I’m tired of the stress that comes with the holidays. All the rushing around to buy presents. Decorating the house. Finding the perfect photo for the Christmas card. Remembering to move Elfie every night. Cookie swaps.
Seriously, what is up with the cookie swaps?
I’ve made it a point to stress less around the holiday season. I wait until after Thanksgiving and Biz’s birthday to even think about Christmas. I make every attempt to shop with a conscience.
Heck, it’s December 9th, and I’ve barely started to shop for presents.
I try and take this time of year step by step. After traveling for the Thanksgiving holiday / Biz’s birthday, I took out the Christmas decorations and starting putting some up. I bought my wreaths on #GivingTuesday from Crossroads, a nonprofit I work with here in Maine (proceeds go to a patient scholarship fund). This weekend, we picked out a beautiful tree and trimmed it.

Last night, I did something I’ve wanted to do for a few years now. I cut my Christmas card list in half. I did this mainly because I opted to get nicer cards this year from Minted that are a bit more expensive. They are higher quality than the typical cards we order and were created by indie designers. They are gorgeous.
Though I received a credit for a post I wrote on Minted and could have easily paid a small amount to order what I normally would, I decided that it was time to trim down my list of card recipients.
It seems like every year I send out cards, I question if it’s worth the time, effort and money. I swear some of the people on my list assume I dropped off the face of the Earth when I moved to Maine 13 years ago.
I’m also going to assume that the people I cut out of my list don’t read this blog. They certainly don’t send me any cards. It’s not that we don’t like each other, it’s just that we aren’t really as significant in each other’s lives anymore. And that’s perfectly okay. Time goes by. People change. Our lives are different.

I don’t know why I’ve felt the need to send cards to so many people for so many years, but it felt good to trim that list. And it was a lot easier than I thought it would be.
I think my next step is to convince some of the adults in my life that it’s really not necessary to exchange gifts at all. I’d rather spend some good quality time with those people than worry about buying a present. Even presents that are meaningful and/or give back.
After that, I’ll work on convincing G that he doesn’t need a lock on his bedroom door to keep his brother out. That might be harder than trimming my Christmas card list.

Do you stress over sending out Christmas cards? When’s the last time you trimmed down your list?

p.s. My article on GOOD.is, Five Simple Ways to Shop with a Conscience This Holiday, was featuring in a daily email newsletter from GOOD and named the conversation starter of the week. Thanks to all of you who read, shared and commented on the article!