Get ORGANIZED for the upcoming holidays!
* Make your gift list and begin to SHOP EARLY so that you are not so stressed during the month of December. This will allow you time to enjoy the season with family and friends instead of with all of those shoppers.
* PLAN your specific Thanksgiving, Christmas and/or Hanukkah meals now. Decide which food items can be made ahead and placed in the freezer. Stuffing, cookies and my yummy squash casserole are just a few of my favorite foods that can be made ahead. Choose a couple of days to focus just on baking…let the kids help too! Baked goodies are great gift ideas around the holidays for friends, teachers, neighbors, mail carriers and co-workers.
* If you are like my family, we usually have way too much food over the holidays. Choose to ELIMINATE one, two, or even three food items from your big holiday meal (that extra pie or dessert, or maybe choose between mashed potatoes or yams, instead of both.) This will cut down on time in the kitchen, as well as cooking stress and calories too.
* As you decorate for the holidays, DELEGATE a decorating responsibility for each member of your family. For example, Dad can be in charge of retrieving all of the holiday decorations from the attic or basement; older kids can be in charge of the outside decorating; someone can be in charge of setting up the tree and getting it ready for decorating; younger children can choose a place for the snow village or other tradition that you may have in your family. Of course, everyone can help with the tree ornaments!
*DIVIDE up your decorating days instead of packing it all into one or two. Pull out all of the boxes/decorations from your attic, basement or other storage place so that you can visually see what you have (hopefully, all of your boxes are labeled to ease this process). Use your basement or garage floor space to divide up your decorations into groups; i.e. outside decorations, tree decorations, inside garland, table decor, bows and ribbons and other decorations that will be used in the rooms you will be decorating. Plan a day for each specific area that you will be decorating.
*If you send out Christmas cards, create a letter from your family highlighting what has transpired over the past year with your family. Print your letter on festive letterhead (found at office supply stores) and send to family and friends. Include pictures and fun family times. Plan to write your letter in November and send it out within the first couple of weeks in December. To save time, you can type the names and addresses of friends and family and print out on festive labels from your computer. Save and update the addresses each each year on your computer.
*And finally, in the midst of what is usually a very hectic time of year, SCHEDULE time to enjoy your favorite holiday event… Thanksgiving dinner with friends and family, a baking day with your kids, a Christmas play or musical, a family get-together, a tour of the holiday lights in your town, a Christmas Eve church service, serving at a local shelter, volunteering your time and services for a family in need.