Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Good Morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Speaker 1: Today's tip is to realize that while some folks get
Speaker 1: into simplifying the holidays, sometimes making a big production can
Speaker 1: be a lot of fun. Special occasions are a great
Speaker 1: opportunity to do that. Every year, around this time I
Speaker 1: start seeing an avalanche of headlines about how to simplify
Speaker 1: the holidays. The usual narrative is that we're all so
Speaker 1: busy and put upon that adding the holidays to the
Speaker 1: mix is an invitation to go crazy, so we should
Speaker 1: pare down. Don't host that party, don't go to that party.
Speaker 1: You don't have to send cards, you don't have to decorate,
Speaker 1: don't give many gifts, and of course you don't have
Speaker 1: to do any of these things. And plenty of people
Speaker 1: don't celebrate the various December holidays anyway. But this line
Speaker 1: of reasoning always strikes me as a bit bah humbug.
Speaker 1: I mean, maybe there are people out there with such
Speaker 1: fabulous social lives that they really can't pack in, say,
Speaker 1: half a dozen extra things over the course of four
Speaker 1: weeks of December. And maybe there are people who shoulder
Speaker 1: the entire load of doing all the planning and gift
Speaker 1: buying and such for their families. And if that's so,
Speaker 1: the answer is to share this, which is one way
Speaker 1: to streamline the holidays. But in general, most festivities associated
Speaker 1: with the holidays are well fun. It's fun to see
Speaker 1: sparkling lights and eat special dishes. It's fun to see
Speaker 1: people we haven't seen in a while, especially when they're
Speaker 1: all cleaned up and looking their best. Yes, people can
Speaker 1: build all sorts of emotions and expectations into gift giving,
Speaker 1: but the reason formal gift giving has evolved as a
Speaker 1: custom all over the world is that it really does
Speaker 1: cement relationships. Maybe it doesn't make logical sense that if
Speaker 1: you and I both give each other fairly similar bottles
Speaker 1: of wine will feel different about each other, But the
Speaker 1: truth is we will, So why not acknowledge that and
Speaker 1: make the most of it. Now. I'm no Martha Stewart,
Speaker 1: but I do love seeing our tree with all the ornaments.
Speaker 1: I love our matching stockings embroidered with each of our names,
Speaker 1: And now I'm thinking how I can get a matching
Speaker 1: one for the new little baby when he comes. I
Speaker 1: make a holiday fun list every year with things like
Speaker 1: going to the Nutcracker, going to a local model train display,
Speaker 1: and seeing my kids perform in the church's Christmas pageant.
Speaker 1: Ordering and wrapping presents is a lot of work, but
Speaker 1: my husband and I split this and it's exciting to
Speaker 1: see the happy faces on Christmas morning. And here's the
Speaker 1: thing about it being a lot of work. Just like
Speaker 1: with our recent episode on making those holiday trips, part
Speaker 1: of wisdom is recognizing that things that make us happy
Speaker 1: overall don't always make us blissful in the moment. So yes,
Speaker 1: putting the kids in the car to go see Holida
Speaker 1: lights takes more effort then marching through the usual routine
Speaker 1: of dinner, baths and bed. Perhaps I'd be more rested
Speaker 1: just doing the ladder, But what on earth am I
Speaker 1: saving this energy for. It's hard to imagine the upside
Speaker 1: of getting to January and thinking few, Thank goodness, I
Speaker 1: didn't do anything. So I will not be simplifying the holidays.
Speaker 1: I'll probably go a bit overboard as usual. But the
Speaker 1: definition of special occasions is that they are special. They
Speaker 1: don't happen all the time, so why not make the
Speaker 1: most of them in the meantime. This is Laura thanks
Speaker 1: for listening, and here's to making the most of our time.
Speaker 1: Hey everybody, I'd love to hear from you. You can
Speaker 1: send me your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just
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Speaker 1: Breakfast pod. That's B the number four, then Breakfast p
Speaker 1: o D. You can also shoot me an email at
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Speaker 1: Before Breakfast is spelled out with all the letters. Thanks
Speaker 1: so much, I look forward to staying in touch. Before
Speaker 1: Breakfast is a production of I heart Radio. For more
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