It's December 23rd. The kitchen's a mess, your feet are aching, and instead of feeling the peace the season promises, you're sitting on the floor in tears. Holiday stress has a way of hijacking the very joy you're trying to create. It doesn't have to be this way.
This episode gives you 3 practical shifts to protect your family's time this Christmas, so you actually experience the peace and joy the season is meant to hold:
✅Why a packed holiday calendar steals your ability to be present & intentional
✅The stop-doing list that creates immediate breathing room without losing any joy
✅How to identify 3 non-essential traditions that are draining you right now
✅Why simplifying Christmas creates the memories that last a lifetime
✅How to shift from holiday stress to spiritual awe & family connection this season
Click the link below to sign up for the free class on keeping Christ in Christmas before it fills up.
Resources for You
FREE class: 3 Clues to Keep Christ in Christmas
Show Up Early Bonus: Christmas Acts of Kindness
Show Notes:
How Did a Season Celebrating the Prince of Peace Become the Most Stressful Month of the Year?
Picture this. It’s 11:30 at night on December 23rd. Your kitchen counters are covered with half-baked cookies. There’s sticky flour, unwashed mixing bowls, mountains of unrolled wrapping paper. Your feet are aching and your head is pounding. And instead of feeling the peace of the Christmas season, you’re sitting on the kitchen floor in tears.
I don’t know that I was ever literally on the kitchen floor, but I have been there. Felt that. And if you’re looking at your decorated tree with dread instead of joy, thinking about tomorrow’s endless to-do list on Christmas Eve — you are not alone.
You’re probably listening to this in October. I know that feels early. But if you haven’t made some decisions now about what December is going to look like, it will come upon you suddenly and you will be on that floor.
The Trap Every Christian Mom Falls Into
Every Christian mom — every homeschool mom — falls into this trap. Trying to do all the things to make Christmas perfect. When my kids were young, I wanted them to miss nothing. I would stack the schedule with endless to-dos on top of baking and shopping and wrapping and church pageants and family gatherings. I wanted to create the perfect memory. I remember reading Southern Living about having a Christmas decorating evening where everything looks lovely. We never got there. Not once.
The sheer volume of tasks takes away your ability to be present in the moment. When your schedule is crammed full, there is literally no physical or mental room for stillness, quiet reflection, or the actual joy of Christmas.
What Ma Wilder Did in December 1888
Let me take you back to December 1888. The American prairie — blizzards, isolation, deep financial strain, an agricultural depression. You can read about this in Laura Ingalls Wilder’s books. She tells the story of how her mother Caroline — Ma — handled all those hardships.
Ma did not have access to big stores, extravagant decorations, or endless activities. She focused entirely on warmth, simple presents, and deep gratitude for small things. Maybe a single orange. A tin cup. Homemade candy made out of snow. Expectations stripped away all the commercial clutter. And Laura remembered those Christmases. She said it gave her a profound awe and joy for the rest of her life.
That’s what simple and intentional did for Laura. And it’s what it can do for your kids too.
What We Changed in Our Family
I still remember crying in the car on Christmas day feeling overwhelmed. It was at that point that Steve and I decided things needed to change. We agreed we would only do two outside activities as a family during the Christmas season. The rest of the time we would be at home — building a fire, reading a book, spending time with just our family in quiet reflection and awe of Jesus’ birth.
That shift changed everything.
Make a Stop-Doing List
Here’s what I want you to do right now. Grab an index card or a sticky note — something you can put somewhere you’ll see it before you start your holiday planning. Write down three non-essential holiday events or traditions that currently drain your energy or create friction in your home.
Maybe it’s elaborate neighbor gifts. Maybe it’s the daily elf on the shelf antics. Complicated craft projects. Being in the Christmas pageant when it means 15 practices that take time away from your family.
Write them down. And then cross them off your calendar and your to-do list with zero guilt.
When you remove those three things, you create immediate breathing room in your family, in your home, and in your schedule — without sacrificing a single drop of Christmas joy or peace.
What happens when you let the calendar run your family? You’re not centering your days on Jesus. And your kids are absorbing your stress instead of your peace. I know that happened to me. Why was I crying in the car on Christmas day driving to my parents’ house? Because I had done way too much.
We don’t need more activities to make Christmas meaningful. We need purpose and intentional shifts to protect your family’s time together. We need our kids to grow up experiencing the peace and joy of Christmas.
I’m offering a free class at the end of October called Three Clues to Keep Christ in Christmas. You can sign up here. I’m going to share the exact shifts we made to go from holiday stress to seasons of deep faith and rest. If you show up five or ten minutes early, there’s a special bonus waiting for you — our Christmas bingo printout to help you stay focused on intentional things.
If this helped you, share it with a friend who is already dreading December. And a five-star review or a comment wherever you’re listening would mean the world to me.
