Neglect Something

When in doubt, neglect something. That’s my go-to strategy for dealing with holiday prep. Not “start early” or “simplify.” Those boats have sailed, my friend. I say, embrace the chaos. Accept that if you go upstairs to change over the laundry, on the way you’ll see the ornament boxes that need to go to the attic, and once you’re in the attic, you’ll find the pile of old games you intended to donate away, so they’ll come back down with you to land by the kitchen door, beside the bin of recycling that also needs to go to the garage.

By then, you’re fretting about your novel, so you plop down on the couch and get going, and meanwhile you’re neglecting:

Shopping for gifts
Wrapping (Ha! As if!)
Dishes
Oil changes
Calling for eye doctor appointments
Sleep
Closets
Making holiday cards
Getting groceries
Recycling
Putting a year’s worth of photos in an album
Folding up the fold-out couch from your mother’s visit
Returning the rental wheel chair
Cleaning anything
Watering the tree
Watering the plants
Fighting the mysterious spider mites that are making the orange tree drop its leaves

And yet, I know it’s still going to be Christmas next week. The family will be here. We’ll make it to Mass. We’ll have enough to eat. Everyone’s healthy.

Let’s face it. We’re already blessed.