I don’t know about you, but I find this particular week-long stretch every year to be challenging. The period of time that starts on the Sunday after Thanksgiving and extends for the next week or so afterwards is for the birds. For me, this week always seems to feel the same way at this time of year, which is to say- I have trouble figuring out what to do with myself . Thanksgiving is over but it is not quite the Christmas season yet.
I think what makes the transition harder is that the stretch of time before it, early fall through Thanksgiving, usually flies by in a blur. When I kid, I don’t think I felt this feeling so acutely, but I do remember getting itchy during our unusually long Thanksgiving vacation from school. (Thanks to the start of Deer Season, a holiday of epic importance in Somerset County,PA our Thanksgiving school vacation usually lasted from Thanksgiving until the at least the following Tuesday, sometimes Wednesday of the following week).
In adulthood and especially parenthood, it seems like something is going on every weekend in the fall and that only contributes to the hyperspeed like quality of time during the pre-Thanksgiving Days.
Early fall is also a popular time for weekday children’s programs. Every since becoming a stay-at-home mom, I feel like I am a slave to the ebbs and flows of the schedules of children’s programs. What that means is that during certain times of the year it seems like all possible children’s programs are going on every week and during other times of the year, programs take a long recess that can feel like an eternity. For example, in September it seems imperative that all children’s programs begin and meet steadily until at least mid-November. After that, all bets are off. While some program end, others continue for a few more weeks and last into December, but they all take a break at some point that lasts until at least the second week of January. The same recess from programs happens in late spring for about a month and for whole month of August too.
I used to be a person who decided on these planned breaks in programming. As a children’s librarian, I got to set the storytime programming schedule, so I guess it is only right that I get to be the person who is critical of them now. Programming breaks are essential because otherwise children’s activities can get stale for the presenter and boring for the parents. It is hard for the presenter to maintain that level of enthusiasm year-round. I get it, but still during these adjournments, I find that ennui can set in. We stay-at-home parents get used to a certain schedule and whether we like storytime or not, going to these programs can be a way to keep your child from jumping off the counter or from electrocuting themselves by playing with outlets.
So without further ado, here are the steps I am taking this week to combat the ennui that is setting in because it is not quite the Christmas season yet and all of my son’s programs are over until next year.
5 Things I am Using to Relieve the Post Thanksgiving Ennui:
- I made gifts like crazy on Snapfish on Monday and Tuesday. I got a 75% off coupon code from Snapfish for selected items and it was set to expire at midnight on Monday, so I did what every sensible person would do and I dedicated every free minute on Monday to making calendars. This plan sort of backfired on me because when I logged in on Monday night to put the finishing touches on my works of art, it seemed that everyone else was doing the same thing. Snapfish could not retrieve my masterpieces but did post a message stating that they would honor any coupon codes that would expire while their site was down. Luckily, the site retrieved my masterpieces with no problem on Tuesday and I even had time to spend a little more money and make a few extra things. Perhaps it was a ploy on their part? If so, it worked one me.
- 2. On Saturday, I utilized my husband’s time home so I could go out and take the 28 week pregnant gestational diabetes glucose challenge test. This test consists of an overnight fast after which point, you report to the lab you plan to use and they give you a small-ish bottle of a sugary orange drink that you have to drink in less than 5 minutes. Then you sit around for an hour with the final step being a blood draw. This is what my arms looked like as of yesterday:
Yes, those are black and blue marks. I feel lucky that it is not short sleeve shirt season. Both of my arms are marked up because while the technician was nice she put the needle in wrong when made her first attempt then had to make a second attempt on the right arm.
3. On Saturday husband and I, with toddler in tow, made the 45 minute trek to our nearest IKEA store to buy baby furniture. I love IKEA, sort of. I love the IKEA’s Swedish meatballs, I love walking through the showrooms and imagining my house embodying the Scandinavian aesthetic that IKEA promotes, and I love all the shiny new things they sell. What I don’t love though is how I get tired toward the end of any IKEA trip. I usually reach a point when we are in the self-service area, the place where you retrieve your flat-packed furniture from the shelf, where I want to abandon my cart and just go home. I have to say though, that this time we had a strategy that worked pretty good for us. We came with a list which we mostly stuck to. We reserved our energy by trying to not look at things that were not on our list. Additionally, our toddler cooperated swimmingly. All and all, I feel we had a pretty great trip to IKEA and hopefully we are one step closer to being ready for baby #2. Great success!
4. I took some initiative and scheduled some playmates and mom-meetups this week. Also on days when Patrick and I don’t have anything scheduled, we are taking advantage of the nice weather and playing outside at playgrounds and taking walks. It is great to be outside in the sunshine and Wednesday, at least, was unseasonably warm. I stressed more than I needed to this week about what we would do with all of our free time but so far, so good.
5. I am also looking at my relatively open calendar as a way to get prepared for the Christmas season. When I was a kid I definitely saw the weekend after Thanksgiving as full-on, Christmas preparation time. My sisters and I always insisted that our mother take us Christmas shopping the Saturday or Sunday after Thanksgiving (we weren’t black Friday people). If this did not transpire, instead we would ride our bikes to the town pharmacy and use our allowance money to do some Christmas shopping there.
Afterwards, I enjoyed wrapping the presents I bought in my room while playing Christmas music. To add to my Chirstmas-sy mood, during Thanksgiving weekend, my sisters and I like to unwind in front of the the TV while watching VHS tapes of any or all of these holiday specials: “Mickey’s Christmas Carol”, “A Very Brady Christmas”, “Babysitter’s Club Special Christmas”, and “A Garfield’s Christmas Special”. I also liked to decorate the mini Christmas tree that I bought, also, at the pharmacy with red and green construction paper chains that I made every year
In any case, I guess I am trying to recapture the magic that I felt when I was a child when I was so excited for Christmas that I could not wait to wrap presents and made paper chains.
I am also trying to use this gift of extra time that I have right now to be productive. So this week I am:
- Shopping for dress pants and dress shoes for Patrick.
- Deciding if my husband and I should make something homemade to give as Christmas gifts. In the past, we have tried a few different ideas ranging from home made spaghetti sauce to cookies and nuts.
- Decorating our living room with lights because due to the arrival of our early 2018 baby we are not putting up lights outside (also we are a little too lazy for outdoor decorations).
- Shopping for wrapping paper, tape, and ribbon.
- Looking for books for children. I like to give children books so I am scooping out what I would like to buy.
- Drinking tons of tea, hot cider, and hot chocolate. Eating microwave popcorn. It is hard to do the Christmas season right if you are not drinking hot drinks and eating popcorn.
- Thinking about addressing the family Christmas cards I bought on Snapfish this past Friday with a Black Friday Coupon code.
So even though I worried a bit that I would fall into a post-Thanksgiving slump, things shaping up to be a pretty good week! In fact, I might be over compensating. Last night I wanted to go to bed before the dinner dishes were put in the dishwasher. Whoops 🙂
Do you have a post Thanksgiving Slump? How do you deal with it?
