How to Have a Less is More Christmas

Here’s how I almost set my kitchen on fire last Christmas. I began the evening listening to Nat King Cole on the stereo and mixing a supersize batch of chocolate-chip-butterscotch batter because I had volunteered to make six-dozen cookies for a holiday bake sale. So far so good.

But while the third batch was in the oven, I started wrapping presents when I realized that I’d bought practical gifts (clothes) for all four of my nieces but had forgotten to buy them something fun (anything from the American Girl store).

I was down the hall on my computer debating whether it would be more practical to pay for overnight shipping or drive an hour to the closest American Girl store when … BEEEEP BEEEEP BEEEEP! The smoke detectors started blaring, waking everyone else in the house because it was nearly midnight.

So, you see, for me ’tis the season to have a nervous breakdown. And I bet you know exactly what I’m talking about. According to an American Psychological Association study, nearly half of all women in the United States experience heightened stress during the holidays.

With the exception of Mr. Claus, men just do not work themselves into such a Yuletide frenzy. (Actually, now that I think about it, Santa schedules in regular milk-and-cookie breaks, so I doubt he’s stressing as much as the missus.) I love my husband, but is he volunteering to bake 72 cookies from scratch? Is he budgeting, buying, and wrapping any of the gifts? Is he calculating how many hours we’ll spend in the car—and how many dollars we’ll spend on gas—if we attend all the gatherings and parties we’re invited to? Ho, ho, no.

It’s no wonder that by the time the New Year rolls around most women are, as my friend Alix bluntly put it, “broke, spent, and hella tired.” And that’s because, while we’re under the do-it-all stress of the holiday season, it’s way too easy to make unwise choices that leave us feeling far from jolly in the end.