Article and Photo Courtesy of Organized Christmas
What do you really want for Christmas?
For most of us, our dreams center around family, faith and friends: a
celebration of our deepest joys.
Yet too often, those dreams go by the wayside as the holidays take on a
life of their own. What can cause this distortion of what we truly want?
The season brings many pressures to bear on our celebration. Holiday
commercials raise their voice to an unavoidable shriek during this time of
year. Lavish television programs showcase food and décor standards out of all
reality. A trip to the mall can bring a quick end to a wish for a homemade
holiday; all that glitz can be seductive!
Even our families can be parties to holiday distortion. Spouses may
bring different expectations and family traditions to the same holiday.
Children may clamor for a Christmas measured by a classmate's yardstick. Family
traditions can live on well beyond their time, no longer enjoyed but not yet
willing to leave.
Solution? Connect with your holiday values before you plan for the
holiday season. Put your most cherished wishes at the center of your
celebration ... for an organized Christmas.
To Do Today
Complete the holiday values
exercise
To keep the season centered around the ideals your family holds dear,
make a pre-season holiday values check. This short values exercise will keep
you focused as you prepare for the holiday celebration.
Print the Holiday Values Worksheet to record your findings. Add a second sheet--or take notes--to track answers
given by other family members in a second, fact-finding session.
Use the results to trim your celebration to the things you hold most
dear ... to do less and enjoy it more this holiday season.
Focus on Holiday Values
What do you really want for Christmas? Our ideas may differ in the
details, but most of us want much the same thing: a seasonal celebration focused
on faith, family and friends.
We want the excitement of the season without the disruption that too
often comes with it. We want to draw closer to those around us, not to be
thrust apart by hectic schedules. We want to enjoy as well as to prepare, and
to keep the Christmas season in a manner that is joyous and spiritually
centered.
Problem is, it’s easy to get caught up in the seasonal whirlwind!
Tradition, the media, family expectations and the economy lean on our
decision-making, each with a different agenda. Unconscious forces can distort
our celebration for reasons that have nothing to do with what we truly want
from the holiday.
Lavish Christmas magazines raise décor standards out of all reality.
Husband and wife may bring different expectations and traditions to the same
holiday. During the Christmas season, we're easy prey to forces that open our
wallets and eat our time, as well as to those that touch our hearts and open
our souls.
Solution: focus on holiday values before you begin to plan the season’s
activities. Knowing where your values lie allows you to set a path to true
holiday happiness, and to avoid the minefields that culture and commercialism
will throw in your way.
Ask the question! When you shop or cook or bake or decorate, what
values will you serve? What result do you hope to see for your family’s
seasonal expenditure of energy and resources?
Try these exercises to focus on the true meaning of the season:
For You
Sit back and bring to mind last year's
celebration, then open the Christmas Notebook, and answer these questions. To
make it easy, use our free printable Family Values Worksheet:
1. What went well for your family last year? Did you make innovations
that made you more organized, calmer, and more centered?
2. What stresses did your family face? Were there too many activities
on the calendar? Did household systems fall apart with the season's faster
pace?
3. Was your family spiritually invigorated by the holiday celebration?
Did you participate in appropriate service, worship or giving activities?
4. Did inappropriate influences enter your home? Were decorating,
clothing or gift-buying decisions motivated by competitiveness or insecurity?
Was the celebration over-focused on gifts and getting? Did the hectic pace of
the season take precedence over family closeness, family values?
5. What would you have done differently?
Pondering last year's end sets the goals for this year's beginning.
File your answers at the front of the Christmas Notebook, then take a day or
two to review the notes you made.
Don’t be alarmed if your list contains more negative than positive
entries; this taking-stock exercise naturally focuses on areas that need work.
Becoming aware of the seasonal misses will help you hone this year’s activities
to the holiday hits.
For the Family
After you think through your own conclusions, take the questions to the
household as a whole. At a relaxed moment, such as a weeknight dinner or a long
car ride, ask family members these questions:
What do you remember most about last Christmas?
What did you like best?
Was there something you didn’t like about the holiday season? How would
you change it?
If we could only do three things to celebrate Christmas, what would
they be?
