Christmas Stress

Dear users, dear authors,
do you feel Christmas stress?

Nope, Josefa—who and what am I supposed to stress about? My husband and I are taking it really easy. On Christmas Eve we’ll be with our youngest daughter and her family, and over the holidays, whoever comes is fine and warmly welcome; whoever doesn’t come, well, then it doesn’t work out—that’s as simple as that :-) I stopped worrying about that a long time ago

Best regards, Inge

I’m trying to stay calm. Whatever I manage to get done is fine. Since I never take time off before Christmas and, based on past experience, also work more at the office, I just have to somehow fit everything in. 

But since I really enjoy the Christmas season, it always works out somehow. 

Things have been pretty laid-back here for a long time now. My husband doesn’t have any family left, and I have very little—they’ll be coming over to our place on the first day of the holidays. We’ll sit together around the raclette and hot stone, each of us grilling whatever we like best, and then we’ll chat nonstop.
On the other two days, we’ll stay home alone and make ourselves comfortable. Back in the day, my mom used to come over on Christmas Eve so she wouldn’t be alone—that was always very casual and fun, too. We just aren’t the type to stress out. 😁
And since we’re no longer working, every day is a day off anyway, so the calendar doesn’t tell us what we have to do anymore—we just do whatever we feel like doing. One of the few perks of getting older.

Now that the kids are grown, we don’t have that stress anymore. No more keeping secrets, no more putting up the Christmas tree without them noticing, or that moment when “Santa” leaves the presents in the locked living room while we go for a Christmas walk…. Honestly, it was stressful, but I miss it 😢 

I live alone and have been spending Christmas Eve with two friends for the past few years. Since we were at my place last year, this year we’re going to one of my friends’ houses for dinner and endless chatting.
My only family left is my godchild and her parents. Since they’re on winter vacation over Christmas, they won’t visit me until after the holidays on their way home. Unfortunately, they live 300 km away from me, and we’ve only been able to see each other rarely over the past two years because of COVID-19. 
So I don’t have any Christmas stress and am already incredibly excited to see my family.

Stress? No, not at all.
On Christmas Eve, we take turns with friends—once at their place, once at ours.
The other two days, we’re on our own. We don’t have a family anymore.
We used to be out and about all three days. That was MEGA-STRESS.
I couldn’t handle that physically anymore.

I haven’t been stressing about Christmas for a long time now.
My daughter and I are taking it really easy.

We haven’t experienced Christmas stress in a long time either. We enjoy the holidays with delicious food, beautiful music, and everything that brings us joy. We only give gifts to our grandchildren, who receive them in the mail ahead of time.

Well, our great-grandma still lives with us. She prefers to do things the traditional way. Luckily, my kids are past the Santa Claus stage.
I’ve been wanting a quiet Christmas Eve for years. Thanks to COVID, I’ve finally managed it.
My husband has to work until 3 p.m.; I’m taking the kids to Grandma #1’s for lunch and then back home. We’ll do a little gift-giving just the five of us, and then in the evening we’ll go to Grandma #2’s for dinner, where the kids will get another present.
In the past, all of that used to happen at my place in the afternoon because Santa 🎅 was coming. I found that much more stressful than it is now. 

How’s it going?

Yes, thanks, Josefa. I just put up and decorated my little tree—this time I put a little white lace angel on top instead of a golden bell like all the years before :-)

Hugs, Inge

It turned out great


I cut down a tree in my own yard yesterday and decorated it today. Everything’s going smoothly.

Fortunately, it’s exactly the opposite of stress.

No Christmas stress—the tree is decorated, the stollen is baked, the gifts are wrapped, and everything’s been bought—now I can take it easy. 

I’m stressed at work, so I don’t need that at home too. Nope
The kids are out of the house, my parents are on vacation—it’s just my husband and me. We’re making ourselves cozy on the sofa with Christmas music and a fairy-tale or Christmas movie, delicious food, and mulled wine—that’s all we need.
No tree, no presents.

Since I have to work this weekend anyway, we’ll make up for it all on the second day of Christmas.

So have a peaceful and reflective Christmas season, everyone, and stay healthy