Manage the Holiday Season
Find yourself with a plate full of chores this Holiday season? Here’s how to get organized!
By Tina Eriksson, 29th November 2009
Amidst gift shopping and party planning, try to fit in the time to handle your
full-time job, your relatives at the door and a fridge full of groceries that you
somehow plan to morph into a Christmas buffet. And you forgot to pick out a dress to
wear! Sound impossible? Finding the time to do everything you’ve got planned before
the big day arrives can seem daunting, and you may find yourself in over your head
with ambitions set too high. Follow Fashtastic’s tips for a stress-free Holiday
season! |
Never underestimate the help a simple list can give you. Before doing anything else,
sit down and make a note of all the things you need and want to get done. That will
keep your mind less cluttered with things to remember, and help you get an overlook of
what has to be done. Sometimes, writing things down will make it appear less daunting
and you’ll notice it was less than you first thought.
Bonus tip: To keep things extra organized, bunch things together in columns depending
on category – cooking and baking in one column, gift and grocery shopping in another
or divide the chores into days – that way you can multitask and cross off several
things on your list at once.
Start scratching things off the list as soon as possible, do what you can in the
beginning of December. Most cookies and other bake goods freeze well and can be made
well in advance. A party outfit can (and should) be planned weeks in advance and
prepared (washed, steamed and hung) for the occasion. Gifts are always best taken care
of early on to avoid the worst of the Holiday shopping madness, and a big clean on a
free day in the beginning of the month will leave you with less to do the days before
your party.
If you find yourself pressed for time with a hamper full of dirty laundry and a pile
of books and papers scattered all over your living room table threatening to scare the
guests away, stash it away in the storage closet. Nobody is going to be lurking around
there anyway, so they’ll never notice it. Just remember where you put it and take care
of it once the party is over and your life is back to normal.
Cure boredom (and get an extra helping hand) by letting everyone join in! Nobody is
happy just sitting around and doing nothing, so ask your uncle to grab a spatula, have
grandma sit the kids down to decorate place cards and hand your cousin a spoon to stir
the gravy. Nobody said you have to do everything on your own.
Remember: To breathe! Take a moment to sip a cup of tea or kiss your husband while
everyone else is busy pitching in.
Christmas dinner will be easier and more exciting if everyone adds to the buffet of
luscious foods. Have your guests bring something along, that will cut your list down
by several points and take some of the stress off your shoulders. Don’t be afraid to
be specific, ask someone to bring the mash potatoes and have someone else contribute
with a batch of cookies or a cheesecake, rather than risk that several people bring
the same thing.
Note: It’s a great conversation starter. If your dinner party includes some
people you don’t know very well and you’re finding it hard to think of topics to talk
about, spark up a conversation surrounding the food. Ask which meal your dinner
partner brought along and what his or her recipe is, then share yours or discuss
variations of the meals (but make sure to compliment their recipe first).
Don’t go in over your head. If you find yourself with too much on your plate, take a
minute to reconsider what you’ve got planned. Is everything on your list realistic and
completely necessary? Can you skip the gingersnaps and check your freezer for some
snowball cookies instead? Is making gift baskets for your children’s teachers really
the easiest and most time-wise idea, or can you get them something simpler instead?
What they don’t know, won’t hurt them: Nobody will notice if you skip the gingersnaps,
there’ll be so much else to feast on and talk about that nobody will even mention it.
The same goes for the gift baskets for the teachers, they’ll appreciate a cookbook or
a piece of jewelry just the same.
We’ve all seen the movies depicting the perfect Christmas day celebrations with the
happy families, but we also know that’s not what like in real life. And it’s OK.
Decide right here and now that there’s nothing you can do about the little mishaps
that happen around the Holiday season each year. Your aunt is going to raise her voice
at the dinner table again this year, in her endless attempt at overpowering everyone
else, and nothing is going to prevent grandpa from falling asleep on the sofa before
the kids have time to open their gifts. But it’s OK. It’s how it should be, always has
been and is what makes the Holiday special and unique for each and every family.
The most important thing of all is to remember to enjoy each moment that passes.
Because the good will pass, and the bad will too.
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