Yesterday, I woke up feeling like I was either getting the flu or had been beaten with a tire iron and just didn’t remember it. I hurt all over and my muscles were even sore. I staggered out of the bedroom into the aftermath of Christmas with a thermometer in my mouth. It looked like a bomb had gone off - albeit a festive bomb. Everyone had gone home after 3.5 days of Christmas bedlam and revelry. Blair, John Samuel, Jack, Carson, Anna Kathryn, one energetic golden doodle, one howling diabetic beagle, one beagle who disregards furniture rules and a partridge in a pear tree. All that remained were glitter, dog toy stuffing, empty boxes, pine needles and fatigue. After the thermometer beeped, I decided I didn’t have the flu, I was just worn to a frazzle from Operation Christmas of which I’d been the head coordinator and chief director for the last 4 weeks. 

We’re four days out and women everywhere are still shell-shocked and glazed over as we stand and look at the remains of Christmas. We worked so hard to make Christmas fun and memorable for our people. Our bodies are exhausted. We’re sleep-deprived. We’re full of cream cheese, sugar, and red meat. With every passing year, we feel it deeper in our bones and we don’t recover as quickly as we once did from the holiday implementation process. 

Even after the planning and execution, we all roll the footage of the holiday gatherings in our minds. We know we hit the mark on some gifts and missed on others. Some of the recipes turned out and some won’t ever be used again. Some of the Christmas moments were as magical as we’d imagined and some a good bit worse. But, another Christmas celebration has come and gone and now all there is left to do is recover. 

Davis and I worked all day and into the night putting away all of the Christmas and the house looked so empty- much like Cindy Lou Who’s house after it was burglarized. Taking away all the fluff and the shiny outer shell of Christmas makes normal look a little empty. It will all seem a little drab with lots of bare space until we adjust back to our normal settings. The full, bustling house that was a four-alarm chaotic scene, just a couple of days ago, is left quiet and uncrowded. That can be a good thing and a sad thing all at once. We crave the chaos and activity of our families and then happily collapse in the embrace of our quiet routines when it’s all over. 

We, women, put a lot on ourselves, you know? We want everybody under our roof to have a Hallmark experience. We make sure we have something everyone will eat for the 28 meals they’ll be visiting. We want everyone’s gift allotment to be even and, if it’s not, we set out to equalize. We drive all over to procure all of the ingredients for the 97 recipes we’ll be making- everything from steaks to sprinkles to heavy whipping cream and fresh rosemary. What about the stockings? Is everything wrapped? Will UPS make it with my package? It’s no wonder we feel like we’re 240 years old today. 

We do all of those things out of love. Our mothers and grandmothers did them for us and we want to love our families the same way. This way we celebrate Christmas can be a lot of work on us though. Ladies, we have a whole year to think of ways we might simplify the traditions of this holy season. We can’t forget the Baby came to lighten our loads- not add to them. It’s been an extra-special one- a time of celebration, thankfulness, reflection, joy, and love. Now, let’s get some naps in this week, girls. 

Pro tip- one small way to reduce holiday stress is to load your people up and take them to Waffle House on Christmas morning. We had a blast and all the workers were so MERRY!