The Ultimate Low Stress Holiday Prep Guide for Working Moms

With the holidays right around the corner, I can already feel the mix of excitement and that oh-so-familiar sense of impending holiday stress. We’ve all been there, haven’t we? Trying to create the perfect holiday experience for our families, while juggling our demanding jobs. But hey, guess what? This year, we’re doing things differently. We’re going to tackle the holiday season with a strategy that’s all about low stress and high enjoyment. By following the tips in the low stress holiday prep guide you are about to find your magic and put down the crazy this Christmas!

The Ultimate Low Stress Holiday Prep Guide for Working Moms

Start Early and Break It Down

Let’s be real, procrastination is our frenemy. It feels good at the moment, but it’s a disaster waiting to happen, especially during the holiday season. So, the golden rule to enjoying the most wonderful time of the year? Start early.

1. Make a Master To-Do List: Around mid-November, grab a cup of your favorite coffee, and let’s list it out. Everything from gift shopping to holiday meal planning goes on this list. Do you have family traditions that take a bit of prep work? Those will go here too. Holiday cards, family visits, Christmas parties, and more that you plan to achieve this season all will make the list in order to give you a solid starting point for your planning. 

2. Break It Down into Manageable Tasks: Once you have your list, break it down by weeks. Assign a few tasks to each week leading up to the holidays. This way, you’re not overwhelmed by a mountain of to-dos in one go and you still have the ability to enjoy your family life while managing the holiday expectations. Plus, breaking things down now is the best way to ensure the added extras of the holidays do not overwhelm your regular routine.

Delegate Like a Boss

Remember, just because you can do it all, doesn’t mean you should. Delegation is key and is a great way to help you set boundaries that will keep your stress level at a minimum during your holiday planning.  That’s why delegating like a boss is so high up on my low stress holiday prep guide. It really is that important!

3. Involve the Family: Get the kids and your partner involved. Even the little ones can help with decorating or simple tasks. It’s all about making memories together, right? Busy moms sometimes have completely unrealistic expectations of themselves nowadays, including the thought that we should be able to handle every little bit of holiday planning ourselves. Don’t forget mama, this is supposed to be a time of joy, not the most stressful time of the year, get your family members involved and quit putting everything on your shoulders.

4. Don’t Shy Away from Asking for Help: Got a big dinner planned? Ask each guest to bring a dish. It’s a potluck-style feast with less stress for you. Asking extended family to pitch is in no way shameful and with everything else you are doing mama, someone else can handle the Christmas cookies this year. 

Simplify Holiday Traditions

Keeping traditions alive is wonderful, but tweaking them for less stress is even better. There is no reason to keep up with tired old traditions just for tradition’s sake. If you are stuck pulling out your hair or screaming like a psycho to even complete the tradition, then it is probably time to retire from routine in lieu of some new, simplified traditions. Here is some inspiration for your low stress holiday prep guide to help cut it down:

5. Christmas Lights – Remember when you were a kid and you used to get lost in the magic of the twinkling Christmas lights around the neighborhood? Guess what? They have only gotten more elaborate with time. Take a night and put the kids in the car to go for a drive while listening to your favorite Christmas carols. If you post on Facebook, I bet your local mamas could even tell you where to find some amazing displays. And for the win, you can totally grab McDonald’s on the way through and take all of the stress of the evening off of your shoulders. 

6. Local Holiday Activities – When you are looking for new holiday traditions, honestly a Google search of your local area’s “Christmas Activities” can turn up some amazing opportunities to make memories close to home. No set up, tear down, or clean up for you. Just jump in the car and show up! From breakfast with Santa, to tree lighting ceremonies and Christmas markets, venturing out in the community during this time of year can bring some great new family tradition opportunities in a fun way for both you and the family.  

7. Holiday Gatherings – While getting together with family is one of those family traditions that sometimes is the bringer of stress, here are a few tactics to make them easier on you this season. First, you have full permission to say no to them. Whether it is one, or all of them, running from house to house to fill the high expectations of others for the perfect Christmas can be exhausting. Sit down with your partner and determine which holiday gatherings are a must, and where you can put boundaries in place to not spend the whole season running.