Prepare to be surprised! Chances are, family members will bring a new
perspective to the question of “What’s the right Christmas for us?” Nobody can
be quicker to puncture the limp balloons of worn-out traditions than the very
children who’ve outgrown them.
Listen, learn and let the family lead the way. The surest path to a
stressed-out season is to insist on giving life-support to traditions that have
run their course, so call an end to ho-hum activities that don’t make the cut
for anyone.
Focus, instead, on those activities that brings the family
closer—however silly, however small. Better a family Movie Night with popcorn
and pajamas than a forced march to the Nutcracker, neckties dragging. Put your
energies where the meaning is!
Tips for Holiday Season Travel
Will you visit family or take a Christmas holiday?
Between tight security, cramped airports and busy highways,
holiday-season travel can be a big source of Christmas stress.
Whether you're flying or driving, being prepared means you'll be better
able to roll with the inevitable punches.
Try these tips to keep the “happy” in holiday travel:
Be An Early Bird
Make travel plans early. Particularly during the busy Christmas season,
early birds have more choice of transportation options, and usually pay a
better price than the holdouts.
Fly Flexible
Can you be flexible about seasonal travel plans? During a holiday
period, the best day to fly may be on the holiday itself, when traffic is
light. Busiest days are generally the day before Thanksgiving, the Sunday
before Christmas, and Christmas Eve.
Stay Informed
Bad weather, oversold flights or highway closures can all wreak havoc
on carefully-laid travel plans. Fight back by staying informed of travel
conditions. Check online travel sites or install smartphone apps to alert you
to changes in travel arrangements. The earlier you know about travel issues,
the easier it will be to find alternatives.
Packing Checklist
The distractions of the season can get in the way of efficient packing.
To stay focused, print a packing checklist for each family member, noting all items of clothing and personal care needed
for travel.
Try this free printable packing checklist from OrganizedHome.Com, or
create your own list on blank lined paper. Bonus: store the lists in empty
suitcases for quick reference for the next trip.
Traveling With Gifts
Airline security checkpoints are no place to try to re-wrap a Christmas
gift. If you must fly with presents, wait until your destination to wrap them,
or place gifts in easy-to-inspect gift bags. Better: ship gifts ahead of time,
or arrange for direct delivery to your final destination.
Today's Recipe
Kitchen gifts are the right stuff: creative, consumable
and low-cost. What does Mrs. Santa give from her kitchen? Reindeer Chow! A
little bit salty, a little bit sweet--and a lot crunchy--this snack mix is
Rudolph's favorite.
Package Reindeer Chow in zipper food storage bags or cellophane snack
bags for an easy classroom treat or Secret Santa gift. Add a free printable
Reindeer Chow bag topper to make an easy holiday gift.
For a fun and festive family gift, fill a pet dish (from the Dollar
Store!) with Reindeer Chow. Inexpensive self-adhesive "foamie"
letters spell out the name of your favorite reindeer!
Ingredients
1 poundwhite chocolate chips or almond bark coating
3 cupsRice Chex-brand cereal
3 cupsCorn Chex-brand cereal
3 cupsCheerios-brand cereal
2 cupspretzel sticks
2 cupsdry-roasted peanuts
12 ouncesM&M-brand chocolate candies
10 printable gift tags
Instructions
Slowly melt chocolate in double broiler over water. Alternately, place
almond bark or white chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl, and microwave on
high for 30-second intervals, stirring between each, until chocolate is melted.
Combine remaining ingredients in large bowl, then drizzle melted
chocolate over top and mix well. Spread in a shallow layer on a cookie sheet or
broiler pan.
Allow to cool completely, then package in single-serving bags or an
inexpensive pet bowl.
Attach the Reindeer Chow gift tag or create your own tag using the poem
below.
Makes 10 servings.
Reindeer Chow Poem:
When reindeer fly on Christmas night,
They work up quite an appetite!
But Mrs. Claus knows what to do,
To feed them when the flight is through.
She mixes up some Reindeer Chow.
A secret only she knows how.
With something salty, something sweet,
It’s Rudolph’s favorite reindeer treat.
Back in her kitchen at the Pole,
She heaps it high in every bowl
To welcome her returning crew.
So here’s a batch that’s just for you!
Print Reindeer Chow Gift Tag
