50 min
The Yeses and Nos of Christmas Advice Not Given
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- Self-Improvement
Merry Christmas Eve! Claire and Kellie keep this episode light and entertaining as they share how they each “do” Christmas. They each give a yes or no (and plenty of opinions) on Christmas magic, Christmas trees (real or fake), Elf on the Shelf, crafts, and many other traditions and expectations they place upon themselves.
>> This episode is not for little ears who still believe in Christmas magic.
Advice Not Given:
Christmas is a wonderful holiday but there are many issues that people are either PRO or CON. Kellie and Claire share about how it can be stressful. As moms we feel pressure to be the memory maker and the creator of the magic. When do you put your tree up? Do you have a rule or tradition or do you tend to just roll with it? In your house, does Santa bring all of the gifts or do the parents get any credit?Do you travel for Christmas? If so, do you ship all of your gifts to grandparents?What is your take on Santa? Do your kids still believe? Any convictions about feeding your kids the “lie”/magic of Santa? Does he get too much of mama’s credit? Do you have any parameters for gift-giving or limits/rules? Do you procrastinate or get stressed about keeping gifts “fair” between siblings? What is “enough?” Do you have to help grandma think of meaningful gifts for your kids in addition to your own lists?Have you ever asked grandparents for experiences or movie tickets in lieu of traditional packaged gifts? If you do want/need/wear/read gifts how do you make it meaningful or creative? Do you have any gift opening rituals on Christmas morning to make it more meaningful or ceremonial? Do your kids buy, make, or give each other sibling gifts? Do kids buy parents gifts? If so do you facilitate this? Do you and your spouse exchange gifts? Do you have a system? Ever had a year where one person bought the other a gift and one did not? Ever not really liked something your spouse bought you? Every just bought your own gift?Do you do a real or fake tree? Pre-lit? If it’s a real one, do you have a Christmas tree farm shopping ritual or tradition? As a military family, are there any things that make Christmas difficult? How is your present tradition different or the same as your childhood? How do you divide time between extended families? How do you convey plans to non-military extended family members? How do plans change with a deployed spouse? Do you typically wake up in your own home? How do you budget for travel? Do you bring pets along? Do people come stay with you? Claire has the realization that the magic of Christmas it isn’t Santa--it’s mom! HUGE Hat Tip to Claire’s mom Teresa and Kellie’s mom Teresa.Do you have any Christmas movies you love or traditions for watching them? Do you do Christmas crafts? Are you a Pinterest mom? Kellie’s protip: You don’t have to be the craftiest/coolest mom on the block--you just have to be friends with her.Do you do Elf on the Shelf? Does it make you crazy? Is it simply another pressured expectation and more work for mom to do in order to make Christmas happen? Finally, do you consider yourself (overall) naughty or nice at Christmas? Attitude? Does the stuff of Christmas wear you down? Does the “doing” exhaust you? Are you just surviving Christmas? Are we more orchestrators or participators of/in Christmas? The answer is balance!We wonder if the sweet spot is when you move beyond “mom” to “grandma,” but maybe not? NO ADVICE THIS WEEK: HAVE A VERY MERRY CHRISTMASSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/milspogurus)
Merry Christmas Eve! Claire and Kellie keep this episode light and entertaining as they share how they each “do” Christmas. They each give a yes or no (and plenty of opinions) on Christmas magic, Christmas trees (real or fake), Elf on the Shelf, crafts, and many other traditions and expectations they place upon themselves.
>> This episode is not for little ears who still believe in Christmas magic.
Advice Not Given:
Christmas is a wonderful holiday but there are many issues that people are either PRO or CON. Kellie and Claire share about how it can be stressful. As moms we feel pressure to be the memory maker and the creator of the magic. When do you put your tree up? Do you have a rule or tradition or do you tend to just roll with it? In your house, does Santa bring all of the gifts or do the parents get any credit?Do you travel for Christmas? If so, do you ship all of your gifts to grandparents?What is your take on Santa? Do your kids still believe? Any convictions about feeding your kids the “lie”/magic of Santa? Does he get too much of mama’s credit? Do you have any parameters for gift-giving or limits/rules? Do you procrastinate or get stressed about keeping gifts “fair” between siblings? What is “enough?” Do you have to help grandma think of meaningful gifts for your kids in addition to your own lists?Have you ever asked grandparents for experiences or movie tickets in lieu of traditional packaged gifts? If you do want/need/wear/read gifts how do you make it meaningful or creative? Do you have any gift opening rituals on Christmas morning to make it more meaningful or ceremonial? Do your kids buy, make, or give each other sibling gifts? Do kids buy parents gifts? If so do you facilitate this? Do you and your spouse exchange gifts? Do you have a system? Ever had a year where one person bought the other a gift and one did not? Ever not really liked something your spouse bought you? Every just bought your own gift?Do you do a real or fake tree? Pre-lit? If it’s a real one, do you have a Christmas tree farm shopping ritual or tradition? As a military family, are there any things that make Christmas difficult? How is your present tradition different or the same as your childhood? How do you divide time between extended families? How do you convey plans to non-military extended family members? How do plans change with a deployed spouse? Do you typically wake up in your own home? How do you budget for travel? Do you bring pets along? Do people come stay with you? Claire has the realization that the magic of Christmas it isn’t Santa--it’s mom! HUGE Hat Tip to Claire’s mom Teresa and Kellie’s mom Teresa.Do you have any Christmas movies you love or traditions for watching them? Do you do Christmas crafts? Are you a Pinterest mom? Kellie’s protip: You don’t have to be the craftiest/coolest mom on the block--you just have to be friends with her.Do you do Elf on the Shelf? Does it make you crazy? Is it simply another pressured expectation and more work for mom to do in order to make Christmas happen? Finally, do you consider yourself (overall) naughty or nice at Christmas? Attitude? Does the stuff of Christmas wear you down? Does the “doing” exhaust you? Are you just surviving Christmas? Are we more orchestrators or participators of/in Christmas? The answer is balance!We wonder if the sweet spot is when you move beyond “mom” to “grandma,” but maybe not? NO ADVICE THIS WEEK: HAVE A VERY MERRY CHRISTMASSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/milspogurus)
50 min