       And for those gatherings you cannot forgo, feel free to set the time expectation ahead of time with your family so that you can be in and out without losing your whole day. 

8. Christmas Movies – Netflix has you covered mama. If you are looking for a great new tradition for both little kids and older kids alike, grab your favorite festive snack, or a cozy blanket, and pull up the vast selection of holiday movies and TV show specials that will bring joy, laughter, and maybe even a few extra cheesy tears. 

Shopping Smart – Low Stress Holiday Prep Guide

Ah, the dreaded holiday shopping. But fear not, with a bit of planning, it can be a breeze. Once you have everyone’s gift lists, girl, let Santazon lead the way and bring as many gifts down your driveway without you ever setting foot in a store. You would be amazed at the amount of extra time you might end up with to settle into some much-deserved quality time focusing on yourself and your own self-care for the holiday. 

9. Embrace Online Shopping: Skip the crowded malls and over-run big box stores. Online shopping can be done from the comfort of your home, and there are often great deals. Not only that, but EVERYONE has turned to boasting their quick (and often times free) shipping deals, why wouldn’t you grab your favorite holiday drink and go this route? 

Need to find some quiet while you do your online shopping? Hit your local coffee shop, grab a seat in the back, and let the Christmas carols play on the radio and the scent of freshly brewed coffee by your holly jolly helper. 

10. Shop Early: Want to embrace the low-stress holiday spirit? Get those lists marked off early to avoid the last-minute panic buying that often pushes our Christmas debt even higher. The more items you can have purchased, wrapped and ready to roll early in the month, the better the opportunity you will have to really enjoy the moments that matter this busy holiday season. Those deals at your favorite stores have been dropping since the Monday of Thanksgiving week, jump on the opportunity to make those perfect gift purchases early and give yourself the gift of a deep breath instead of a last-minute trip out the week of Christmas to battle the holiday crazy!

Streamline Holiday Meals

Believe it or not, there is no reason for you to HAVE to experience panic and an impending sense of doom when the thought of Christmas dinner preparation comes to mind. Whether you are responsible for dessert, a few sides, or the whole shebang, I promise you can easily add this to your low stress holiday list with a few easy tweaks. 

11. Plan Your Menu in Advance: Knowing what you’re cooking beforehand means you can shop for ingredients early and avoid last-minute grocery store chaos. The grocery stores are not often running huge super-sales the week before Christmas, so there really is no reason to not start collecting your menu items ahead of time so that you can focus more time on holiday magic than you do on trying to maintain your holiday sanity in the grocery store lines the week of Christmas. 

12. Re-Imagine your Christmas Menu: Did you know that you have an endless selection of nutritious meals to choose from for your Christmas dinner? Seriously mama, who says your holiday meal HAS to include a big ass ham (that will take 8 hours to cook slowly to avoid drying it out) and 50 million respective side dishes, all but 2 of which YOU are going to have to find room to store the leftovers of? It may be time for you to adopt a low stress holiday mindset in your dinner plans and switch things up. A taco bar, build-your-own nacho table, or even an appetizer feast can bring both joy and less headache to your holiday meal. Plus, I have YET to see my kids become too picky to get full off of a taco bar. A menu change may end up canceling out that pesky “will you please for the love of all things holy eat ONE of the things I spent 5011 hours in the kitchen making instead of getting full off Christmas candy” fight. 

13. Go for Make-Ahead Dishes: Let’s take a moment to consider just how many family members will perish from existence if you DON’T choose to spend your Christmas Eve/Christmas Day slaving away on creating each side fresh day off. Is the answer zero? Perfect! Then take a look at how many things you can prep ahead and take off your stress plate the day off. Boil those eggs a couple of days ahead of time and leave them in the shell to make the day before. Put the green bean casserole and dressing together and pop it in the fridge to pull out to back a few hours before go time. Cheat completely and grab the pre-made tubs of Harry’s Turkey Gravy from Sam’s Club and pretend you made it from scratch. I give you permission to go wild mama and embrace the few extra minutes some make ahead meal prep will give back to you. 

Taking Care of You

The holidays are about joy, memories, and magic, but do not forget to allow yourself those things. So many times the mental load of motherhood makes us believe we are required to be the sole magic provider for all of those around us. If we are not hustling to hold up every holiday tradition, celebration, and detail, everything will implode in on itself and we will single-handedly destroy the magic of Christmas. This it the reason taking care of you is making it onto my low stress holiday prep guide.

