Dear Tired Moms This Christmas Season…

You don’t have to do everything.

It’s ok if you don’t do crafts, Advent calendar activities, or make your own decorations.

Store-bought cookie dough is acceptable.

It’s ok to do all your shopping in your pajamas from Amazon.

It’s ok to give your kids more than four gifts. It’s ok to spoil them a little. Raising entitled children has so much more to do with how you raise them the rest of the year than how many presents are under the tree.

It’s ok to make your own traditions, even if they look different from those of your family or your friends.

You can still celebrate Jesus’ birth even when you are struggling with your faith.

Bloggers do their Christmas crafts and posts months in advance, so don’t feel like you have to fit that project you just saw on Pinterest into your already busy schedule.

Family is important. So are boundaries.

You can’t make everyone happy. (You aren’t Santa Claus.)

Some years you will be really into Christmas. Other years you won’t. It’s okay.

Some years you will be really philanthropic and altruistic. Other years, it’s gonna be all about you and your little family. Neither one is wrong.

The years you feel the poorest might be the years that are actually the richest.

The most beautiful Christmas tree is the one you actually enjoy decorating.

The best Christmas treats are the ones you actually enjoy making.

Christmas isn’t a time for guilt. Ever. (However, it is a time for guilty pleasures.)

What your kids need more than Advent activities, traditions, cookies, and presents is a mom who isn’t stressed out.

Less is more.

_____

See also:

Letting Go of The Christmas Rush

When Christmas is Hard

How to Have the Perfect Christmas This Year

To The Mamas of Littles During the Holidays

DEAR TIRED MOM WHO WONDERS IF ALL THIS CHRISTMAS FUSS IS WORTH IT