How to Have A Hyggeligt Holiday Season

Holidays can be stressful. Is that the understatement of the year? Perhaps. You see, holidays can be filled with stress and anxiety and arguments and long silent drives back home filled with inner rage. OR… your Christmas can be filled with peace and love and hygge. How can you choose coziness over chaos? Glad you asked. Here are my Tips on How to Have A Hyggeligt Holiday Season.

1. Prepare in advance.

Start in June. No joke. Start planning your Christmas six months in advance. It sounds crazy, but preparation is key. Think about what when wrong last Christmas and the Christmas before that. How long is the drive? What presents do you need to buy? Do you need to bring a covered dish? Make lots of lists and budget accordingly. Your Holiday self with thank you.

2. Prepare for your plan to fail.

Wait, what? But Chelsea, you just told me to prepare well in advance. Now you are telling me to prepare to fail? Yup. The holidays are crazy, and no matter how much organizing and scheduling you do, something will always not go to plan. People get sick, arrive late, forget a present, get stuck in traffic or miss their flight. There’s a spontaneous snow storm or crying child and all of a sudden your beautiful perfect plans are an utter wreck.

The key is not to allow that failure to ruin the holiday celebration. Prepare as much as possible and then hand that plan over to God to do with what He will. Hope for the best but prepare for the worst. Make sense?

3. Do things the slow way

Holidays for us are go-go-go. This year Colton and I have a total of seven Christmases in about a week. That’s a Christmas a day, and yet in the midst of the hustle it is important to slow down. Don’t allow yourself to focus so much on the time that you forget to live in the moment.

Make a pie from scratch. Let the kids cut out the cookies, even if they don’t look that great. Turn off your phone and just sit and talk…. to a real person… to their actual face. Get up earlier than the rest of the crew and drink a hot cup of tea by the light of the Christmas tree. Remember to slow down and enjoy those little hyggeligt moments.

4. Spend time with Family

My family is big and loud and crazy, but I cannot imagine a holiday without them. Every December 23rd my mother’s extended family gets together to carol at the old folks home in town, followed by a delicious dinner and a visit from Santa. Those Christmas parties are some of the most cherished memories of my childhood. No matter what I can count on that big, loud, crazy Anderson-Shogren Christmas.

There is beauty in tradition and in spending time with the people you love. Go caroling or get out a board game. Pick your favorite Christmas movie and laugh until you pee. Don’t have a tradition? Create a new one! For example, for three years in a row now my husband and I have watched two back-to-back movies in the theater on Christmas night. We bring all our stocking candies for snacks and it is an absolute blast.

5. Add a dash of heritage.

Have I mentioned before that I am Swedish? Well, technically my DNA says I am 50% Scandinavian including Sweden and Norway, but I will take it. There are certain recipes my family is sure to make each holiday season. Among the most iconic are Swedish Meatballs, Pancakes, and Oostkaka.

This year I decided to add a few new recipes to my repertoire. One of them (Kransekake) failed miserably, but I am pretty proud of the Lucia Buns and Tomte cookies. There’s nothing hyggeligt than comfort foods, am I right? I’m looking forward to adding more recipes next year!

6. Take an afternoon nap

After they have indulged in all the delicious food and opened all the presents, most of my family participates in the annual Christmas Day nap. It’s tradition and it’s inevitable. I highly recommend this hyggeligt practice into your holiday schedule.

For those of you who dislike napping like I do, use the napping hour to take a walk outside. If it’s nice enough outside the few Andersons who aren’t asleep take a walk to the pond on my grandpa’s land and enjoy a little fresh air. It’s well worth the chill.

7. Indulge

It’s the holidays. Don’t stress yourself out with sticking to a diet. (That is, unless you are instructed by your physician or have an allergy.) Other than that, live a little! Find that balance between comfortably full and sick full. Try the homemade fudge or a spoonful of cream corn. It’s okay to celebrate and relax for a couple days. I give you permission.

I hope these tips on How to Have a Hyggeligt Holiday Season have been helpful for you and your family. Remember, a Hygge Holiday is one that is focused on coziness and calm. Lay aside the chaos and choose to enjoy this Christmas and remember the reason for the season. For more content, check out these additional posts:

101+ (Mostly) Practical Stocking Stuffer Ideas
10 Must Have Items for People Who Are Always Cold
Top Ten Travel Essentials for Your Carry On
What Your Mom Really Wants for Mother’s Day

As always, if you have any questions feel free to send me an email or message me on Instagram. Follow @bestillandhygge on Pinterest for more travel tips and tricks and subscribe below for new content every week.

Love Always,