The Holiday Creep

"Holiday Creep" is well on its way to being an entry in Merriam-Webster's dictionary. And with good reason. Amy and Margaret bemoan the fact the Christmas seems to start ever earlier, and weigh in on their strategies for managing the gift giving, decorating, and scheduling craziness at this time of year.

Amy and Margaret discuss:

• Why Margaret is everyone's Christmas nightmare
• The 3 best rules for holiday gift giving
• When Christmas should REALLY start

The solution to all the madness? Let the laws of holiday attrition work in your favor! If something falls off the list of priorities or is just no longer fun, take it off the calendar. Ask for a no-gift-exchange policy amongst family, friends, and coworkers, and find your "no" when it comes to holiday events, tasks, or experiences that are nothing but drudge for everyone!

The only thing on our wish list this year is for you to take our listener survey: bit.ly/whatfreshhellsurvey

Links!

Here's the Spotify playlist of our holiday episodes

Anne Helen Petersen, "A Theory of Sprawling Holidays"

Mollie Wilson O'Reilly, "Waiting By the Jesse Tree"

Eleanor Lees for Newsweek: "Why Does the Christmas Countdown Get Earlier Every Year?"

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