I’ve stopped making New Year’s resolutions a while ago but this year I am changing my mind and making one. Just one.

It has nothing to do with fitting into a smaller jean size or eating less sugar (although I’m proud to say that I significantly cut down on my sugar consumption in 2009 and now even drink my lattes without any sweetner or sugar and love them). It is a rather selfish resolution because it doesn’t involve working towards world peace or saving the environment. But at the same time, one of the reasons I am making it is that I am pretty sure that it will hugely benefit my family, my friends, and other people around me.

My resolution has to do with something we all do, every single day, so partly it feels silly to even be making it. But I’ve failed miserably at sticking to it for the past several years and I can think of nothing better than to write about it so it can stare me in the face and remind me that it’s something I need to do.

So here goes, my one and only resolution for 2010:
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Many of my colleagues are taking the next two weeks off. After all, for just a few vacation days you get two full weeks off, including the holidays. I was thinking whether it was a mistake to not do this myself since I am fairly certain that disconnecting from work and de-compressing for a while would be a very good idea.

But you know what? As weird as this might sound, I actually like being at work during these two weeks. It’s not like a real vacation, of course, but there is naturally a lot less intense work and I find that I can be a lot more productive since it’s quiet and there are less emails, meetings and phone calls. I get to finally cross things off my to-do list which are not urgent enough to get done when it’s filled with many to-dos screaming to get done first. I get to catch up with colleagues who are also in the office and actually have a real conversation without having to rush to a meeting.

And yes, I get to have luxuriously long lunches that don’t involve scarfing down something at my desk while catching up on emails and even go out for an afternoon latte without bringing my phone along. I know, I know, I have a fairly low bar for what I find relaxing, but compared to the usual daily insanity the workdays during the holiday weeks are just what the doctor ordered. Especially because these two work weeks are wonderfully short.

So, what about you: Are you taking the next two weeks off or are you working? If you have to work, do you find that this time is more relaxed and less intense than usual or do you hate having to work? Any fun things you’re planning to sneak into your work days during the holidays?

My dad’s and grandma’s birthdays are during the first week of December, so our gift-finding and gift-giving frenzy starts really early every holiday season. (It’s all pretty stressful, if you ask me, even with the few ways in which I’ve decided to fight holiday-related stress this year.)

My husband and I have this agreement — which we break pretty often — to go light on gifts for each other. We figured this removes at least some stress from the whole December insanity and we usually get things for each other during the year, so it’s not like we have to concentrate all gift giving in December. But this year I am getting some extra gifts… from myself. Yes, you read that right. I’ve decided that I deserve a few small things that I really enjoy and there’s no better way to get them than to get them for myself. Frankly, I think every woman should buy herself gifts more often, but especially while we’re running around and getting gifts for everyone else.

So here are some things on my list of small treats just for me:
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If you have a few minutes, you should check out the 2008 National Study of the Changing Workforce from the Families and Work Institute. It has some pretty awesome and interesting statistics about the roles men and women play at work and in their families and how their various perceptions of traditional gender roles have shifted (and in some cases, changed dramatically) in the past decade.

First the good news: There is decreasing disparity between what men and women get paid for doing the same work. Many fewer men and women than ten years ago think that the best way for a family to function is for the woman to stay home. Fathers are spending more time with their children (and so are mothers, although the difference is less dramatic) and they are taking more responsibility for the care of their children (according to them and their wives).

This all pretty much rocks.
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December if always pretty intense in our family. My dad’s, grandma’s and my birthdays are all in December. There is Hanukkah to celebrate and lots of holiday parties to attend. And since, like many Russian families, we also celebrate New Year’s (one of my most favorite holidays all year), we don’t get a break literally until January.

With all these celebrations and holidays come endless to-dos — from getting and wrapping presents, sending out cards, organizing menus, cooking, cleaning up, and so on. Every year I say that this is going to be the year that we will take it (somewhat) easy and every year we fail to do it. And this year is not really that different - it’s the middle of the month and I am so exhausted I could fall asleep in the middle of this post if I let myself.

But better late than never, right? Right. So here are a few ways in which I am taking it easier this holiday season. I know I can’t escape all the hectic, anxiety-building stress, but if I can kick some of it in the butt, I will succeed.
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The other day we were at a playground with my daughter. She was running around and I was standing there with my husband, holding a nice huge latte and kind of enjoying myself. (In case I’ve not written about it here before — I am not a playground mom. More on this later. Guilt involved.)

After a while, my daughter started to play with another girl I’ve not met before and we walked over to see what they were up to. I love how quickly kids form friendships — the two girls were playing so well together, it was almost like they’d known each other for a while. As we were standing there, my husband took out a small piece of candy from his pocket and popped it in his mouth. The girls looked up, both obviously wanting to know if they were getting candy and I decided to laugh it off by talking about how much Mia’s daddy likes sweets. My husband then asked the other girl if her daddy liked sweets.

“I don’t really know, he works a lot and I don’t see him much,” she said, and then the girls ran off to play on the swings.
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