The first Christmas card comes in the mail and I freeze. Like a deer frozen, caught in the headlights, I realize I haven’t sent out my Christmas cards. Not just sent out, I haven’t even purchased them or written them up.
What will my friend say this year? The one that I don’t hear from except on Facebook from time to time? The one that sent me a guilt-ridden message about how they took the time to write up their family’s events from the year before and I didn’t even send them a card? My aunt who stressed last year how she never gets to see a family picture. I close my eyes and sigh. When did the holidays become such a source of stress and pressure?
All the planning and lists. So many lists. A Christmas dinner grocery list, baking ingredients list, crafting time list, Christmas card list and gift list. There’s budgeting for gifts, or worse, throwing the budget out the window and buying without planning at all. This year, add a pandemic and the guilt that came with having to tell extended family that we would be cancelling the big get together to help keep the numbers down, and you have a stressful Christmas.
No, not all is calm. The lights are on and we are all home. If you are someone with ADHD in the family, you know all-too-well how much more stressful the holidays can be. ADDitude magazine has some wonderful tips on creating a more peaceful holiday for yourself and your family. While some of the tips may not apply to a Christmas during a pandemic, there are some ideas in here that are great to remember as you make your way through this very different holiday season: https://www.additudemag.com/slideshows/holiday-stress-relief-for-adults-with-adhd/
ADHD coach Dana Rayburn shares her 6 Steps to Handle ADHD Holiday Stress: https://danarayburn.com/6-steps-handle-adhd-holiday-stress/ Steps that she says have been a game changer for her, so I hope they will help you too.
In the meantime, I have decided to send thoughtful text messages and e-cards to those I am closest to and enjoy the holidays. Calm will have to start with me, by my beautifully lit Christmas tree.
