A lot of expectation seems to be placed on women around the holidays. Who finds those perfect gifts, writes the charming cards, perfectly wraps gifts, and fills the house with the smell of fresh holiday baking? (Okay, I'm sure some man does this somewhere- but I know that most of the societal expectations of The Perfect Holiday still seems to fall on women.)
Who puts this pressure on us? Of course, watching Martha Stewart create some incredible (and expensive!) craft on TV does not help, nor does the yearly rush to get the Gotta Have gift from the overcrowded store. Maybe it's not even that. Maybe it's much smaller.
Maybe, like me, you accepted an invitation to be part of a cookie exchange a few months ago, not thinking about how hectic the Holiday Season would be by the time the cookie exchange came about.
I had great intentions! I bought extra flour and butter and had plans to make cute packaging. But then I had a horribly exhausting week, and we did a lot of things that took a remarkable amount of time (like buy a car!) and frankly, I was just worn out. Yet I was very anxious about this cookie exchange- if I did not show up with homemade cookies, what would the other women think? I was grumpily staring at a bag of flour when I realized that this is exactly why holidays are so stressful. We worry so much about what other people will think if we do not conform to what we think the holiday should look like, rather than considering what our lives actually look like at the moment. Sure, I could have planned better and made up the dough a few weeks ago to put in the freezer. I didn't. Why should I beat myself up over it?
The flour and extra butter is in the freezer. I will make some delicious homemade delicacy another day. For the cookie exchange, I got some Kroger brand pre-cut cookies for 1.88 a dozen. I decided that this would also be an awesome time to try out my Reynold's Parchment Paper. That parchment paper is wonderful- nothing stuck to the cookie pan at all! The cookies came right up. I don't make cookies often, but it seems like every time I do, I end up having to scrap up at least a few cookies off the pan. I'll have to keep an eye out for parchment paper coupons.
The cookies were well received, and the Oatmeal Cranberry ones never even made it out the door. They were all eaten before anyone left. Nobody cared that I used the pre-cut kind. The high expectation was something I was placing on myself.
What can you let go of this holiday?
2 comments:
I used to want to make Christmas this magical experience for all my family and friends ...
It took me SO LONG to get over myself!
Now I try my best & let the things that didn't get done GO!
All that extra stuff is just trimmings ...
Family and friends are the magic!
Isn't this the truth! In the end, my kids are happy we spend time together--they don't care is I take a little help from a pie crust mix (pie crust is my nemesis) or we bake cookies for their class from a box. What they do remember is us spending time together, playing games, doing crafts, or whatever. I hope they stay grateful for the little things for a lot longer than their four short year.
Good for your for doing the best you can and not worrying about the rest!
Andrea
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