At the moment, I am taking a break to drink my Super Vitamin C booster and Airborne tablets while children are peacefully resting. I have had a very interesting roller-coaster kind of week. The ups have been way high up, and the downs have never felt lower. I can tell the manic energy of the holiday season is here. Everywhere I go, lights, decorations, the jangling bells in front of stores, and the constant holiday music make the background set. Going out in public feels like being cocooned in holiday scented bubble wrap.
Don't misunderstand me and think I am a scrooge-- I love this season. I love gift giving and caroling, and I tend to have 3 weeks of a spruce in my home. And I always, always go overboard.
But for some reason, this year the background hum of Christmas is jarring me, pressing in on me-- only 1 more week of school! Only 18 days til Christmas! Only 100 hours before the holiday party so I need to get my presents made and wrapped! These deadlines and the oncoming dates have become mounting pressures. Each mark on the calendar is another flag waving at me.
Can you imagine what it's like to be a child at this time? It must be exciting-- even though you might not even know why-- but it's bound to be stressful on them too.
I pay lip-service to the notion that we shouldn't overschedule our lives, filling our lives with the clutter of way too much activity... when I honestly look at my schedule and my children's schedule, it's simply way too much. Is it any wonder that the holiday season would be stressful? If our day to day lives are filled to maximum capacity, then shopping, decorating, holiday making, traveling, and feasting put us on overdrive.
So here is my promise to myself-- that I'll have to do since I declared it to the world via this blog-- I am going to take the time to BREATHE.
For everything that this time of year adds to our lives, there are opportunities to enjoy the season. I will stop and look at the holiday lights with my children. I will take my time in each task and notice what I am doing. I will take a moment to look out at the trees, the river, the winter sky, the full moon-- knowing that this time is special, and that it passes all too quickly.
And I will fight off this cold! :)
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