Okay With Being a Holiday Failure

Raise your hand if you consider yourself a casualty of the holidays.

Mine’s definitely raised.

Last year I’m pretty sure I had all the gifts purchased by Dec. 15. The annual family Christmas cards were ordered, addressed, and in the mail by the week of Christmas. I baked treats with my kids to go along with their teacher gifts before school break, and we distributed the rest to our neighbors. I even threw together one of those “Cookie Exchange” parties with my friends and their kids, which ended with several children showcasing their musical talents on the piano in our foyer.

This year, I’d be happy with a t-shirt that simply reads, “I Survived the Holidays.” I finished up the shopping for gifts on Saturday (with the exception of presents for my in-laws, which I had to give up and delegate), no treats have been baked, and I mustered the energy to design and order one of those “Happy New Year” card designs that I’ll send out next week sometime. There was no time to schedule any sort of family holiday photo-taking session. My kids asked if we were doing the cookie exchange party again this year and my answer was, “Sorry, no!”

Part of it is that I’m working a lot more than I did last year during this time. There simply haven’t been enough hours of the day to get everything done, beyond the basics, like grocery shopping and trying to cook a healthy meal for my family every now and then. I feel like society dictates all these “things” we must do to properly ring in the holidays and it’s exhausting.

I’ll get through it. I know you will, too. Despite the title of this post, I know I’m probably not really a holiday failure. Perhaps I’ve set expectations too high for myself in years past. My loved ones still know I care about them, even if things were a little more low key this year. After all, did going all out for Christmas really turn out so well for Clark Griswold and his family in the now infamous holiday classic “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation?” No. What mattered in the end was that they were all together.

And if you’re like me and need a little comic relief, check out these hilarious honest holiday cards. And Happy Holidays!