Christmas time is my favorite time of the year.

(Wait...What?)

Doesn't the title of this post seem sort of anti-Christmas?

Allow me to explain.

I LOVE Christmas! I love absolutely everything about it. The feeling, the smells, the decorations, the lights, the music, the cookies and candies – I am just not a fan of the people.

Particularly people of the "mom group" variety.

If you are a mother, chances are you are nodding your head right now. You know what I mean. There is something about Christmas that brings out the rudest, snarkiest, most condescending mothers out there.

Raise your hand if you have heard even ONE of the following in the last few weeks:

• I HATE the "Elf on the Shelf" and I will NEVER have one for my child
• We don't celebrate with Santa, we celebrate the TRUE meaning of Christmas
• Don't let Santa buy your kids big gifts.
• Telling your kids about Santa is the same as lying to them!
• I only spend $100 on my kids – you are spending to much. Stop spoiling them.
• When I was younger I didn't need Christmas traditions to behave.

Etc....etc...etc... yada...yada...yada.

Like I said, if you have spent even a MINUTE scrolling any number of mom groups out there – chances are you have seen a dozen or more of these posts.

They are all the same, and a few of them try to play it off with a sweet “not trying to judge – genuinely curious”, or “No judgement towards those that do this but....(I think you are all insane and I just don’t want to come out and say it)."

Putting “no judgement” in a post – doesn’t make it any less judgy – Sorry sanctimommy.

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I’m just going to call it. Posts like that are made for nothing other than to make the moms who post them feel better about themselves and superior to others.

Plain and simple.

Since when does it matter how anyone else chooses to celebrate their holidays?

When did we enter the time of having to DEFEND our holiday traditions?!

Can you say #firstworldproblems?

I seriously read a post in a mom group this morning about how Elf on the Shelf is RUINING the Christmas spirit.

An elf. On a shelf. Is ruining Christmas. Do you even hear yourself “Debbie Downer”?

Let me let you in on a little secret.

The Elf is not ruining Christmas.

Santa is not ruining Christmas.

Me buying my kids a PS4 or a freaking pair of mittens is not ruining Christmas.

WE ARE RUINING CHRISTMAS!

Every single time one of us posts another conversation with the sole purpose of picking apart another family’s traditions – a bit of the Christmas spirit dies.

It is not our job to judge ANYONE in how they choose to celebrate their holiday! This is truly an instance where not one person is harmed by the acts of anyone else.

I hear over and over that people believe their children are “harmed” emotionally by the way others choose to celebrate.

I promise you. They are not.

We as parents have the ability to place as much emphasis on an issue as we allow. Meaning if we don’t make a big deal about something. It’s not a big deal.

So my secret to a stress free holiday?

Stop stressing.

Ignore the naysayers.

Celebrate your Christmas the way YOU want to celebrate it, and stop worrying about what others are doing.

We do not have the ablility to control everything that everyone does in this world, but what we do have is the ability to choose how we react to it.

This Christmas I am choosing to celebrate in whatever way I see fit – and not give a care in the world as to what others choose.

I challenge you to do the same.

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