Making Holiday Magic Doesn’t Have to Mean Losing Your Own

In my first years of parenting, I felt a mix of excitement and overwhelm surrounding the holidays. Are these the right traditions? Are there enough traditions? What if we forget the traditions?!

I was swimming in diapers and running on cold coffee, and I just wanted to do it “right.”

I wanted my kids to feel the special love and nostalgia of the holidays of their childhood. What I didn’t realize is that I was running myself so ragged I couldn’t give myself the gift of fully enjoying the holidays with them. And in all honesty, that’s one of the most magical things I could give them—the gift of a present, calm, and loving adult.

Yes, we have an elf and special stories, and the Christmas craft aisle loves to see us coming. But my mindset has shifted. I get to do this. I get to be the magic maker. I knew that already, but my autonomy, my choice in how I do that, is mine. What works for our friends and their kids, or our neighbors’ family, may not be what is a fit for our family. We can’t do every single holiday trend there is. What I can do is what I have the capacity to do with love and joy, and still have enough left in my own tank to sit down in it, or do it with my kids.

You are the magic makers. You are AMAZING. Your magic is your own. It will look like your own. And accepting that is the best and most magical thing you can do for yourself and your family each season. Here’s to the magic makers—not our competition, but our cohort, and our community.

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Hannah Dearth

Hannah is a Christian, wife, mother. On her page and blog, Gracefully Broken by Hannah Dearth, she writes about faith, motherhood, and more, in efforts to show the grace of our Father even in, especially in, our brokenness.