By Nancy A. Pritchard, Life Mastery Consultant

The Not So Big Christmas – Day 8

                  Don’t Buy Into the ‘Perfect Holiday’ Fantasy

 

 

Right-Size Your Decorations – Not too long ago, my mother and I were laughing about the perfect Christmas displays in all the Hallmark channel’s holiday movies.  Every tree, every light display is perfect, and every outdoor vista looks like a Currier and Ives holiday paradise.

Don’t fal If you decorate for the holidays, don’t go to extremes unless you choose to do so. When my husband, Carl, was single (MANY years ago) he had one holiday decoration – an artificial Christmas wreath with lights.  He LOVED that wreath. He still looks back fondly on the years of painless ‘decorating’ and ‘undecorating’ each holiday season. Life was simple!

 

Simple Food  Ideas– You don’t have to entertain like a Top Chef for the holidays! (Unless you love being a Top Chef for the holidays!)

Sometimes it’s best to avoid the holiday table displays on Pinterest and the November/December issues of your favorite magazines. Why? Because many of the entertainment ideas in Real Simple magazine are not REALLY SIMPLE at all!

Why must we prepare a Christmas FEAST every year containing the latest/greatest new ingredients that no one’s ever heard of? A simple dinner of normal fare would do just fine!  (And didn’t we just HAVE a feast on Thanksgiving?)

If you love to entertain during the holidays, focus on the joy of being together, not the over-abundance of fancy foods.  You might consider skipping the sit down dinner and hosting a simple coffee and dessert night instead. OR serve only light fare finger foods at your holiday gathering. Your guests have probably over-eaten for the past few weeks anyway and they’ll appreciate the break from the creaking, over-burdened dinner table.