeling festive *yet*

NaBloPoMo day 22: not feeling festive *yet*

Kelsey from Rising*Shining is amazing. I love her blog, love her style of writing, love her podcast and I want to be her friend. She just doesn’t know it yet lol

After listening to Kelsey’s audio blog and then reading the actual blog on her holiday prepping, I found myself feeling 1. kind of jealous, 2. a little overwhelmed and 3. relatively inferior.

Every year I strive to be the memories-creator for my family. And while I am sure the kids enjoy whatever we do, and our Christmas is pretty great, when I read posts like Kelsey’s, I feel like I could + should do more. More fun. More baking. More outings. More games. More decorating. More, more, more.

Kelsey’s birthday is in December. Her son’s birthday is in December. That’s ON TOP of all the other holidays. Yet, her approach is so very calm and collected that I figured I should sit down and kind of “lay out” how our holidays will look like.

Thanksgiving. Just us four and our two good friends. We have four days off (including the weekend) and I want to catch up on blogs, spend some time with the family, and get some Christmas shopping done.

A throwback from 2017: I’m pregnant with L and my dad was visiting from Russia 🙂

L’s birthday is the week after Thanksgiving. It will not be a big party (as opposed to last year) so it will be pretty manageable. She is very clear on what she wants – a make up kit and a craft kit! Easy enough, right?

Christmas. Kind of low key: ONE get together with friends to celebrate (sometime in December). Read Dickens’ Ghost stories the whole month of December – I have bought this book in England when I was 16 and I still have it!

Make cookies, once or twice since we are not really a “baking” family. My mom rarely baked so I never acquired the love for baking.

See the Nutcracker with L. Some Christmas movies. Walks to see the lights in our neighborhood. Longwood Gardens to see the lights but I haven’t bought the tickets yet so it’s still a maybe.

Open one present on Christmas Eve. Read T’was the Night Before Christmas on Christmas Eve as a family.

Christmas day: open presents, and see the kids enjoy their presents.

One element is missing: T’s and my family. Well, we will not be getting together with them since 1. my folks live in Russia and 2. T’s mom lives in Maine. Both of us have very complicated and volatile relationships with out respective families so we will not be seeing them for the holidays due to a multitude of factors.

What about YOU? How do holidays look like in your part of the world? What plans do you have?

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Daria

Mother, teacher, partner, friend. I love coffee, books, and travel with and without kids. I dislike exercise. Nothing glamorous here but do have moments of insight.

25 responses to “NaBloPoMo day 22: not feeling festive *yet*”

  1. San Avatar
    San

    Jon and I have spent many Christmases alone and it can be fun and special. It sounds like you have a few fun things lined up. It’s kinda sad to not spend the holidays with family but I understand that things can be complicated (or people just really far away).

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  2. Grateful Kae Avatar
    Grateful Kae

    I also totally love Kelsey but also felt a little bit bad/disorganized after reading that post! I know that wasn’t her intention in the slightest and she certainly did nothing wrong with it! But I just felt like, wow, this is all so intentional and well thought through and I’m over here totally flying by the seat of my pants! Haha!! I love Christmas very much as she seems to but I don’t know, I just never can manage to organize it well enough. There’s just too many “regular life things” always going on in this season (swim meets, birthdays, etc.) that I can’t quite slow down enough to also intentionally plan the holidays. We end up usually doing plenty and it all works out, but definitely just not quite that organized.

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    1. Daria Avatar
      Daria

      I’m in the same boat- we do some stuff but much of it is not organized. Maybe that’s it- next year I will try to approach the holidays in a more organized way.

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  3. Tina Avatar
    Tina

    Hang in there, it sounds like you have wonderful plans for the holidays. I think it’s hard to live up to what others do, everyone’s lives are so different that it seems like we are letting our loved ones down by not doing everything. Every year I feel a little let down because I didn’t get to do everything I had on a list or whatever. I have to learn to just let it go. No one seems to notice anything missing and we do fill our days with enough stuff that maybe missing out on one or two things isn’t so bad. We have the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, putting up the tree and decorations, a full weekend of baking, an extended family Christmas dinner, then Christmas eve appetizers and Christmas movies, Christmas morning stockings and then dinner with immediate family. Not sure how we can fit more in there.

