It may be amusing for you to know that, before you explained it, I inferred that Avoidance Advent involved writing a bunch of things you don't want to do at the holidays (clean the house, do a specific family thing), and then when you open the note, Avoidance Advent magically absolves you of any guilt you might feel from avoiding those things
As someone who just recaulked their bathroom on a whim during one of the last days both kids were in full time care, two days before I hosted Thanksgiving, yeah. That was really dumb. It took 5 hours. But it's done! And off the goddamn list.
also +1 for an avoidance advent calendar where you get to just NOT do stuff you don't want to do. for example i just decided today that we're not gonna hang up house lights outside this holiday season. it's already dec 10, the ship has sailed!
I took read that post about the Avoidance Advent, but then avoided doing it because my December is sucking the most of any December in recent memory. But I might do this in January, and also have a shower to recaulk (but actually use sealant, because in the UK what we call caulk is the paintable stuff for walls and not waterproof!)
Richard sent this to me today before I checked my email and said, “this was made in a lab for your eyeballs”—here is my q which is really about decision fatigue and process overload—when you wrote, “recaulk the tub” did you already have a video/article on what to buy to do this, because I see myself falling down the r/cleaning subreddit about debates over the best cleaners and tools and then harassing a random general contractor in Home Depot about it—I put off so much stuff like this because it requires so many micro decisions OR I’ve procrastinated something for so long that I justify it by telling myself I just need the BEST tools to do the job right
To answer your first question, no I did not have a plan in mind when I included it, I just knew I wanted to get it done. I knew Nick had a caulk gun in the garage and that I probably needed to buy the right caulk and learn how to do it.
My fatal flaw/best quality is I'm ok with doing a somewhat shitty job as long as something is DONE. It helps that we're planning to sell the house next year, so if I did a bad job I won't be stuck looking at it for long.
But I agree with you that it's all these steps that keep me from getting started, so "having" to do it all in one day kept me from delaying initiating (like I'd been doing for years on this particular task)
Recaulking our shower is perpetually number 1 on my mental The List and it never gets done because it seems so daunting, but you have talked me into realizing that I can and should do it 🚀
nice work. i ALSO committed to/actually completed recaulking something moldy that i've been staring at for two years; this is as big of a 2025 holiday trend as paper chains and tin ornament garlands.
also i walked into the hardware store and asked to be pointed to the grout section, instead of the caulk section, which added an extra 3-5 minutes that i don't have.
brother i just sent this to like 10 people to be like yes. genius.
I wish my laughs of recognition weren't quite so loud, it would probably mean I had my shit together.
It may be amusing for you to know that, before you explained it, I inferred that Avoidance Advent involved writing a bunch of things you don't want to do at the holidays (clean the house, do a specific family thing), and then when you open the note, Avoidance Advent magically absolves you of any guilt you might feel from avoiding those things
This idea has legs
I'm saving this for next Advent! Thank you 💞
the Kendall Jenner thing alone may heal me!!!
As someone who just recaulked their bathroom on a whim during one of the last days both kids were in full time care, two days before I hosted Thanksgiving, yeah. That was really dumb. It took 5 hours. But it's done! And off the goddamn list.
DROP THE FULL LIST
Prepare to be boreddddd
my god of all the relatable content you've shared, this is the most!, #1, APLUS relatable content.
And I'd be on this so much, if my end of year hard deadline didn't involve excessive dental work. The shame!
i feel everything you just wrote SO MUCH.
also +1 for an avoidance advent calendar where you get to just NOT do stuff you don't want to do. for example i just decided today that we're not gonna hang up house lights outside this holiday season. it's already dec 10, the ship has sailed!
I took read that post about the Avoidance Advent, but then avoided doing it because my December is sucking the most of any December in recent memory. But I might do this in January, and also have a shower to recaulk (but actually use sealant, because in the UK what we call caulk is the paintable stuff for walls and not waterproof!)
Gonna bribe Jane to replace one post-it with "go to Katie's house and recaulk her tub as well (new Christmas tradition)"
Everyone loves my famous caulk 🥰
Richard sent this to me today before I checked my email and said, “this was made in a lab for your eyeballs”—here is my q which is really about decision fatigue and process overload—when you wrote, “recaulk the tub” did you already have a video/article on what to buy to do this, because I see myself falling down the r/cleaning subreddit about debates over the best cleaners and tools and then harassing a random general contractor in Home Depot about it—I put off so much stuff like this because it requires so many micro decisions OR I’ve procrastinated something for so long that I justify it by telling myself I just need the BEST tools to do the job right
To answer your first question, no I did not have a plan in mind when I included it, I just knew I wanted to get it done. I knew Nick had a caulk gun in the garage and that I probably needed to buy the right caulk and learn how to do it.
My fatal flaw/best quality is I'm ok with doing a somewhat shitty job as long as something is DONE. It helps that we're planning to sell the house next year, so if I did a bad job I won't be stuck looking at it for long.
But I agree with you that it's all these steps that keep me from getting started, so "having" to do it all in one day kept me from delaying initiating (like I'd been doing for years on this particular task)
Recaulking our shower is perpetually number 1 on my mental The List and it never gets done because it seems so daunting, but you have talked me into realizing that I can and should do it 🚀
'I am the List'...lord have mercy it's so true ❤️
An intense DIY task for the first day is diabolical
nice work. i ALSO committed to/actually completed recaulking something moldy that i've been staring at for two years; this is as big of a 2025 holiday trend as paper chains and tin ornament garlands.
also i walked into the hardware store and asked to be pointed to the grout section, instead of the caulk section, which added an extra 3-5 minutes that i don't have.