Forget merry and bright this year. Be stressed-out and exhausted for the holidays.

As December descends upon my family, I have found myself hurridly scrawling important dates in my day planner.

"Breakfast with Santa"
"Ride on the Christmas train"
"Playgroup gift exchange"
"Gingerbread house competition"
"Lunch with Santa" (apparently we love to dine with the man in red)

There are so many holiday activities to accomplish and only twenty-four days to get them all done. Having small children and being an involved mom make me want the holiday season to be the best ever for our little family. But in that vain attempt to make the season absolutely perfect and fabulous for my children, I often lose sight of the true meaning of the holidays. Rather than a family that is merry and bright, I end up with one that is grumpy and frustrated with their stressed-out mother.

Want to know how you too can ruin your family's holiday season? Just follow the below tips.

1. Wait until the last minute to finish your shopping. Sure, you have known that Christmas is always on December 25th and you knew you would have to purchase presents for family and friends. Who cares? Why do something today that you can put off until the last minute? Nothing says holiday cheer like fighting the crowd at the mall and having to purchase desperation gifts for your family because the good loot is already gone.

2. Take part in EVERY holiday activity. This is where I tend to (almost) ruin Christmas. What good is one meal with Santa when you can dine with him repeatedly at various locations around town? Who needs to put their children down for a nap in the afternoon when there are crafts to be made, trains to ride and ice sculptures to look at? Run your family all over town, exhausting everyone, and you will be sure to absolutely kill the Christmas spirit.

3. Obsess over the decor of your home.  Panic everytime your child walks past the Christmas tree. Be sure to place the antique snowglobe directly in the child's line of sight and then sigh loudly whenever he starts to pick it up. Do not allow little ones to decorate the tree, citing that they have no experience with such tasks and do it all by yourself.

4. Wait until the 23rd of the month to begin addressing Christmas cards. Complain frequently about how you are stuck doing such a boring task while the rest of the family has fun.

5. Immerse yourself in the tasks of the seaon. Become terribly busy buying presents, baking goodies, cleaning house and finding the perfect Christmas sweater. Doing so will make sure that you lose complete sight of the reason for the holiday season.

This year I plan to relax just a bit. I plan to acknowledge that my children are just as happy sitting at home coloring a picture of Santa with me as they are meeting him for the fifth time this season. I have planned ahead, outlining the tasks I want to accomplish and am making sure I get those done in an orderly manner. Instead of rushing around, half-crazed and obsessing over creating THE. PERFECT. CHRISTMAS., I am setting aside to time to sit and enjoy the moment of the holidays with the people I love most.

This season, take a breathier from the business that surrounds you. Focus on what the holiday season means for your family and find ways to truly be merry and bright.

During the time she is not sporting a feather boa and sipping tea with her little girl, Lynley Baker Phillips is a stay-at-home mommy and freelance writer. Her work can be found in various publications, at Examiner.com, and on her blog. Contact her at savethephillipsfamily@hotmail.com.