****This is the Twelve Days of ADHD Christmas – COVID edition.

Most of us have been cooped up since March of 2020, so we’re feeling more anxious and irritable than ever.

Despite how it may seem, I really do enjoy the holidays. I enjoy the community giving aspect of the holiday season, and I like seeing people that I only see at this time of year.

Covid has made the parts of the season I do enjoy virtually impossible. YAY

For most of my adult life I have managed to avoid the cooking and organizing and other EF-heavy tasks that I stink at. Since I can’t go to someone else’s house this year I’m doing my best to keep it low key.

The Holidays bring out the crazy in everyone. I just choose to be open about it.

Enjoy my poorly written rant.

On the first day of Christmas ADHD gave to me…

1 existential meltdown

Nothing like hanging out with your oldest friends to make you feel like a loser. I mean some of them are “regular” people like me, but many are professors or doctors or uber successful business owners.

This website is my business. I love what I do – but when I start to compare myself to others it leads nowhere good.

The holidays are hard enough without feeling like you are an epic failure at life.

On the second day of Christmas ADHD gave to me….

2 Lost Winter Gloves (and masks)

And hats, and scarves and outdoor apparel of all types. Annnd a mask.

You can’t keep your mask in the car because you’re supposed to wash it frequently. If you put the mask in your laundry pile it ends up in someone’s pant leg.

Everyone acts like organizing and storing things is so great. But I cannot remember where I put our winter apparel and I forget I owned it 90 seconds after it’s put away.

On the Third day of Christmas ADHD gave to me….

3 French Reds

Red wines I mean. The holiday season would not be complete without at least one really bad hangover. In my case this is often associated with red wine from the Rhone region of France.

I do a pretty good job of avoiding a Thanksgiving hangover, and Thanksgiving cooking, and pretty much anything that doesn’t involve sleeping.

Sleeping is a great way to avoid overindulging.

This year I’ve noticed that I’m doing more boredom drinking to tolerate having to be at home all the time. It remains to be seen if I’ll have a hangover this holiday season.

On the fourth day of Christmas ADHD gave to me…

4 Lost Passwords

I prefer to do my holiday shopping in my pajamas so 90% of what I buy is online.

Click here for my disorganized shopping list on Amazon. (I am an affiliate. See my full disclosure.)

Online shopping would not be a problem except that I can never remember the passwords for my online accounts. I only use them once per year.

My husband set up an account on some website to organize all our passwords, but*** you have to know the username and password to get into that website. So as of December 2nd I’ve not purchased any gifts.

I’m feeling avoidant.

On the fifth day of Christmas ADHD gave to me…

5 Missed Invitations

Ok so this happens all year – but it is particularly bad at this time of year. Between holiday parties, school events, birthday parties and the like, I usually forget something once per week.

At this point it seems appropriate to postpone the rest of my personal appointments until after the New Year.

The only appointments I am keeping are with my trainer and my chiropractor.

I need something adjusted, and it isn’t my spine.

***update Covid gets me out of all school events and parties I don’t wish to attend***

This is the only time I’ll say the pandemic benefitted me.

On the 6th day of Christmas ADHD gave to me…

6 Bills for Paying

If I do anything right it is paying my bills. When I was young I had some issues with impulsive spending so now I am pretty controlled.

This year the Hubs is tracking it so he gave me a budget. As long as I know the limits I am good.

For many ADHD’ers this is a problem area.

Idea: Pick a day to do all your shopping at once. This way you know exactly what bills are coming.

It’s actually harder to track your spending when you buy a little here and there. So I try spend it all in about 2 hours on Cyber Monday. This year I’m behind and avoiding the shopping.

Maybe if I delay long enough the Hubs will just do it for me.

On the seventh day of Christmas ADHD gave to me…

7 Tree Trimming Disasters

I love having a real Christmas tree. I love the smell and I love the look of a real tree.

But this year I invested in a nice fake one. And my child didn’t freak out!

Each year some disaster befalls our poor tree. The dog knocks it over drinking, or the cat leaps at it from afar. One year the hole in the bottom was crooked so our tree sat at an angle.

Last year we scratched up our ceiling. It is always something around here.

On the 8^th day of Christmas ADHD gave to me…

8 Frustrating Shopping Experiences

Shopping online when you have ADHD is one thing – shopping in public is a whole different ballgame. I get completely overwhelmed with music, smells, and… people.

In the grocery store the other day a woman ran into me with her cart and said, “excuse me”, as if I were in her way. On instinct I moved and said, “oh I’m sorry.”  But I noticed half a second later that I wasn’t exactly in the middle of the aisle. She hit me, so why was I apologizing?

Something about the holiday season makes the crazy come out in even the most sane people.

This year is particularly challenging out in public because a large segment of the population actively resists wearing masks. I keep my distance from these people as much as possible.

On the 9^th day of Christmas ADHD gave to me…

9 Creepy Elf On The Shelf Poses

The Elf thing gets me annoyed every year. I can barely remember what I ate for breakfast each day but I am supposed to remember to pose my son’s Elf every single night!

Then you go on Facebook or Pinterest and everyone is spending hours creating these detailed Elf scenes. My child renames his Elf each year because we can never remember what we named him the year before.

Thank goodness we are past this phase. I told him he was too old for an elf.

On the 10^th day of Christmas ADHD gave to me…

10 Neglected Housekeeping Chores

I need help taking care of my house. I admit this openly and if I could afford it I would get a cleaning person in a heartbeat.

If I have to decorate the house, get a tree, and shop for everyone from both sides of the family, a clean house is simply not going to happen.

Dust will collect, candles will burn out and mail will pile up this holiday season. Do I seem like I care? Because I don’t. <sips wine.>

On the 11^th day of Christmas ADHD gave to me…

11 Griping Family Members

Families argue. I know this.

But between my normal ADHD stuff, anxiety, and the holiday season my tolerance for petty arguments is extremely low.

I want to see everyone, I really do. I just don’t want to listen to them bicker and talk smack about each other. It is exhausting.

This year I plan to take out my frustrations through exercise. And avoidance.

On the 12^th day of Christmas ADHD gave to me….

12 Types of Distracting Stimuli

Christmas music. I am just gonna say it – not always a good thing. I like the old stuff like Bing Crosby. But I cannot stand that song about the “Christmas Shoes”. I can’t recall who made it. (The one where the little boy’s mother dies.)

The food, the crowds – the whole atmosphere is very overwhelming.

By New Years Day I am exhausted, and ready for a winter hibernation.

ADHD adds an extra element of anxiety to the holiday season.

Most of us feel chronically overwhelmed as it is. My best advice:

• Maintain your sense of humor

• Try not to overdrink/overeat in an attempt to self-medicate

• Take your medications as prescribed

• Avoid comparing yourself with others

• Sleep and practice self-care

The Twelve Days of ADHD Christmas doesn’t last forever – we’ll get through it together!

Gather with other smart ADHD women,

tell your stories, and get support!