This Year, Give Yourself The Gift Of Sanity

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - WLKY.com

The shopping, the wrapping, the shipping, the cooking, the cleaning… ho, ho, hold it right there. These holiday-survival tips will ensure you’re still sane when you ring in the New Year.

1. Buy in bulk. Rather than trying to unearth the perfect, unique gift for everyone on your list, buy a handful of gift cards and a gross of thank-you notes. Everyone on your list gets a stack of notes tied up with a gift card. Simple, practical and easy-to-ship. Can you say done?

2. Scale back. Who isn’t trying to conserve funds these days? If you have a large family or group of friends that always exchanges gifts, suggest going grab-bag style. (Be sure to establish a price cap.) Make the present-exchange fun by turning it into a game: Each person takes turns opening a gift; the next person can either “steal” something that’s already been opened or pick from the remaining pile. Gifts can only be “stolen” three times before someone can claim final ownership.

3. Consider job-sharing. Hosting the big holiday meal doesn’t have to be a two-week affair if you enlist lots of help. Claim responsibility for the roast or the bird, and assign a side dish to each guest. Suddenly, cooking is actually fun again. (And much more affordable.)

4. Go green. Yes, holiday cards are a lovely and enduring tradition. (So is cake-in-the-bride’s face, but no one really likes that one, either.) Alas, who has the time to design, personalize, sign, address and mail 100 or more individual cards? Instead craft a clever little poem, pepper it with funny photos from the year and send it out via (free!) email.

5. Out with the old. You bake two-thousand holiday cookies because your mom baked two-thousand holiday cookies and her mom baked two-thousand holiday cookies… but do you enjoy it? If not, it’s time to let it go. (Maybe they hated it, too!) Come up with enjoyable activities that can become annual affairs: a family gift-wrapping party, a day trip to the zoo or strolling the neighborhood (instead of driving) to check out the holiday lights.

Jenna McCarthy is an internationally published writer and the author of The Parent Trip: From High Heels and Parties to Highchairs and Potties, and Cheers to the New Mom/Dad! Visit her online at

www.jennamccarthy.com

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