• I love the holiday season, but there are some things about it that stress me out.
• In the past, I've found myself doing too much and saying "yes" to too many things.
• This year, I'm approaching the season differently so I can enjoy it.

I love visiting with family and friends, gift-giving, and all that comes with the holiday season. Most years, though, as this time of year approaches, I'm filled with a sense of contradiction: excitement for what's ahead and an unavoidable subtle sense of dread.

As a mom for over 13 years now, I've finally pinpointed exactly the problem. I've been in the habit of saying, "Sure," "Yes," "I'll be there," or "I can help" too many times during the season, even if I didn't have the time or energy. It's left me frustrated, hurried, stressed, and downright exhausted.

I started by creating boundaries around travel

The first time I vowed to seek more rest for myself during the holidays was 13 years ago. After several hours of travel and multiple stops to visit family, all with a newborn in tow, I knew the pace could not be kept. I will never forget the trauma of trying to find a quiet place to nurse my baby amid the chaos of family members I barely knew.

Little by little, each year, I've pulled back on our Christmas Day travel. This might be the biggest and happiest change I've implemented for myself and my family. I'm saying "no" to hours of travel time this year, and we're staying home for Christmas.

Miraculously, grandparents and family members have all been understanding. In fact, many of them lamented the same issues with travel on Christmas Day and are choosing to stay home, too. The good news is my door is open, and if anyone wants to see me or my immediate family on Christmas Day, they'll know exactly where to find us.

But still, over the years — even as I've created more boundaries around travel — I've gotten in the habit of doing too much, and it's affected my ability to enjoy the holiday season.

This year, I'm doing less cooking and baking, too

Last year, and for most years in the past, my husband would volunteer to cook the turkey for my side of the family for the Thanksgiving meal. But this year, we said we couldn't. We'd already planned a road trip for my son's birthday, so the time we had to spend on a homemade dish was significantly shorter.

We simply didn't have the time to fry a large turkey and encouraged my family to have someone else cook it. My mom ordered one, and it was just as juicy as any home-cooked bird. It lightened the load, and I vowed to keep the momentum going.

Leading up to Christmas Day last year, kind neighbors dropped off homemade items on our doorstep. We adore our neighbors, and the homemade goodies were a delight each time we opened the door. But each time I discovered a homebaked treat, I felt pressure to make or bake my own gift to reciprocate the kind gesture.

In a panic, I whipped up some last-minute treats and hauled them to each neighbor's home. I love to cook, but there wasn't much joy in the process under the pressure. Looking back, I realize there was a better way, so I'm handling it differently this year. I now see that my neighbors actually don't expect a gift in return, let alone something homemade. So, to split the difference, I'm purchasing my favorite brand of store-bought shortbread cookies, plopping a bow on top, and wishing them all my merriment without baking anything.

I'm also pulling back when it comes to volunteering at my sons' schools

Volunteering at my sons' schools has always been a page from the same story. As with many parents, in years past, there's been the tug for me to attend the holiday sing-along, organize the holiday party snacks, or brainstorm and collect materials for a festive craft.

While I do love attending and being involved at my sons' schools, the issue is that with work, appointments, and my own holiday goals of reading more and sitting by a fire more often this year, I'm just not raising my hand first to head it all up. Instead, I've opted to send in supplies or choose the events I truly enjoy being at. My sons are older now, and I'm resting easy knowing they're more concerned with the football game at recess than the reindeer craft they created during the holiday party.

While my desire to do it all came from good intentions and expectations from myself and others, I didn't want the stress I had felt in the past by giving too during past holiday seasons. I realize now I do have a choice in the matter.

I'm saying "no" more than ever in an effort to protect my time and my family's time, and I'm enjoying more that makes me happy: fireside reading time, a cup of coffee with extra whipped cream, and the twinkle of the lights on my own Christmas tree this year.

