Parenting Guru: Taking advantage of Christmas madness

Jeri Nowlin Shaffer

[Editor's note: This month, Shine Parenting Gurus are sharing their tips on how they get through the holiday season without losing their wits and patience. Have a tip to add? We'd love to know!]

I have been asked to write about my personal tips for holding on to my sanity during the hustle and bustle of the holidays. After considerable thought, it turns out that I don't have any tips for staying sane this time of year. In fact, I can guarantee that I will go completely mad at least once before we ring in the New Year.

Since I can't offer any advice to parents about avoiding the insanity that comes with the season, I thought I can at least offer some encouragement. I think that the reason I have no advice to offer is that I actually enjoy the annual opportunity to go a little nuts. People are more forgiving of madness during the month of December and I take full advantage of that. I feel no need to hide the fact that I am frazzled and exhausted. We have four children and everyone seems to know that we will be stretched pretty thin by December 25 th. My parents and in-laws offer to babysit more frequently. We are always excused if we are running late or have to leave early. We even get a kind of free pass to decline holiday invitations. No one questions my need to sleep in or take a nap. My hair can be a mess, I can go without make-up and we can have cereal for dinner. It is all forgiven. It is Christmas.

That said, I don't usually go nuts with the Christmas shopping. I usually start buying gifts in late summer with the goal of being at least 75% finished with my holiday shopping by Halloween. I usually still need to buy stocking stuffers and batteries in December, but the bulk of the shopping is done long before the tree goes up. Of course, remembering where I stuffed all those gifts and remembering what I bought for whom is another matter entirely! It is all part of my annual descent into holiday madness. It is worth a little extra wear and tear each year to make the holidays special for our children. They are young and full of excitement and anticipation. I can recover from crazy in January.