Five WordPress.com bloggers help you survive the holiday season

It’s easy to get a little frazzled in December — for many of us, it’s the perfect storm of holidays, family, travel, and work. Luckily, following the sage advice of some insightful WordPress.com bloggers can pave the way for a fun, relaxing Christmas.

Here, their top five tips:

Keep the magic alive

DorkDaddy’s beautiful essay pinpoints the tension — for both parent and child — of a child teetering on the edge of belief in Santa.

So she looked to me, asking for permission… permission to let either her heart or her mind win out over the other. In so doing she was asking me to choose between encouraging her intellectual integrity and selling her snake oil. In that moment I had to decide.

Do I help her grow up, or hold desperately on to her fleeting childhood for one last moment?

What did he decide? You’ll have to read.

Make your own memories

If you’ve got Elf on the Shelf and holiday decorating fatigue from too many long nights browsing Pinterest, Nicki Daniels feels your pain:

Here’s the moral to this sad holiday tale: make your own traditions. I’m an unconventional Mom with a crazy, wild kid. Something that’s mass produced and comes from a box is not going to make our season bright. I could have just as easily bought a two dollar rubber snake (Sadie loves snakes) and made up some sort of tale around him. Even better, we could do this in JULY when I don’t already have a long list to do.

If you love your elf, awesome. You are a better woman than I. It just seems like anytime I try to be the kind of mom I’m not (organized, cheerful, crafty) I lose out on being the Mom I am (awesome).

Chuckle at her tale of elf-woe, and join her in releasing yourself from the high expectations of creating a picture-perfect holiday tableau.

Get them what they really want

Sure, you could fight off the toy store crowds for the last Super Trendy Toy of the Year ™, or you could get your kids what they’ll really enjoy, like a cardboard box and some bubble wrap:

I want this laptop cord more than I have ever wanted anything.   Please.  I also want the power strip with the orange on/off button and the white label on the other cord  (the one not connected to the laptop).  I would be okay with just a bunch of electrical cords in general, but I would really love these specific ones that are located behind my mother’s desk next to the air-conditioner (whose cord I also want).

The Ugly Volvo deciphered her 10-month-old’s wish list and wrote up this helpful letter to Santa.

Keep gatherings low-key

On Highly Irritable, Jeni has the ultimate (tongue-in-cheek) holiday survival guide.

Make your parties “BYOBAFAYNLUEICU”: Bring Your Own Booze and Food and You’re Not Leaving Until Everything is Cleaned Up. Enforce this. Take people’s coats, their keys, whatever items you can pillage from their pockets during hello hugs, and hide them under piles of crusty dishes and empty wine bottles. When guests help clean up the mess, they find their stuff! This is also a great way to keep guests entertained, and eliminates the need for additional party games.

To keep your sanity as the jingle bells get more insistent, just say no to caroling, home baking, fancy gift wrap, and lavish parties, and try her practical solutions instead.

If all else fails, try candy

When you need a break from creating beautiful holiday memories for others, treat yourself!

We’ll be starting with these luscious soft salted caramels from the master baker behind The Pink Rose Bakery. 

At the very least, your fellow WordPress.com bloggers are here to provide inspiration and laughs! Take a few minutes to catch up with your favorite bloggers or find some new ones, and return to your gift wrapping recharged and refreshed.

If you’re interested in keeping up with what’s hot in the community — from popular reads to publishing news and interesting stories about fellow bloggers — subscribe to WordPress.com Weekend Reads, which we’ll deliver right to your inbox.

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