Day After Christmas

“One of the most glorious messes in the world is the mess created in the living room on Christmas Day. Don’t clean it up too quickly.”

Andy Rooney

It’s the day after Christmas…

This day can be full of all sorts of different emotions that can vary from one person to the next, however, I think there is one word that most likely describes all of us: exhausted!

Your home could look a complete mess with wrapping paper, boxes, bits of tissue paper and an abundance of food you don’t want anymore, but the day doesn’t have to be a mess. The day after Christmas doesn’t have to bring you stress – it actually can be a nice and peaceful day, if you allow it…

Exhaustion. We did it! The day was great, we survived! Now rest, or not. Whether today marks the end of your holiday festivities or that day has yet to come for you, we all must resume our regular lives in the midst of the exhaustion that the holidays leave in their wake.

Let’s not forget about the sugared up, sleep deprived, most likely “regular rule” breaking kids since there is rarely room for “regular rules” in the midst of the holiday cheer.

HERE ARE SOME SIMPLE DAY AFTER CHRISTMAS THINGS YOU CAN DO SO YOU CAN CATCH YOUR BREATH

  • First, BREATHE!

You are exhausted, sleep deprived, overloaded, overfull, and stressed out post holiday. Take deep breaths. Take a minute to just appreciate, be grateful, and breathe.

It’s crazy how much simple deep breathing with center you, try it!

  • Prioritize!

Make a list. Lists are golden in days of chaos, or after chaos. We only have so many hours in the day, so make sure you prioritize what is most important. Put that at the top, or a few quick projects and then urgent. Mix, but don’t overwhelm.

Writing it out can help organize and calm your mind too.

  • Make a plan

Plan the times that you will be devoting to working your way through your prioritized list of tasks. We all still have our “regular” lives, so fitting in all the extras that the holiday rush thrusts in our lap will have to be planned into our daily schedules, most likely little by little.

  • Good enough

Perfection is not key today. Start with making things good enough to get by.

I am sure you have a bunch of new things that all need places to go in your house. Large family or small, the new things that now need to find homes is astounding for any type of family.

My favorite way of handling this is to break the things down, room by room, and then put each room’s things in a box or bag in the room that it will need to be put in. Again, this way I can get to it when I can get to it.

Better yet, assign tasks. You can open this toy, or ride that bike or whatever once you take your bag/box to your room. Pick your battles.

  • Accept!

Accept that your house, your kids, and your life will be in a state of disarray for the next little while. Just accept it now, and enjoy the time together. This is once a year and a magical time.

Look past the things you can’t get to right now. Look past the box of stuff waiting for your attention in each room. Know that it is already partially tended to since you have started organizing things to be put away. But, look past the fact that everything isn’t done to completion at this point in the game. You’ll get there eventually.

  • REST

I put this last on the list not because it is least important. In fact, I think it may be the most important thing, and it is something that you need to start working in to your process right from the start.

This is also a time for rest, not just cleaning and organizing, so take the time you need.

Recognizing the usefulness of breathing deeply, prioritizing and planning, creating ways that things can be good enough to get by while looking past everything else and getting adequate rest will help get you back on the path to sanity in your life once again.

And if you are looking for some dream homes in the process, check out my latest listings here.

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