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I left work at five o'clock, spent two hours shopping, got home just in time to feed the kids, check homework, get them in the shower and off to bed. My day was over right? Not by a long shot. Washed the dishes and cleaned up the house. Peeking in to make sure the kids were sleeping I carried in the packages from the car, sorted them out on the living room floor, pulled out the storage boxes of wrapping materials, sat down and began to wrap toy after sweater after video game. A couple hours later while my legs cramped up and my back ached I decided that it was time to call it a night. Carefully stacking the loving wrapped gifts into the "secret hiding place", putting all the wrapping materials back into the storage containers, putting those away, cleaning up and discarding any evidence of the event; I look at the clock and realize that it was now one in the morning. As I moved into the kitchen and began to make the school lunches for the next day I shook my head and thought to myself "it's okay, it's just one night, it needed to be done". Considering that my day will begin in just a few short hours I knew that I would be asleep before my head hit the pillow.

This was just one day, however, during the holiday season this quickly becomes everyday. Each day the wrapping of the gifts being replaced with planning a gathering, preparing for guests, additional cooking, decorating the house, and everything in between. After a short time I began to get very irritable and the sheer thought of standing in another line made me want to run away and forget the whole thing. The gifts that, in the beginning were so lovingly wrapped, were now barely being covered in paper and if I looked at another piece of tape I just might scream. I struggle through the day at work thinking of everything I still have to do but the only real thing on my mind is that I really feel like I am coming down with the flu.

I decided to see the doctor because if I was going to make it through the holidays I certainly couldn't be sick. When the doctor came into the room the first thing he asked me was how much sleep I was getting; I didn't answer. It was then explained to me that my desire to make the holidays perfect for everybody around me was to my own detriment. I had systematically deprived myself of sleep night after night causing my immune system to slow down lessoning my ability to fight the cold and flu germs that run rampant during the winter months. In addition, my irritability was being cause my a general exhaustion. That because my body was not fully rested my mind could not function at a hundred percent. Sleep is the most recuperative and healing time for our bodies and when it is deprived the whole balance gets out of whack.

Since this experience I plan out my holidays so I still get a minimum of seven hours of sleep a night. I shop all year long and wrap a handful of gifts a night. I plan gatherings with my family rather than planning for my family. I know it might seem a little silly but I promise you that it's worth it when you actually enjoy the holidays because you aren't exhausted, cranky, irritible, and/or sick. Not to mention it is a fantastic way to save money during the holidays because you're not spending all the money at once. It's stretched all year long. So go to bed and enjoy your holiday.

Learn more about this author, Elaine M. Healy.
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