(This post was inspired by an interview with Jessica Grant for Afternoon Ti and Musicast) 

If classroom teachers are overwhelmed in the month of December, there needs to be a whole other phrase coined for what music teachers feel this time of year.  In addition to our regular responsibilities, most of us have an absolutely overstuffed December calendar because of school performances, gigs and the occasional play-off game or region band audition depending on your area.  While some months are never going to be a breeze for educators (I’m looking at you May, August and December!), there are some simple strategies that make your December more joyful and less stressful at home and at school.   

  1. Keep your lessons fun and light.

But Beth, you protest, my lessons have rigor!  Music classes are not just fun, you know.  I’m not just here to cover someone’s planning period!   

I’m right there with you.  However, if there is ever a time to lighten up a bit besides the end of the school year, it is December.  Why?  The students are just as tired as you, dear!  They’re over-sugared and over-tired, plus for our littlest ones, they are over-hyped about holiday traditions.  You are going to completely lose them if you are trying to cover your toughest concepts in the month of December.  You’ll be frustrated.  They’ll be frustrated.  And you’ll have to reteach it in January. 

Instead, embrace the season you are in and plan accordingly.  Kids bouncing off the walls?  This is not the time, if there ever was one, for lecturing from the front while they sit crisscross on sit spots.  Depending on your teaching context, find a holiday sing along video like the one from Musicplayonline.com.  https://musicplayonline.com/ If that isn’t going to work for you or your context, maybe this is the time for some note name races, instrument families four corners, and movement activities. 

  1. Keep a sense of normalcy with your eating.

Sorry to be crass, but you may have heard, “if you eat like crap, you feel like crap.”  I’m not here to ruin your Christmas season.  But what I will tell you is that all this extra activity is going to take better fuel than leftover treats from class parties in the teacher’s lounge.  When you can, keep a sense of normalcy with your eating.  If you know you have a party to attend that night, you’ll feel better if you eat your regular food and portions for breakfast and lunch.   

Choose your indulgences!  Your mother’s sugar cookie recipe that has been handed down for generations in your family is not on par with the local grocery store’s sugar cookie.  Save your treats for the delicious goodies that you can only get this time of year. 

If you’re low carb like me, don’t despair!  Really lean into the things you can have.  I’m better if I abstain from sugar completely.  Enjoy high-quality red wine, nuts, cheese, deviled eggs, olives and meat and leave the sweets for the other guests. 

  1. Plan for peaks and valleys.

If normal times of year are a challenge to get dressed and have dinner on the table, simple routines in December can feel like epic tasks.  Decide now that you are going to use the week following Thanksgiving to “stock for a rush” as we called it in my waitressing days.  Figure out your concert wear and have it cleaned.  Buy a few packs of Trader Joe’s orange chicken as an insurance policy for a busy night.  Get your car serviced now before your holiday travel.  You will thank yourself for anything you can do now to make December easier. 

  1. Download and use a holiday planner.

There’s something soothing about putting all the moving parts of the last ninety days of the year into writing.  A holiday planner can be just the thing to help you plan your finances, clothing, decorations, travel, and budget.  Of course, you can do that yourself, but there are some great ready-made options available.  Flylady has been my cleaning and anti-perfectionism guru for years.  Here is a link to her “Holiday Control Journal.” http://www.flylady.net/i/pdf/hoj_coj.pdf Ruth Soukup from Living Well, Spending Less has a great freebie, too. https://www.livingwellspendingless.com/holidayplanner/   

  1. No one’s joyful when you’re stressy.

At school and at home, we are a big factor in determining the emotional weather of our classrooms and families.  Nothing joyful is going to happen in either context when you’re stressy and secretly aiming for perfection.  When your students aren’t super focused in your dress rehearsal because it is December and they’re eleven, resist the urge to snap at them.  When your kid breaks their annual Lenox collector’s ornament because they’re helping you, don’t end up in a puddle of tears like we both did that year.  We’re all going to mess up in this regard, or at least I am.  As much as possible, prioritize warm feelings and joyful connection over perfection.  I promise it is more important than a “perfect” tree or concert. 

  1. You set the schedule.

Experiment with as much flexibility as you want or need with your schedule to celebrate the actual holidays.  Going to be exhausted December 25 because you played three Christmas Eve services?  Maybe you can have a relaxed brunch with your family instead of a formal meal.  You haven’t seen your friends the entire month of December and the thought of hosting them makes you want to cry?  Have them over for some takeout fried chicken (trust me on this one) on New Year’s Day to catch up.  Feel like you don’t have the margin to bake or decorate a single thing until you’re on break from school?  Wait until you are out and only do what time allows.  Be creative.  This season doesn’t have to look like anyone else’s.  Please yourself and your family. 

  1. What are you really celebrating?

If an alien came to study our society in the month of December, I think they’d conclude that we celebrate money, stuff and busyness.  I don’t think that lines up with any of our belief systems.  But our actions tell a different story.  We get on a holiday hamster wheel just because everyone else is and feel helpless to change it.   

One of the places you have a lot of control is at school.  You don’t have to enter the door decorating contest if you don’t love it.  You don’t have to bake a homemade cookie for the cookie exchange if you don’t want to.  You don’t have to wear an ugly sweater on Ugly Sweater Day if they make you hot and itchy.  You might choose to do all three things and do them up big, but you don’t have to.  Your administrators are hosting them because they think they’ll be fun for the staff but if one or all of them isn’t appealing, you can opt out.   

Look, December is never going to be a cake walk as a music teacher.  It will never be perfect because that doesn’t exist.  But armed with a few of these ideas, you can be a happier music teacher at home and at school all month long.