·

How to Have a Peaceful Holiday This Year

Christmas brings so much joy and activity–but what happens when that joy gives way to stress and overwhelm. The season is much too short to spend it stressed out. This year, let’s have a more peaceful holiday.

We’ve gone too far sometimes and loaded our holiday plates too full. We need to prioritize the Christmas season and decide what’s most important before the season gets away and leaves us in a total funk.

I’ve had Christmases like that. The ones where I’m overwhelmed for 3/4 of December, Christmas day hits before I’m prepared, and I’m so bummed I’ve let it get so crazy!

Learning Well LLC is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Affiliate links from Amazon or other programs are used on this website. For more info, please refer to our disclosure statement.

For me, I want this year to be different than those overwhelmed years. I want a peaceful holiday. And I know you do too.

The Christmas season is much too short to spend it stressed out. Here are 12 easy ways you can implement to have a more peaceful holiday this year.

This week on the podcast, I’m talking about 12 ways we can create more peace in our holiday season this year.

Get the 6 Secrets to a Simpler Mom Life

12 Ways to Have a Peaceful Holiday


 1.  Rethinking Traditions – traditions all start as something fun and happy until they became a source of stress trying to hold up forty different traditions crammed into a month.  Ask yourself:  Would anyone even notice if we no longer did this? And, which of these traditions stresses me out the most?

2.  Don’t Travel – take some time with your spouse and reassess if the stress of traveling over the holidays is worth it to you.  It’s your decision for your family, you don’t have to please the masses.  If you end up not liking it, you can travel again next year.

3.  Take a Social Media Break – it’s a great way to refocus on your goals and your family, and not be distracted by what everyone else is doing.

4.  Go for a Walk every day – not only is it a great way to get a little exercise during the colder months but getting out in nature and in the fresh air helps to calm and refresh my soul.  Take this time, even if it’s just five minutes, to create a mental gratitude list for even the smallest things like a good book or warm coffee.

More ways to have a peaceful holiday

5.  Have Family Movie Nights – find some time, maybe even a few times a week, to slow down, make some popcorn and enjoy Christmas movies together.  Add some popcorn and some candy, these are some sweet, simple memories your kids will remember.

6.  Christmas Books – each of our kids got their own special copy of Twas the Night Before Christmas on their first Christmas, then each year we love adding a few more picture books to our home library.  Read a special Christmas read aloud like A Christmas Carol and The Best Christmas Pageant Ever.  Whether you’re wrapping a book to open each day, pairing a picture book with experience (for example book baking, getting a tree, the nutcracker, etc.), or putting a basket of books where everyone hangs out so you can slow down and read together, it’s a great holiday tradition.

The Night Before Christmas books we’ve given our kids:

More Christmas Book Ideas:

7.  Online Shopping – if the craziness of holiday shopping stresses you out, turn on a Christmas movie for the kids, pour some coffee or hot cocoa, get your gift buying list made, and shop online.  With Amazon Prime and Target being so fast and even able to wrap presents shipped directly to you or your loved ones, it’s so easy to do a bulk of your shopping online.  Then, head to just a few of the smaller, local shops to get what else you might need.

8.  Order Your Christmas Dinner + Groceries Online – if your spending too much time shopping for groceries or in the kitchen cooking and cleaning and not enough time enjoying your family, just order the meal.  Find a local grocery store or catering service that is making meals or even just part of the meal for the holidays.  Pick up some fun festive paper tableware, so you don’t have to do dishes.  Or order your groceries online from Shipt, Target pick up, or Walmart curbside.  There are so many options popping up, so just check out what’s available to you.

9.  Display Old Christmas Photos – have your Christmas cards or pictures from previous years displayed throughout the house.  It’s a simple, great way to encourage great conversations and talking about Christmas memories from previous years.

10.  Bake Together – if you love baking this one might make you cringe a little, but my favorite way to bake with my kids is to measure all the ingredients into little prep bowls for the kids to pour in.  It takes the stress out of the day and slows us down to create some great memories together.

11.  Build a Snowman with Your Kids – building a snowman is not only fun, but everyone comes in exhausted and feeling good after getting outside to get some fresh air and time in nature.

12.  Plan Ahead – get your holiday plan all set so that you know who you’re shopping for, what to get, plan a night to shop with your partner, whatever you need to do to feel ahead, so you’re not running out to shop last minute on Christmas Eve.

Listen in here:

Currently List:

Don’t forget to head over to the Learning Well Community shop to use the coupon code: ATALICIAS for 25% off!

Other Notes:

Thank you to our sponsor:

You Might Also Like:

The Christmas season is much too short to spend it stressed out. Here are 12 easy ways you can implement to have a more peaceful holiday this year.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.