A Holiday Confession

As a kid it was hard for me to let go of the idea of Santa. And the flying reindeer. A reality check that eventually had to be cashed.  Time goes by and perceptions change.

Now here I am letting go of another holiday fallacy idea. I'm admitting in writing that I don't adore complex, time intensive holiday preparation.   The look and outcome - yes! But the fiddley fussing, not so much.  I know... (insert image of me hanging my head for a micro moment) this admission is terribly un-matha (perhaps even un-female, lol).

I can't confess share all my shortcuts at once (I do have some estrogen based pride, lol) But I will admit to my first get the look without the fuss trick. Hold on to your pantyhose. Sit down perhaps. Ready? I NEVER undecorate my little fake alpine tree. Yes, fake tree. Never undecorated.  Just breathe. Honest it's not as horrible as it may at first seem.

On Jan 2 or so each year my little tree (which looks astoundingly similar to the one in the image) is loving, carefully draped and wrapped in a sheet of filmy plastic (the kind used as a drop cloth for  painting). Lights, tinsel, ornaments all intact. Away into storage he goes. Once or twice thru the year I see him, say hello to him as I pass by for other things that live in storage.  He doesn't seem to mind at all.

For my part it's wonderful not to have to find and upack all the lights, ornaments every year. I enjoy not having to place the lights on the tree from scratch each year. I do switch off an ornament or two as I like which is fun and veryyyy quick.  To me it looks just as pretty when it's done (outcome vs process remember, lol).

The bonus is that the time saved since I've approached the tree in this oh-so-un-martha-way is that I now have time to string lights on trees outside if I like. Or bake cookies (bad for my butt but wonderful for the holiday mood! :-)   

Embracing my short cut to holiday outcome self (like admitting there was no Santa) changed the hoilday a bit of course. But for the better. For me there's more enjoyment not less. All I had to do was get past the previous expectation(s)!

I wonder if I'm the only one with holiday short cut confessions I mean tips? lol