Even a brief review of the App Store revealed more than 200 “risky or inappropriate” apps rated as ok for children, according to a new report. They had collectively notched up more than 550 million downloads.

Two child safety groups say that more than 25% of the child-rated apps they reviewed gave cause for concern, suggesting that the total number of problematic apps is very much higher …

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The products were recalled over salmonella concerns, and had been distributed at 25 Costco stores in five states.

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TikTokers lauded the woman's failed attempt to get into the Christmas spirit, with some suggesting it's better than the original.

William Bradford Bishop killed his wife, mother and three young sons in their Bethesda, Md., home in 1976

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And it’s on sale at Amazon today

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The expanded 12-team College Football Playoff debuted with four unwatchable games, one blowout after another, that led to many finding fault with the selection process.

Apple is working on the next generation of AirPods Pro, and they may have some new health features, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman – although it’s a rumor we heard before, back in 2021.

The company has reportedly started testing features like temperature sensing and heart rate monitoring for the earbuds. Apple has found that the Apple Watch still does the latter better, but the AirPods “aren’t terribly far off” in their readings.

The company may have also revived its idea of putting cameras into AirPods, a rumor we’ve heard a few times over the last year. But it’ll still probably be years before any camera-equipped AirPods appear.

– Mat Smith

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Intel Arc B580 review

The new king of $250 GPUs (for now).

Engadget

Intel’s Arc B580 is a rarity: A $250 GPU that delivers solid 1080p and 1440p gaming, even with a bit of ray tracing. Faster than a Radeon 7600 and RTX 4060 from the dominant GPU players, and Intel’s XeSS upscaling works well, even if it’s not as well supported as DLSS 3. According to our review, it’s a clear win for Intel – until we see what’s new from AMD.

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James Bond (the movie franchise, not the spy) may be in deep jeopardy.

The Broccoli family is not happy with Amazon.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Amazon and Barbara Broccoli, the producer who inherited the franchise from her father and film producer Albert “Cubby” Broccoli, are in the middle of a fight that’s halted production on the next Bond film. Apparently, Barbara doesn’t trust Amazon with her family’s famous film franchise.

Broccoli was quoted telling some of her friends that the people who run Amazon’s media empire are “f—ing idiots.” When Amazon purchased MGM, executives started thinking of ways to expand the Bond film franchise to other mediums like a Moneypenny spinoff series for Prime Video or a separate spy film or TV show in the Bond universe. Broccoli refused to let any of these projects go forward. She also took umbrage with Amazon entertainment executive Jennifer Salke’s use of the word “content” to describe new James Bond projects. (I love that.)

Continue reading.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/general/the-morning-after-engadget-newsletter-121512095.html?src=rss

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© Billy Steele/Engadget

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Editor's note: Warning: Although we’ve done our best to avoid spoiling anything too major, please note this list does include a few specific references to several of the listed films that some might consider spoiler-y.

This was the year that Marvel Studios hit the pause button on its deluge of blockbuster superhero movies, after rather saturating the market in recent years. It proved to be a smart move: the only Marvel theatrical release was the R-rated Deadpool & Wolverine, a refreshingly irreverent, very meta take on the genre that delighted audiences and lit up the global box office. Perhaps audiences aren't so much bored with superhero movies as becoming more discriminating in their choices. Give us a fun, fresh take and we'll flock back to theaters.

Fewer superhero franchise entries meant there was more breathing room for other fare. Horror in particular had a stellar year, with numerous noteworthy offerings, touching on body horror (The Substance), Satanic Panic (Late Night with the Devil), psychological horror (Heretic), hauntings (The Oddity), a rom-com/revenge mashup (Your Monster), an inventive reimagining of a classic silent film (Nosferatu), and one very bloodthirsty child vampire with a wicked sense of humor (Abigail). Throw in a smattering of especially strong sequels (Inside Out 2, Dune: Part 2), a solid prequel (Furiosa), and a few hidden gems, and we had one of the better years for film in recent memory.

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