Get Ahead of the Holidays
Make this year - and every year - a snap
One second it’s summer, and the next you need Halloween costumes, order a turkey, and oh man - you haven’t even thought about Christmas presents yet! Don’t freak out, I have a solution to help you get ahead of the holidays once and for all. With a little bit of planning now, you’ll be set for the holiday season this year and forever.
I’ve said this before, but structure creates freedom. Going with the flow may sound easy and relaxing, but when you fly by the seat of your pants, details get missed. And that’s where the stress starts to creep in. Of course you’re going to feel scattered when you are running around looking for last minute holiday decorations, presents, and ingredients.
This all leads to a lack of presence, joy, and connection from Halloween all the way through the New Year. For me, that’s the last way I want to feel during the memory-filled season. The solution is to map out what the holidays are going to look like ahead of time, so you are ahead of the game instead of behind it.
Get ahead of the holidays in 8 steps
These eight steps are going to get you set up with a blueprint for the holiday season. It will probably take you an hour, start to finish, and you can reap the rewards every year after. Now that’s time well spent!
1. Set an intention for how you want to feel for the holiday season. What word will give you a sense of purpose and direction between October and the New Year? Come back to this word as you make decisions in the next steps or when you aren’t sure what to include in your season. Some ideas to get you started could be: joyful, festive, calm, or connected.
2. Brain dump all the activities for the holidays. What are all the activities, gatherings, and traditions that you usually do? What do you or the kids really want to do? Get it all out of your brain, and then circle the most important things.
As you do so, take note: there isn’t going to be space for all of them. Your time and energy and life stage will also affect your choices. Yes, an all day farm adventure with apple picking and a hay ride sounds great; unless you have a napping toddler or nursing baby. Some things just may not be feasible this year.
It may be hard to imagine all the activities between now and the New Year, so here are some ideas to get you started:
Fall
Apple picking
Farm visits
Canning/preserving foods
Cranberry festival
Family photos
Halloween
Pumpkin Patch
Classroom parties/activities
Costume parties for kids or adults
Trick or treating
Fireworks displays
Haunted train rides
Visit halloween displays/haunted houses
Pumpkin carving
Crafty activities with the littles
Thanksgiving
Are you hosting?
Do you need to make special dishes?
Holiday crafts
Winter Holidays
Ice skating or other outdoor activities
Christmas tree cutting
Church plays or other special services
Gift shopping
Gift wrapping
Visit to Santa
School, family, friends, or work parties
Are you hosting a dinner, or helping cook for another?
Special outfits for the kids
Decorating the house
A trip to see the neighbourhood holiday lights
Boxing Day or New Years Day open houses to visit
Do you do matching pajamas?
Advent calendars
Holiday trains or markets
Parades
3. Let’s put things into perspective now that you have circled the important activities. Create a 3 column list with a column for each month. Fill out the activities for each month. Does it look like too much? Is one month jammed while another is empty? Be honest with what you can (and want) to manage, and be sure to leave room for spontaneity, too!
4. Print out a blank calendar, and start filling it out with all the usual things you do, plus the activities you want to do. In our house, we try to limit the weekends to only one big activity, otherwise we just get fried. So keep in mind that just because a day is empty, you don’t need to schedule an activity. Family down time and self care time are important, too.
5. Write in the key holiday meals and dishes. If you think it’s too early to plan a Thanksgiving menu, let me tell you, it’s not. Do you always cook a certain dish for Thanksgiving, or always go to the in-laws for New Years? Our family always makes a Halloween snack tray, for example. This will give you an at-a-glance snapshot of what you’re going to be prepping or shopping for, saving you a lot of precious brain space and stress.
6. Start a gift list on your phone or a GoogleDoc that. This way, you have it when you need it, and you can share it with your spouse or relatives that are asking for ideas. You can also create an Amazon wishlist for yourself and your kids. I keep a running one all year long, and it’s been so helpful for the grandparents for birthdays and holidays. It keeps them on track with what’s appropriate, and so they don’t go overboard.
7. Declutter your seasonal decorations as you put them out. As you decorate each season, use it as a chance to declutter. If you never put certain things out, donate them. If something is broken, throw it out. There’s no point in storing these items indefinitely, and it will make decorating next year even easier.
8. I saved the best tip for last. Create a GoogleDoc or folder where all of this information gets stored. We have one called - very creatively - August to December. It’s got the things we’ve liked to do in the past, things we didn’t, favorite meals, printables, ideas for next year, etc. You can even take a picture of the calendar each month and save it in the file for reference. Were there any weeks that were super crazy? Now you’ll know for the future.
I want to create memories during the holidays with my family, not stress. And for us, this is about being intentional with how we spend our time, not about perfection. By creating a blueprint for your holidays this year, you’ll get ahead of the holiday stress now and for years to come.
