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Question of the Day — Do You Keep Your Routines During the Holidays?

December 12, 2011 By Emily McClements
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I’ve had something on my mind the past week or so.  As I’ve slowly been coming out of my first trimester fog, I’ve been trying to put the pieces of life back together.  One of the things that totally flew out the window as soon as the pregnancy sickness hit was any kind of routine or schedule that I had kept to before.

I know for my own sanity and well-being, I need to get back to my schedule and routines, but I’m finding it really hard with everything Christmas and the holidays in full swing.

So, my question today is:

Do you keep to your routines and schedules during the holiday season, or does all of that go out the window with the craziness of the holidays?

Also, how do you get all of your regular home management stuff done while adding in extra holiday stuff that needs to be done?

At this point I’m kind of looking toward the new year, once the busyness of Christmas is over, to get back to my schedule and routines. I’ll do what I can between now and then, but I really can’t see myself getting into any kind of regular routine that will really stick these next few weeks.

I’m looking forward to hearing all your answers!

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Photo credit: Keith Williamson/flickr

9 CommentsFiled Under: Green Living, Holidays Tagged With: christmas, finding balance, holidays, home management, question of the day

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Comments

  1. Alana of Intentional Womanhood says

    December 12, 2011 at 9:35 am

    I would have to agree with your approach: do what you can during the holidays {keeping things simple but meaningful} and jump back into the routine once the new year approaches.

    Reply
  2. Rachel @ day2day joys says

    December 12, 2011 at 10:30 am

    Great questions Emily! It’s all about balance and choosing the things that really matter, isn’t it. I am overloaded too and one thing I find that helps is scheduling the events/parties we want to do. I am still trying to figure out my daily routine! What is your plan Emily?

    Reply
    • Emily @ Live Renewed says

      December 12, 2011 at 10:56 pm

      Hmmm, plan? Just to get through the holidays in one piece I guess! 🙂 No, like I said, I’m slowly trying to pick up the pieces, and pick up where I left off when I basically had to let everything go because I was not feeling well and so exhausted with the pregnancy. So that means that although I’m not really back on a schedule, I’m trying to get back into my daily cleaning routines, and then add one more task each day – whether a cleaning task, or something for the holidays, so that by the time the new year comes I’ll feel like I’m in a good place to really get back into a good schedule and routine again – at least until the third trimester hits and I lose all my energy again! 🙂
      ~Emily

      Reply
  3. Becky says

    December 12, 2011 at 3:36 pm

    Maybe it’s because all of my family lives within 2 hours of our house, and most within 30 minutes, but the Christmas season isn’t that crazy for us. The only crazy days will be Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

    I am keeping my decorations VERY simple this year, but that’s because my 16 month old boy is very curious and into everything. I decided I’ll keep it simple this year and decorate more next year, when my son will be older and our new baby (due late May) will not yet be mobile 🙂

    Reply
  4. christy says

    December 12, 2011 at 10:08 pm

    I keep my daily routines, but let the weekly and monthly routines fall behind for a couple weeks, and just do a little bit of spot cleaning instead.

    Reply
  5. Deb says

    December 13, 2011 at 2:01 am

    Perhaps I am the exception to this. Because my husband and I both maintain work schedules our household routines HAVE to stay intact or we will all fall apart. Our challenge is to identify which holiday traditions are important enough to carve out time for. So every day we do the dishes and the laundry AND we read a special Christmas story book. Or we do the dishes and laundry AND we make playdough for gifts. I try to “do” Christmas a few minutes at a time each day. This is a good question that makes me think every year though. a. what is a reasonable expectation of our daily schedule? and b. what simple Christmas rituals can we add to it without creating stress and too much “busy-ness”?

    Reply
    • Emily @ Live Renewed says

      December 13, 2011 at 6:41 am

      Ooh, Deb, those are great questions you’re asking too. It’s true – how can we enjoy and celebrate the season without adding so much that it actually stresses us out so we don’t enjoy it. I love your idea of doing a few minutes of Christmas each day! What a great idea!

      Reply
  6. Helene says

    December 15, 2011 at 5:23 am

    I do try to keep my routine. It is the only thing that keeps me grounded. I carve out a few days to get what needs to be done to get ready for Christmas but I really do my best not to get caught up in all the craziness. That way I can keep disruptions to the absolute minimum and still take part on the celebration.

    Reply
  7. Emily @ Random Recycling says

    December 15, 2011 at 10:17 am

    Give yourself a break, taking care of yourself while pregnant is most important. I was eight months pregnant last Christmas and remember saying No to more things in order to simplify the to-do list. This year I think I’ve said yes to too many things and I may never make it out of my kitchen before the 25th! What is helping me this year is the weekly menu planning. I also note which days are “baking” days so I don’t need to scramble at the last minute.

    Reply

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