It feels as if I have been going non-stop since the week of Thanksgiving.
Maybe it is the time of year. Or I am just forgetting to include self-care in my day. Have I given up on self-care to accommodate everyone else’s needs? And worse than all of that, I do not see the situation changing until New Year’s Day.
My dance card isn’t empty until the first day of the new year.
As a child, the days between Thanksgiving and Christmas seemed to tick by painfully slow. The Sears Toy Catalog would come in the mail around Thanksgiving. The four of us kids would spend hours perusing the years must have toys. Then we would put together our lists for Santa.
By age 10, my Christmas list included model rocket kits, rocket motors, and accessories.
Knowing what I would like to have for Christmas and then waiting to see what I would receive took up the majority of my free time. The anticipation was the part I remember best. Seeing myself opening presents on Christmas morning, I could feel the excitement that I was going to have. This made Christmas more special.
Then, I was married and was planning Christmas for our children.
Combined with my work outside the home, the days between Thanksgiving and Christmas were action-packed and moving at warp speed. For many years, it seemed my wife and I were up into the wee hours of Christmas morning. There were stocking to stuff, presents to put under the tree, and cookies to nibble, as Santa was often too busy to eat an entire cookie.
Now there is a first grandchild.
Not only are there all the everyday holiday items to work on, but we also flew last week to see my grandchild. This was a whirlwind two-day event. We flew out at 6 AM on Thursday and returned Friday evening at 11:30 PM. As crazy as this sounds, it was important for us to see our grandchild before the holidays.
So now we are down to the last 10 days.
Today is my day off from my day job. My to-do list includes:
- Finish writing the Christmas cards
- Mailing the Christmas Cards
- Wrapping Christmas presents
- Mounting a picture for my son and his wife
- Taking the recycling and trash to the landfill
- Watering my new banana tree.
- Filling the bird baths with water
- Restocking firewood on the porch from the stacks along the tree line
- Organizing the new garage; adding the workbench
- Spend time with my wife
The last item is the closest I have to self-care.
I will add some “me-time” to my list. But as I read over the list, I see many items that are self-care for me. Working with the firewood, watering plants, keeping up with the birdfeeders and water. All of these are things that relax me. They are tasks that don’t seem like work but are things that I enjoy.
This is my way of slowing down.
And there may be time for a board game this evening. Finding time to share with family helps me to slow down and remember what is important. So, I will add another log to the fire in the woodstove, finish my coffee and jump on my list.
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