During the holidays --

Remember ...

It's an invitation not an obligation.

We don't have to go to every party that we're invited to nor do we have to do everything that we think we have to do. The world won't come to an end if I don't send Christmas cards this year.

Now that my girls are teenagers, I don't even think about Christmas until after Turkey Day.
My family has eliminated all of the gift-giving between the adult cousins. My girlfriends and I don't exchange gifts. I don't enjoy cooking so I don't bake cookies.

So, what do I do instead?
We go to music concerts. We gather with neighbors for the lighting of the neighborhood tree. We hang out in front of our fireplace. We watch It's a Wonderful Life as a family on Christmas Eve.

I still remember one Christmas Day when my girls were toddlers and we tried to please everybody but ourselves by going to 5 Open Houses. By the end of the day. my younger daughter was sick and the rest of us were dead-tired. I learned something that year. The next year, we politely declined invitations and we were all happier.