1m2aSandbox

I’ve always resisted the Christmas season starting earlier and earlier every year – I’m a decorate-the-tree-on-the-24th kinda girl. And by 24th, I don’t mean “of November”.

But now that I’m a mom and my life is more complicated, I find November to be my biggest crunch month – the month when I do all the running around and shopping and prepping and pre-holiday stuff. Not that I’m dying to start singing Christmas carols: it’s just that I resent having my entire December taken up with busyness, and I try to get some of that out of the way now.

For one thing, we mail off probably a dozen large boxes of gifts to out-of-town friends and family: close friends we’ve stayed in touch with over the years; family members in various states; missionary friends we want to encourage with a taste of home for the holidays – that sort of thing. So I’ve got to have gifts ordered, delivered, wrapped, and ready to go in early December.

Plus, of course, the massive amount of baking I do for my friends and family. Gotta have that done for the boxes, too.

Then you add in end-of-semester shows for my students, waaay too many Nutcrackers to attend for my other students, school parties, teacher gifts, neighborhood parties – the list is endless.

And we can opt out, clearly, of many things. But even after opting out of what feels optional, we’re still left with a large pile of things we want to do and only a few weeks in which to do it.

So I’m in high holiday gear here, acutely aware of the fact that Thanksgiving’s NEXT WEEK PEOPLE and then it’s three weeks to Christmas.

Let the hyperventilating begin.