Making a not-to-do holiday list

I love lists. I have an old-fashioned with lots of lists. Without it, I'd be a lost mess. But as much fun as it is marking off tasks I've conquered, I'm discovering it's almost as freeing to make a mental list of all the things I choose not to do.

So as Christmas Day nears and to-do lists are longer than actually need to be, let's take a deep breath together and share what we are not doing this {or possibly any!} holiday season.

I'll go first ...

• I don't bake other times of the year, so I'm not baking in December either. Yes, please notice my kids decorating cookies and licking their fingers in the picture above. My saint of a mother-in-law organized that activity when we were at her house Sunday afternoon. I applied icing to a couple cookies and then ate a few, otherwise I was completely uninvolved. So, yes, take it from me, it's acceptable to help others you love incorporate traditions they're better at executing. 
• We don't care about outside lights, so we've never hung them. And we aren't starting this year, right, Greg?
• Every room of my house is not decorated. This year it's less than my normal few and they're contained to mantel, a tree overtaking the living room, and some Christmas cards hanging on the kitchen wall.
• We don't cram it all into one day. In fact, we did Christmas with one side of the family before it was even December.
• And I still don't have a Pinterest account. Less pressure, really. 
• I don't make a big meal. We so something simple for Christmas morning when it's just the four of us. {This year, my girl is requesting pancakes, which can be arranged.} The other holiday meals are organized by my mom, mother-in-law or grandma-in-law, who I'm grateful still like to entertain us grown-up kids and our kids this way. 
• I shop early and mostly online so I'm not waiting until the last minute and rushing in and out of stores. I love to buy gifts. But I do not love the pressure that comes with waiting until right before I see someone. I like to pick up things as I see them in the months leading up to Christmas. Doing it this ways seems to produce better gifts, allows me to take advantage of deals, and enjoy the days leading up to Christmas.

While I'm not doing these things, I will be listening to my favorite Christmas songs, reading "The Jesus Storybook Bible" with my kids, giving gifts to friends and family we love, sharing meals those dear to us, and trying to savor the anticipation of the world receiving her king.

What's on your not-to-do holiday list?

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I'm linking up with Jen Ferguson's Soli Deo Gloria party, where letting go is embraced; Jennifer Dukes Lee's #TellHisStory, where others are anticipating the coming of the King; Beth Stiff's Three Word Wednesday, because NOT TO DO are important words to me right now; and We are THAT Family, where good tips abound.

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