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"I have become a new person since my split from Peter, and mostly that&amp;#039;s a good thing. One area of my life that has changed drastically - and probably for the better - is my need to &amp;quot;overdo&amp;quot; during the holiday season. For instance, I have a neighborhood Christmas party this weekend. The host has asked everyone to bring either an appetizer or a dessert. For me, that means both. Probably more than one of both. I love to cook and I love to bake even more than I love to cook. I usually arrive with several items in hand at a function like this. This year, I&amp;#039;ve just got too much going on.  I have vowed to hold myself back, and I hope I can do it. I have also dramatically scaled back the Christmas decorations. Miles of outside lights have devolved into some pretty net-type lights on my hedges and a couple of wrought-iron lampposts wrapped in a single strand of lights. Indoors, it&amp;#039;s just the tree, the stockings, and a garland wrapped around the bannister on the staircase. No more Christmas villages on the entertainment center, no more wreaths all over the house, no more little holiday knick-knacks everywhere. It would take me forever to set up and take down, and the kitten&amp;#039;s likely to wreck it all, anyway. Surprisingly, none of the cutting back is dampening the kid&amp;#039;s enthusiasm or holiday spirit one bit. Santa will still come, gifts will still be opened with gusto, and the world will spin merrily on even though Mom is putting in half her normal amount of effort. And I&amp;#039;ve found that half the effort means twice the peace and relaxation for me.  Did you find yourself having to simplify more as a single parent? Does that make you feel a bit sad, or relieved? "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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