Does anyone else find this time of year really overwhelming?

[Whatadayyyy]

Just that really…. Hallowe’en, guy Fawkes, the run up to Christmas, new year. From now until January I always have a really unsettled feeling, like I’m totally overwhelmed with everything going on. I feel awful as it should be such a fun exciting time but honestly I would fast forward to January if I could. Is it just me?

Maybe you do too much?

I enjoy this period as it fills up the weekends; I would lose my mind trying to entertain children at home all day.
And crucially, anything I can’t/don’t want to do, I outsource to DH, e.g. I’ll research and book tickets, but wave them off and stay home if I need to.

No, I'm the same. We also are very heavy on the October/ November birthdays so I always feel like there is something I should be organising.

I quite like the total emptiness of January tbh.

I am the same, we only have a toddler currently so I don't feel too pressured to do everything, but my friends do everything and it makes me wonder if I'm lazy / bad parent.
E.g. Halloween wasn't a big thing for me growing up, I will do it for my child when he's old enough to remember! The lead up to Christmas I find overwhelming due to a large family, then we also have back to back birthdays in Jan. I just feel a bit out of my depth with it!

Yes I find this. As soon as the summer holidays end it's suddenly all about Christmas. My kids adore Halloween so there's always stuff going in for that too. Life just gets busier the closer to Christmas we get. I always say I want to be ready for Christmas really early because December is always so busy but I never manage it.

Saying that though, when it's all over I get really down. New Years is awful for me, I just feel so sad. Maybe I'm better off with the busy crazy bit!

Yes it’s so busy! Also heavy on the November/December birthdays. I think being totally out my depth is a great way to explain it. I feel like I’m chasing my tail and failing miserably. This year feels 10 times worse as it’s my first festive period with just the dc and me as a single parent. There’s so much going on and I am totally disorganised and also working full time hours. I look at other people who have it all together and I just think how the hell do they do it?

Fast forward to the Spring as far as I'm concerned. Winter is crap.

I've really come round to the idea of thinking you only really need to carry what you can deal with. I have no interest, nor the wherewithal to do everything - it's utterly exhausting just thinking about it.

I’m just sick and tired of the hot weather. Where is the cold and darkness?

I love it! But then I hate January - it feels like nothing exciting is going to happen for ages.

This year feels 10 times worse as it’s my first festive period with just the dc and me as a single parent.

That wont be helping OP. x

I used to feel as you do and i put doing preparations off which made it worse.

Nowadays i have lots of prep done way in advance and it really helps keep my chin up and feel i can cope.

I've done a list and begun buying xmas gifts and checked over the xmas lights one evening last week.

Couple of pumpkins have been lined up on the window cill for a week now ready for carving.

Don't be afraid to face it all early on! It does help.

This year is particularly busy as my daughter is Y13 so getting her application together, finishing her EPQ, has a music exam and another project due next month, and I do feel sone stress about that. But Halloween is just one night, Guy Fawkes a non starter and Christmas a ways away still, I've done my food order weeks ago (and I only buy gifts for my family).
I love this time of year - nights drawing in, crisp days, pretty foliage...

What helps me immensely with organisation is a family calendar (the ones with week per page and 6 fields for each day - I usually buy the Emma Bridgewater one). At the end of the year I take an hour with the old & new calendars and transfer the standard stuff, e.g. first Saturday of October - ‘Halloween costumes’; second Saturday - ‘check local Halloween trail and plan TorT with neighbours; third Saturday - ‘pumpkin patch’; fourth Saturday - ‘carve pumpkins’. I even put silly reminders like ‘buy TorT treats’.
Same for Christmas, birthdays etc - everything is split evenly and I don’t have to stress about remembering/forgetting anything.

I feel the same. I have 2 children with birthdays in Oct and Nov, a parent and SIL. It's full on for us.

My normal tactic is to do a very detailed calendar from about October which I put on a spreadsheet and then copy over each year. I usually find I'm trying to do stuff up to the wire but this year I've done birthday prep earlier and am now done. I just need to wrap. That leaves me free to get Christmas underway. I'm aiming to have got everything before December this year. So I've redone my calendar and shifted everything forwards. I've also been doing The Organised Christmas.

I can promise you no one has it all together/all sorted! Keep it simple and do your best, that’s all you can do.

no elaborate homemade costumes here, Christmas presents are either from a persons Amazon list or they get vouchers. Don’t overthink it.