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    1. Daria Avatar
      Daria

      Sounds wonderful, Tina!!

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  4. J Avatar
    J

    Whew, you are going to be busy, and I went and read the blog you mentioned, and wow, they are going to be busy as well. It sounds like she is a very social person, very involved in her community, which is fabulous. She said she kind of likes to lay low for her birthday…that’s me, too. My birthday is after Christmas, and by the time we get there I’ve pretty much lost interest in any sort of party.

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    1. Daria Avatar
      Daria

      Hey Julie, thanks for sharing! I feel the need to be more involved with my local community but *sigh* need to find the time.

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  5. Coco Avatar
    Coco

    i’m in a muslim country so not holidays for locals. Will try to do some activities for the kids though, like advent calendar.

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    1. Daria Avatar
      Daria

      We have advent calendars, too! Aren’t they fun? R has a small toy car one, and L has a jewelry beads. I think I’m gonna treat myself to the sephora one.

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    2. Irena Avatar
      Irena

      We had a very cozy Thanksgiving, as usual, just our family. I cooked a bird (chicken), mash potatoes (sweet and regular), cranberry sauce, and baked a pumpkin pie (was baked a weekend before and frozen for Thanksgiving). We watched little bit of Macy’s day parade – I spent a year in NY for my undergrad, and love watching them marching through the city 🙂 the boys got claimed their screen time, so everyone was happy at the end 🙂 both of parents live overseas, so we got used to it being just us around the holidays.
      As much as I always want to do more of different things, my family has tought me over the years to slow down and the simple things and our togetherness 🙂 it is so easy to fill the calendars with so many festive things, but I try to remember that every time I say yes to yet another thing/activity, it means I am saying no to a quite morning/afternoon at home-something that my hubby and I value a lot.

      So this year there will be fewer activities (just one fun outing per weekend) and more cozy time at home. Also since one of my kids is gluten free, going somewhere/anywhere outside of home requires a lot of planning!! For example, if he is invited to a birthday, I always bring my own gluten free pizza and dessert for him. If we brouse around town and want to stop for tea/coffee/bathroom, it means I need to have a gluten free snack prepared and ready with me. So since nearly all activities around this time of the year come with serving sugar cookies, I need to spend my energy wisely. Because distracting my kid while sneaking/bringing my own cookies takes some energy :))

      In terms of my Elf days, I usually take one day off while the kids are at school and spend it very selfishly cozying up in the Barnes & Nobles with a few good books, which I dont have to buy. I simply read them and then put back on a shelf 😉 hubby isually takes care of the Christmas gifts for the boys, so I am off the hook 🙂 my job which i very much enjoy consists of prepping the house for the holidays, and making sure we have enough snacks, fruit, and food so we donr have to get out from our cozy nest :))

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      1. Daria Avatar
        Daria

        Hi Irena, thank you so much for writing your reflection. I enjoyed reading it! It is always nice to see what other people do. Your holidays sounds so cozy!

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  6. Elisabeth Avatar
    Elisabeth

    Thanks for posting this Daria. I also read that holiday planning post and I also felt overwhelmed. I agree – Kelsey is AMAZING and I loved the post, but I also felt a bit defeated by the end because I am just a) not as prepared and b) don’t have nearly as many festive plans.

    But that’s okay. There are lots of “good” things to do over the holidays and I can’t do them all. I’m trying to embrace that and realize that everyone’s celebrations look different. Plus some of the things she likes to do, I’d objectively hate. Hosting all sorts of people for Jingle All the Way To School? SO FUN. Also, so. not. me.

    Thought that gingerbread cake with the sifted icing sugar = #LifeGoals. It is sooooo cute!

