Resolve to Beat the January Blues
It’s the new year, and by this point you’ve probably been celebrating Christmas for almost two months. That’s just the way we do things in modern America, where each year the Twelve Days of Christmas seem to inch closer to becoming twelve WEEKS of Christmas. I don’t know about you, but as much as I’ve enjoyed the parties, the treats, the gifts, the music, the family time, etc., by the time January rolls around I am more than ready to ditch the tree and the wreath and all the remnants of The Most Wonderful Time of the Year.
Make a New Year’s Resolution
Yes, I’m afraid the January doldrums are setting in already. But I’m hoping to distract myself from this by adopting a meaningful New Year’s resolution for 2018. Like most people, I have sort of a love/hate relationship with New Year’s resolutions. I like the idea of starting a year with a goal of some sort. But I dislike my usual inability to follow through by the time February rolls around. Nonetheless, I’m thinking I may have come up with a realistic one this year — and one that I think can make a difference in my whole family’s life. Instead of making a resolution to get by body in shape this year, what if I make a resolution to get my HOUSE in shape?Replace holiday decor
First of all, part of the post-holiday blues comes from taking away the pretty decorations and returning the house to its normal “blah” status. What if I could find a way to spruce up the living room with accessories that could brighten up the place for the other 11 months of the year? It doesn’t have to cost a lot. Maybe all it takes is a potted plant to replace the Christmas tree, or some colorful throw pillows and non-Christmasy candles to add to some of surface space now vacated by holiday decor.Schedule small purges
Second, and maybe most importantly, having a clean and relatively tidy house definitely helps to brighten my mood. So as part of my resolution for this year, I think I will promise myself to set aside 20 minutes each week to purge a cabinet or a closet or a drawer. That’s totally doable, and the results will add up to a huge difference if I can keep it up for 52 weeks. I’m also going to enjoy having my home professionally cleaned, without feeling one ounce of guilt about it. I know that cleaning is not my strength, so leaving it to the professionals ensures that it will get done right. My home and my family deserve it. If you feel the same, be sure to check out Immaculate Clean’s New Year specials, starting as low as $92! Text “New Years” to 410-549-0727.5 Tips for Tackling Your Holiday To-Do List
If you read my blog post last month, https://immaculateclean.com/blog/tis-the-season-for-holiday-stress/ you already know that I have been stressing about this year’s Christmas preparations since before Halloween. After much careful analysis, I’ve concluded that most of that stress is due to the fact that the holiday “To-Do” list in our house looks much like this:Wife’s Christmas To-Do List
- Fill Advent Calendar
- Have Christmas Card photo made
- Order Christmas Cards
- Address and mail Christmas Cards
- Decorate
- Water Christmas tree (daily)
- Move Elf-on-the-Shelf (nightly)
- Shop for Kid 1
- Shop for Kid 2
- Shop for Husband
- Shop for Mom
- Shop for Dad
- Shop for Mother-in-Law
- Shop for Brother
- Shop for Sister-in-Law
- Shop for Brother-in-Law
- Shop for Nephews
- Shop for Nieces
- Shop for Teacher
- Shop for Mailman
- Shop for Toys-for-Tots drive
- Shop for Boss
- Shop for Dog
- Shop for Best Friend
- Shop for Neighbor
- Wrap presents
- Hide presents
- Buy outfit for holiday party #1
- Buy outfit for holiday party #2
- Bake cookies
- Cook/clean for holiday guests
Husband’s Christmas To-Do List:
- Shop for Wife
After 26 years of marriage, I’ve accepted that this is just the way things are. I’m not complaining, I swear. My husband is actually a very helpful and considerate man, and I’ve brought much of this burden upon myself. Because, frankly, I probably didn’t always trust him to do things the “right” way. I also always wanted to have a hand in everything, because it was actually fun making Christmas as magical as possible for our kids when they were little.

- WRITE IT ALL DOWN. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Lists are the key to keeping yourself organized and remaining calm. Although a list like the one above might fill you with a wee bit of panic at first glance, it sure beats floating through your days wondering whether you’re forgetting to do something important. Plus, I’m all about that little dopamine rush that comes from crossing an item off of the list.
- SET AN EARLY DEADLINE. As a serial procrastinator, this was a hard lesson for me to learn, but after being burned by too many Christmas “emergencies,” including things like sick kids or snow days, I now set a drop-dead date for myself of December 20th for all shopping to be done and gifts to be wrapped. Without the last-minute shopping pressure, you might actually be able to relax a little bit and enjoy the last few days of the season.
- SET THE MOOD. Although I’m a Grinch when it comes to stores decking the halls in mid-October or TV stations showing Christmas movies before Halloween, once Thanksgiving hits, it’s all fair game. Crank up the Christmas tunes and sing along, loudly; it will put you in the right frame of mind to do whatever holiday-related task lies in front of you.
- GET YOUR HOUSE CLEANED. Maybe you are hosting your husband’s office party (yep, I somehow got roped into that this year), or maybe no one is going to step foot in your house besides your immediate family. Either way, having it professionally cleaned during the holiday season can alleviate a lot of your stress. For one thing, it is a lot easier to focus and get things done when your house is clean. Immaculate Clean makes it easy! They offer one time cleaning services! You can hire them to clean your whole house, or just have them focus on something like bathrooms and the kitchen. They even offer a One Time Holiday Clean Discount! Contact them for information.
- ASK FOR HELP. As evidenced by my list above, that’s a lesson I still haven’t taken to heart. But delegating some of the the tasks on my side of the list would probably do wonders for my stress-level and wouldn’t hurt my marriage either!