Confession: I'm Really Enjoying The Holidays

OK, I’m going to admit it, I’m really enjoying the holidays this year for the first time in a long time! Every year, I tell family members to please dial it down with spending excessively on gifts. I explain I would rather focus on family and doing things together than spending a lot of money. They usually don’t listen and spend too much on us anyway. I used to feel guilty and work extra hours to be able to afford more gifts for people. No more!

This year I put my foot down. I explained that everyone (including my son) would be receiving small gifts this year, and I hoped they understood and would not go overboard with gifts in return. I’m not going to feel embarrassed or ashamed if they decide to go overboard. If they choose to spend a lot of money when I have requested repeatedly that they don’t, that’s their choice. I keep repeating the mantra, “I will not feel guilty... I will not feel guilty...”

And it’s working ;) Though I will say, it was a bit of a challenge last week when my co-worker said she spent $250.00 on lobsters ALONE for Christmas dinner, and she and her boyfriend spend at least $500.00 on each other for the holiday, plus a couple THOUSAND more on family. Yikes!

Aside from the reasons above, I also planned much better this year. I had all of my holiday shopping done by the first week in December because I purchased much less. I even have everything wrapped! Since I’ve had more free time closer to the holidays this year, I’ve actually been enjoying the holiday baking I do for friends and family instead of viewing it as a chore. The worst thing that happened is I dumped a pan of cookie bars on the floor. I can’t give them away now, but they still tasted good ;)