Raise your hand if you’ve let your expectations ruin a holiday. Probably every mom’s hand is up in the air right now because we have a knack for envisioning the perfect Thanksgiving, Christmas, Mother’s Day, birthday party, anniversary… You name it, we’ve set it on a pedestal, only for reality to come up short. With the holidays approaching, we decided to have a chat about how to go into these special days with realistic expectations and keep what really matters most in perspective.
In this episode, we ask what are unreasonable vs. reasonable expectations. Aren’t some expectations for the holidays fair? How do you know when an expectation is fair and you have a right to be upset? For example, Abby tells the story of the year her dad got her mom hubcaps for Christmas, and that reminds Susan of the year her husband got her a microwave for Mother’s Day.
What can we do to reframe how we see Christmas? How can we set ourselves up for a better experience and less Christmas disappointment this year? One idea we discuss is to name the real issue. You probably don’t really care that you got another robe for Christmas. The real issue might be that you don’t feel like anyone thought about you in a time of year when you think about everyone else a lot. Another idea is to step back and think about what actually needs to get done. Sometimes we are let down by a holiday because we’ve taken on too much and are stressed. Lightening our load can lead to better experiences for the whole family.
Being flexible on special occasions is another way not to let expectations ruin a moment. Sometimes things turn out differently than we planned, but there are still memories to be made.
Articles We Mentioned
3 Ways to Keep Your Expectations From Ruining the Moment
Printables We Think You’ll Like
