Everywhere we look these days there is information about the upcoming Christmas season. How to make Christmas special, how to create the perfect meal, what are the best gifts to give, the newest trends in decorations to buy and on and on it goes. With all of the suggestions available, we can sometimes find ourselves overwhelmed with all that needs to get done to make this holiday season “perfect”.

For many people, especially those who are responsible for making everything perfect, this can be a less than enjoyable time of year and can leave us stressed and angry. There are gifts to be purchased and wrapped, halls to be decked, parties to attend, food to be cooked, expectations to be met. All of this can leave us exhausted, but there are some things we can do to help us cope.

First and foremost is plan, plan, plan and then put the plan on paper. The most stressful thing in the world is trying to remember all of the things that need to be done. Take thirty minutes to write down all that you want to accomplish in the next three weeks. Examine your list and make sure that everything on the list is realistic. Just because Martha Stewart showed you how to make a new table center, does not mean that you need to make it! Make sure everything on the list can be accomplished. Be very honest with yourself about what you want from the season, balanced against the time you have available. Don’t allow yourself to take on more than you can realistically accomplish, this is the quickest way to make the season go from a blessing to a curse!

Delegate, delegate, delegate! Once you have the list complete, if you can, delegate some of the jobs to family members. Get the children to wrap the gifts for their teachers and don’t worry about how it looks, it will make the teacher smile. If you have guests coming for dinner, ask them to bring their favorite covered dish. And remember husbands really can shop or decorate too!

Work your calendar! Assign tasks to be done gradually over the next several weeks. Do something on your list each day or a couple of times a week. For example, try to buy one gift during your lunch hour, several times a week, instead of braving the weekend crowds to buy everything at once. You can get your decorations out and get them ready for use, and then decorate over several days, instead of one big exhausting day. If you host the Christmas dinner, plan your menu several weeks in advance and purchase non- perishable items you need for that day with your regular grocery shopping. Do the same with baking you may wish to do.

Be realistic! I can’t stress enough how important it is to be realistic about your time. There is only so much time in everyday and you may not have enough time to decorate the house like your neighbor or cook like your sister or entertain like your best friend. Be honest with yourself and plan to do the one or two things that you most enjoy. If you have the resources, consider hiring someone to put up your decorations and help with entertaining. If not, give yourself a break, and enjoy what you have time to do.

Finally, make sure you remember that this holiday is about enjoying family and friends and not about all the extraneous things that we do to make it special. Don’t get lost in the pressures put on us to make a perfect Christmas. Your family will remember the time spent together, and will quickly forget that perfect table center that Martha showed you how to make!

Let the Christmas season begin!