It’s the Sunday before Christmas and following my own rules for #HolidayZen, I declared today pajama day in our house. It’s an overly indulgent and somewhat selfish move but the honest truth is that we’re tired. The kids are tired (as evidenced by their sleepy little faces at the breakfast table after being woken up from school), I’m tired (too much running around yesterday), and my husband is always for a day to ourselves but especially after raking up all the leaves in our yard that we ignored when we skipped off to Hawaii before Thanksgiving. Oops.
So this weekend we’re finding our #HolidayZen by saying no. We’re sending our polite regrets to holiday events that we probably would enjoy but the thought of attending is just too much to bear.
We gifted Nutcracker tickets a Friday 7 pm performance to another family in favor of cookie baking and watching Elf. We’re sending our regrets to a holiday open house at a friend’s just so we can have a day to ourselves. (Well, and Little Miss Techie threw up last night and no family with kids needs that in their lives this time of year! Making mental note to take my own advice about 5 Ways to Keep Your Family Healthy During the Holidays and Into the New Year too!)
Parenting over the past almost 10 years has taught me that when we take time to slow down and be together- whether doing things individually around the house or as a family- everyone feels better. Everyone behaves better. There’s less stress.
This year give your family the gift of less stress and more #HolidayZen. After all, we all want to be on our best behavior just in case Santa has a toy eyeball, dart gun, or toilet in your future. Yes, that’s really what kids want- and think their parents want- this Christmas as evidenced by the hilarity below featuring a couple faces that I think you’re familiar with!
And just in case you didn’t know it, you DO want a toilet for Christmas. Or at least your kids might think so!
Here’s hoping that everyone’s stockings will be filled with toy eyeballs come Christmas morning!
As a blog ambassador for The Century Council, I am compensated for my involvement but all opinions are my own. My kids were compensated with chocolate croissants, juice, and other tasty snacks for their involvement in the video series but clearly all opinions are their own. *Shakes head in embarrassment* Word cloud image courtesy of The Century Council.
The downtime is important, for sure! We’re laying low today, just meeting some friends for lunch. That’s plenty (and I’m thinking about wearing my slippers, because they’re COZY!)
Yay for just meeting friends for lunch! I know you could appreciate that my husband and I both have Keen Howser slippers and they’re so much like shoes– that we’ve almost worn them out! There have been many times where he’s walked back inside after heading out the door to work and had to change his shoes! So next time I see you– I MAY be wearing slippers aka my Keen’s! LOL!
Brilliant! I am all for days off and we frequently take them, but I always feel gulity at the end of the day: “We could have gone ice skating, we could have gone to a museum, blah, blah, blah.” Thanks for reiterating what my kids are constantly telling me, “It’s okay!”
Ellen