Monday Musings – Laughing into the Holidays

 

Come out for laughs on December 6

‘Tis the season to be jolly. There’s nothing more festive than the sound of laughter. Well, there are other things, but laughter is at the top of the list. You may be familiar with the holiday song, The Twelve Days of Christmas, this year let’s change that song to the Twelve Days of Laughter.

If you were given a challenge (which I’m suggesting now) to come up with twelve ways to include laughter in your day, what would they be? Below are a few ideas I came up with:

On the first day of laughter my true love gave to me, a comedy show ticket wrapped neatly.

On the second day of laughter my true love shared with me, two holiday movies, and a comedy show wrapped neatly.

If you haven’t guessed yet, you should be singing (in your head) the tune of the 12 Days of Christmas. I won’t ask you to sing the entire song right now, but I will share a list of more ways you can include laughter in your holiday. Since I’ve already shared two ways, below are ten additional ideas.

1.      Read a book that includes humor.

2.      Funny gift exchange – have a white elephant gift exchange. My family does this at our Christmas dinner. I’ve found fun gifts at Five Below and the Dollar Tree.

3.      Ugly Sweater Contest

4.      Play silly party games – my family doesn’t know it yet but we’re playing Pin the Heart on the Grinch. You could also play Pin the Nose on Rudolph or start a game of Christmas Charades. For Christmas Charades create words or phrases that are holiday themed like “Sleigh ride or “building a snowman.”

5.      Karaoke – change the song lyrics to the wrong words and wait for laughter.

6.      Share funny holiday stories.

7.      Silly Selfies – take silly selfies with a friend or family. Have someone else create a funny caption.

8.      Lip Sync Battle – Choose a favorite song, go all out and make the performance dramatic.

9.      Snowball Toss – set up buckets or bowls labeled with different point value and have players toss marshmallows (your snowballs) into them.

10. Laugh Fest – on the twelfth day of laughter, share the gift of laughter with twelve people. This can be friends, family, or strangers. You decide how to deliver joy.

As you laugh into the holidays remember to relax, create memories, and be present in the moment. How will you include laughter in your holiday season?

Fa,la,la…

Muffins with Mom - Coping with holiday stress

Family dinner

As I pondered what to write for today’s post, I came across an article I’d written several years ago. I thought it was fitting to post it here since the Holiday season is upon us.

Deck the halls with lots of family, fa, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la. This was the opening line of my letter inviting family to my house for Christmas dinner. The disclaimer that followed told them: “Due to the state of the economy and the state of my wallet, Christmas dinner will look different this year.” I asked everyone to bring a dish to pass and I would supply the fun and games.

The holiday season can seem hurried with concerts to attend, Christmas programs to prepare and so forth.  And that’s just for the kids. Every committee, church auxiliary and board of directors wants your time too. However, there’s no need to go on strike for the Holiday.

Take a deep breath through your nose, hold it, then slowly breathe out through your mouth. Spirituality & Practice gives tips for de-stressing your Holidays. They say the baseline of stress reduction is to take care of your body- get regular exercise, get enough sleep, and limit the amount of caffeine, sugar and alcohol.

Another tip that I found easy to relate to was one that said, “Dose your day with humor.” My kids sometimes make this easy for me with the things that they say. I told my children to make a wish list of items they wanted for Christmas. My teen son went so far as to include prices next to his items (and they were pretty accurate). The ten or so items totaled somewhere in the vicinity of $500.00.

As we stood in WalMart the other day browsing around, my teen son asked me if he was going to receive everything on his list. I doubled over with laughter exercising stomach muscles I didn’t know I had. Once I regained my composure my son just smiled at me and said, “I take that as a no.”

In addition to using humor to de-stress, we must be realistic and know what we can manage during the holidays. Spirituality & Practice says, “Wrestle your perfectionism to the ground and don’t let idealized expectations press you into doing more than you can realistically manage.” It is ok to say no and to set limits. For me, the best part of the holiday is having family over and watching their faces as they wrestle over the best gag gifts.

Take time to notice little moments of beauty-a smile, a gracious act, a loving gesture. It may sound simple, but this does have a calming effect. “Practicing gratitude for these bits and pieces of daily life is a potent way to de-stress, and it’s contagious too.”

For a detailed list of de-stressing click here. 

What are your favorite tips for de-stressing during the holiday season?

Muffins with Mom – A Holiday request from a teen

Before they were teens....there were still Holiday requests, for some of the same things.

It’s the time of year where people begin to make holiday requests. The bell ringers are in front of stores asking for donations and there’s talk of getting the Angel Tree ready at church. These are small requests in the big scheme of the Holiday season. There’s a feeling of altruism when giving in these instances.

On my home front there was a different type Holiday request made recently. In a phone conversation with my college son we discussed our annual family Christmas dinner. Somehow the conversation led to talking about Christmas gifts.

“Do you want to know what’s on my Christmas list?” my son asked.

“No, why don’t you tell me?

“I want an X-Box – One.”

Can you imagine my next question? “How much does something like that cost? I asked.

“About $350, but I have a $50 gift card you can put with it,” he said.

After pausing briefly I said, “Maybe you’d better go to the mall and give your request to Santa.”

I could hear a chuckle on the other end of the line, but I continued talking, “How about socks for Christmas?” There was more laughter.

“I have enough socks, but thanks mother.”

I noted the sarcasm in his comment, but it was happy sarcasm. Our mother and son conversation ended with a Holiday request from me.

“My request for you is twofold, first I want you to bring home better than average grades. Second, come up with a way to give back during the Holiday season.”

My son agreed to my request. However, there are several weeks left before we find out how this story ends.

 

photo credit and recipe

 

In the meantime, enjoy a Strawberry Lemon Muffin (recipe above).

Has your child ever made any special Holiday requests?