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    1. Daria Avatar
      Daria

      I love what you said, Elisabeth! Glad to hear I’m not the only one 🙂

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  7. Ernie Avatar
    Ernie

    I think your plan for the holidays will be lovely. I never did a ton of activities geared toward Christmas but my kids have great memories doing whatever we did. I think it is hard to not compare yourself to others who are super organized, but I also think there is much to be said for keeping things simple. We often got together with cousins and made Christmas cookies when the kids were young. What if you invite some friends over to decorate cookies? Perhaps that could be a fun new tradition. Simple but fun.

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    1. Daria Avatar
      Daria

      I need a simple sugar cookie recipe… so I can make them with the kids.

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  8. Lisa’s Yarns Avatar
    Lisa’s Yarns

    I enjoy Kelsey’s posts and content but keep in mind she doesn’t work outside the home! I know she has side project she works on but it’s different than working outside the home 40+ hours/week. I didn’t read her holiday organization post – sounds like it’s good that I didn’t since others felt guilt after reading it. Will’s bday is next week so December is a busy time for us. I just ordered his gift this week! So we are not exactly on top of things over here but we are kind of team ‘good enough’. We are under buyers for birthdays and Christmas though so that simplifies things quite a bit. So all that said, while Kelsey’s approach is aspirational, don’t ‘should’ all over yourself!!

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    1. Daria Avatar
      Daria

      Don’t should over yourself LOLOLOLOL I love it. And you are making such a good point- I do work outside of the house 40+ hours a week.

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  9. NGS Avatar
    NGS

    We have three “big” events for December and on Christmas Day we’ll head to my husband’s family’s get together. I will say that splitting time with our families for the holidays is probably our biggest marital issue and I don’t like to think about it too much. But I’m not really in the holiday spirit very much these days, yet. Maye some inspiration will strike me this weekend.

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    1. Daria Avatar
      Daria

      So I guess it’s a bit of a silver lining- neither T nor I visit our families so we don’t have a discussion “you get this, and I get that.” I do get jealous of people with “normal” families. But then again, what is “normal”?

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  10. Diane Avatar
    Diane

    Sometimes I work in November/December and sometimes I don’t, but the years where I am working (like this year), I feel like I’m playing catch up and barely manage to make it to Christmas. But also… when I plan lots of activities over the holidays – it just feels like too much. Too many weeknights out, too many plans on the weekends, too many things to check off the to do list. Not enough time to be home and cozy and rest. I think this also has to do with the fact that it gets dark out so much earlier so anything we do on a weeknight evening is going to feel late, even when we are home by 6:30pm.
    I sometimes feel wistful that I didn’t get to this activity or do that special thing, but I think I also need to remember that that hanging out at home and reading Christmas books with the kids after dinner might also be a very valid memory making activity.
    I think you have some very thoughtful plans and intentions mapped out for this holiday season!

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    1. Daria Avatar
      Daria

      Hi Diane! Thanks for stopping by. Wistful is a good way to describe my feelings, too…

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  11. Melissa Avatar
    Melissa

    I am still travelling and have done no preparations and have made no plans for Christmas. Actually I have my work Christmas party invitation in my inbox that I need to reply to. Luckily my kids are adults and only one is at home. I will do some things for Christmas but I haven’t even thought much about it at all. The first thing I need to do when I get home is book somewhere for a family dinner to celebrate my birthday which is early December. So when if you’re still feeling inferior you can compare yourself to me instead of Kelsey.

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    1. Daria Avatar
      Daria

      Happy almost birthday!! Your travels look incredible!

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  12. Stephany Avatar
    Stephany

    I think we all approach the holidays differently, and all that really matters is that you enjoy yourself and make lovely memories with your kids. I don’t remember my mom going all out with holiday events, but she made the holiday season so special in her own way. That’s the most important thing! And, like Lisa said, Kelsey is not a working mom so she has the time and energy to do all of these extra things!

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    1. Daria Avatar
      Daria

      Yes! All of what you wrote makes sense. I wonder what your mom did?

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