Guess what mama? If you choose to have a low stress holiday and take care of yourself as well, the Grinch will not be at your door to tell everyone how you have failed and steal Christmas. Promise.

14. Schedule Some ‘Me’ Time: Taking time to take care of yourself is hard on a typical day. During the holiday season, this task oftentimes feels impossible. Alas, it becomes more important than ever to fill your own cup before you try to pour into others. Take yourself on a coffee date. Enjoy a drive home on the scenic route so you can take in the magic of the lights without listening to your kids fight because someone’s big head is blocking the view. Prioritize your skin care, your bubble bath, your magic moments of locking everyone else out, putting some Christmas music on, and putting in your AirPods to drown out the world for 5 minutes. When you remember the gift that you are to everyone around you and treat yourself as such, it makes a world of difference.  

15. Stand Firm on your Festive Boundaries: So, this one may be the hardest item on the list, which also likely makes it the most important. Mama, you HAVE to establish some holly jolly boundaries if you are going to adopt a low stress holiday. Non-negotiable. All of the 70 thousand things you have done every holiday season because your mom stressed herself to the max and did them before you, just as her mom did before her may not ACTUALLY be relevant in your holiday magic. If the whole family is still carrying on activities that no one even enjoys anymore just for the sake of “tradition” then what is the point? Sit down now. Decide what is important to you and your family, and what isn’t, and start cutting some things out. 

Just because you are invited to a holiday party, does not mean you are obligated to go, and just because there is a community activity that someone has sent you, does not mean that you have to drop everything and run. Make your list, discuss it with your family, and get your Christmas on. 

16. Understand it is OK to Disappoint: Ok, so this is the tough realization of a low stress holiday. You are going to disappoint others in your quest to create less stress in your household. 

Read that one again.

In the process of setting some boundaries for yourself, you are going to turn down invitations, have people attempt to guilt you into doing so, and still politely, but firmly disappoint, and this is OK. In fact, this is what I expect of you this season because mama, if you do not stop letting others make you believe that their happiness/party success/holiday magic revolves solely around your participation, you are going to crash and burn brighter than the holiday dumpster fire on Youtube. So get comfortable and accepting of the fact that you are going to disappoint a few people this holiday season. Your own mental health is going to be better for it at the end of the season mama. 

Keep Expectations Realistic

Let’s face it, aiming for a picture-perfect holiday is the biggest stressor. You do not have to pretend that you are Martha May Whovier or have your picture-perfect decor for social media in order to find joy this Christmas season. I promise Mama, a low stress holiday will be worth more than a Hallmark Movie Christmas home every time. 

17. Embrace Imperfections: That tree might be a little less full than you had hoped once you get it unwrapped, and the star may not sit on it perfectly straight and you know what? That is completely ok if you learn to embrace it! Let the kiddos spend time putting up some of the decor even though you know at the end of the day it isn’t going to be exactly what you pictured. Christmas ham comes out a bit crispy at the edges? Laugh it off, and let your guests cut the crispies off of their piece instead of spending time stressing over it. The imperfections are what memories are made of. 

18. Focus on What Truly Matters: The holidays are about spending time with loved ones, not about perfection. Just because everything does not come out looking like it belongs in a magazine, doesn’t mean that your kids are not writing their own stories about the time they have been spending with you creating the magic. Don’t lose focus on the bigger picture this season by stressing the small details. 

Your Low Stress Holiday Prep Guide

Ok, so maybe not stress free but follow at least some of these tips, and you are destined to have a jollier holiday season. A holiday season that’s more about joy and less about stress is totally within our reach IF we are willing to loosen the reins just a bit and remember to feel the magic ourselves.  By starting early, simplifying traditions, smart shopping, taking care of ourselves, and keeping our expectations in check, we can truly enjoy all that the season has to offer, instead of increased anxiety and the never-ending cycle of tiredness. And remember, at the end of the day, it’s the laughter, the togetherness, and the love that our families will remember. Here’s to a joyous, peaceful, and wonderfully low-stress holiday season!