Holiday Planner Extraordinaire Gone Rogue
I remember all too well the days of feeling like I was on overload with holiday planning and year-end activities at work.
It wasn't that long ago that I was the primary person responsible for our holiday preparations. Looking back, I think it was just a role I assumed when we got married and then unintentionally kept even after having our child. The only thing was that the role expanded exponentially (without promotion or pay raise!) as our family grew. The role became stressful, overwhelming, and less joyful. Couple that with end of year work craziness and the holiday season was downright exhausting.
When I became a mother and was floundering with “how the hell am I supposed to ‘having it all,’” I slowly began to realize how much I was doing on my own as “Holiday Planner Extraordinaire”. While I would pull my partner in for help on implementation and he would gladly take on the tasks I delegated to him, I felt like I was doing so much more than him. Resentment towards him built up because I felt his “help” wasn’t enough and I didn’t know why.
It was when I came across the concept of “mental load”, how it impacted women (specifically, moms), and how it affected relationships that I realized that this was at the core of my resentment. When it came to the holidays, I was the one shouldering the mental load.
I realized things needed to change but wasn't quite sure what to do. So I went to the ever reliable Interwebs to look for holiday preparation plans that focused on splitting the workload with my partner. But instead what I found was a myriad of checklist and plans that were truly awesome BUT were built out on the assumption that the holidays are a one woman show.
It was truly eye-opening… and helped to light a fire in my belly to change things up. It was time for this “Holiday Planner Extraordinaire” to go rogue!
It took some doing but I eventually figured out how to engage my partner to reduce the mental load. And now I want to help other beautiful, hard-working Mamas make that change. So that they don’t have to go through multiple holiday seasons trying to figure it all out!
Get ready to drop your role as “Holiday Planner Extraordinaire” and reclaim your energy for the holiday season. Join me for The FREE Happier Holidays 3-Day Challenge and make it happen!
