Overwhelmed by Christmas!

A post from mami


Anyone else completely overwhelmed by the Christmas/Holiday season?

I know everyone is having a rough time, but living off your savings and not having a job is way too stressful.

For the first time in my life I don't want any gifts and I don't want to buy any gifts. It's mainly to due with the fact that we are still in transition here in the US after moving back from the UK and we don't have jobs or a home. We live with family and don't have any real structure to our days.

I told my husband "don't get me anything" and I meant it. But we ended up agreeing to one gift at $20 max. Besides, we just went to New York City for my birthday and a much needed weekend away from Little M (which we had planned a few months ago), our wedding anniversary is in early January, then Little M's birthday, then his birthday. It's all too much in a short space of time and we need to budget carefully. I just want to fast forward to mid February after all of the parties and festivities are over.

I tried to go shopping today for the family and all I got from it was a stomach ache and a bad mood. And not to mention I have had a few people say "Oh I got you something!" which means I have to get them something even though they were not on my list but I have to in order to avoid looking selfish. Or should I not bother? I'm still on the fence about this one. HELP!

So much fun decorating the tree!

This is not to say that we don't have any gifts for anyone, and that I haven't been excited about Christmas. On the contrary! Little M and I have had a great time crafting and decorating my mother's house. But the realness of our situation really hit home today and it left me nervous and scared. 

Truthfully, I am looking forward to our delicious Christmas dinner at my mother's home and sitting by the fireplace. I don't need gifts, just my boys and family to keep me company. But the reality is that there will be gifts, albeit very simple ones, and I hope the feelings of guilt and "not  having enough" soon subside.

On a more cheerful note,  Little M is very excited about Christmas and I can't wait to see his face light up when he realizes there are gifts under the tree! Our families have been overjoyed buying him toys and clothes and for that we are very thankful.

How are you feeling about Christmas? Do you feel pressure to have gifts for everyone?

María José

P.S. New for 2012, Little M and I will be sharing the blog. I'm going to be writing more now...I think he needs a bit of a break. It's been two years!