And every single year, my entire family goes to Target in downtown DC to buy the items. It starts well and then usually degenerates into squabbling about toy decisions, my children who want things for themselves, and then waiting in long lines due to understaffing. Needless to say, we are not feeling the warm holiday fuzzies.
This year, we chose the name and I took a long deep sigh. I believe in doing this and I love the idea of a four year old getting goodies for Christmas, but I wasn’t sure how I was going to get to Target with my family this year.
As I sat on the couch this past Sunday, I began to reflect on my rigid thinking.
Why did it have to look the same every year?
Why do I have to make a tradition of every goddamned thing I do?
Why I can’t I do this differently?
I called my 13 year old down, handed her her laptop and the list and said, “Go on Target and make a cart of everything on this list. I completely trust your judgment.”
Ten minutes later, the items were purchased. I will have my younger children wrap and pack the gifts, as well as make cards, and we will all deliver it to the pediatrician’s office. As a family. Three blocks away.
Do you have rigid thinking? What questions do you need to ask yourself? Where can you find the balance between commitment and freedom?
Where is the middle way?
And because I can sometimes be the queen of “Do as I say and not as I do,” I actually used the questions that I posed in my latest Washington Post Column about doing less this holiday season. I hope you enjoy it.
And if you want to do LESS in your parenting life (yes, less techniques and strategies and charts), consider signing up for my online class.