No, this is not going to be a debate about when you can and can not put your Christmas tree up. If you want to go ahead and put it up, so be it. After the past two years we have had, it is kind of refreshing. If it brings you joy and happiness, by all means do it. We can all use  some joy and happiness after what all we have been through and what we are still going through. 

 I however have always liked to wait until the day after Thanksgiving. I like to celebrate each and every holiday and bestow upon it the attention and beauty it needs. I love Thanksgiving. My momma and my dear mother in law always made it special as so will I. We have always had big meals at my late mother in laws house and this year is going to be so different. I can already sense the mood in my dear hubby. These holidays will be so hard for him and our family. I've got to make sure it is special for him. I want to teach our grandchildren the importance of Thanksgiving and counting your blessings. I can't wait to get home and decorate with my fall placemats, and start planning our menu. My parents started joining us for Thanksgiving a few years ago. My momma always let us do what ever we wanted for Thanksgiving because she knew so many of us had in laws and so many houses to go to that it was just hard. But she was very clear that we had to have our hineys at her house come Christmas night or else. lol. As they got older, I noticed how alone they seemed. Why it never hit me before I don't know. But a few years ago, I told my husband that was going to change. Although we were so worn out from one family get together and not to mention stuffed, I told my husband I wanted to host a get together for my momma and daddy. We ran the idea across them and they discussed it and agreed. Like, Hello? You need to discuss it? Get your hiney to my house or else young lady.. lol. When I did my cooking for my mother in laws house, I would double recipes and make two. That way I had both meals covered.  This year I need to make it more special for dear hubby. I think I am going to let him pick the menu. I will fix what ever he wants. I also love spoiling my momma and daddy. She said we should have done this years ago. It's just she knew how tired everyone was from bouncing from house to house especially all in one day. She just didn't want to bother anyone. Well, like I said, I got tired of seeing them alone on Thanksgiving and we changed that. It has been special every since. Just about the time we leave here, It will be close and I will have to deep clean my home first then get to work on my menu and start precooking. 

It is not just Thanksgiving that kind of gets left out sometimes, it's other holidays as well. Especially when you have so many close together. Like Valentines and Easter. We kind of skip St. Patrick's Day.  Oh well, I love to give each holiday their own special days and recognition. Man, speaking of St. Patrick's day, I went all out that week and each day we did something rainbow. You can go back and check it out. We had a blast. 

The day after Thanksgiving I kick it into Christmas mode. I get dear hubby to get all my christmas stuff out and I go to town decorating my home. I do the inside and he does the outside. I will start planning my menu and such. 

Hence, the reason for this post. I know the Holidays can get stressful, but they are not suppose to be. The reason they get stressful is because we have become conditioned to believe that it is all about money and pleasing other people that we stress over "gift giving". Christmas is so commercialized about the gift giving that we go into debt trying to find the perfect gift for someone, and we feel obligated to buy someone a gift as not to hurt their feelings. I am just happy with being with my family that that is all that matters to me. Of course when you have children, it is a whole new ball game. Of course I want them to have Christmas presents, Lord knows our grandkids get just as much from us as they do their mommy and daddy. Cause I can. lol. It is a magical time for children. But I put alot of emphasis on the true meaning of Christmas and teach them what it is all about. 

I'm going to share some tips on how I try to help keep the stress down for our holidays so we can actually enjoy them. 

First, we start shopping very very early. Like around October early. Maybe sooner. You see, companies will try to trick you into believing they run the best deals on Black Friday. I have found that to not be true. I have seen things that I have wanted go on sale on Black Friday, when they ran a sale earlier in the year for around the same price and then I waited until Black Friday and missed my chance because they ran out. Start keeping your eye out for sales through out the year. We know we have a whole year to get ready for the next year right? See, it makes sense. Do Christmas shopping throughout the year, catch sales, and order them or go buy them and put them up. Make a note of who it is for and hide it. You can even go ahead and wrap it and be a step ahead. I do this with stocking stuffers too. My point is, somtimes the sales through out the year comes out to be the same or even better than waiting unil last minute. This also cuts our stress of worrying if they are going to get delivered in time. We have to start early because we have one kids birthday in December, mine and dear hubbys wedding anniversary, and then Christmas all in one week. Then exactly one month after that the other kids birthday. We have done this since our kids were little. 

Next is timing for family get togethers. Everyone wants to have something at their home and you find your self rushing around from home to home in a matter of two days. When you have kids, this is alot. Plan some things ahead and see what works best for your family. It is natural for children to want to wake up first thing Christmas morning in their own home and open gifts. Then it is hard to hurry them and whisk them away to someones home a few hrs later then maybe one more place after that. This will create some irritable children, not to mention irritable and exhausted parents. My family has always worked around each other. For instance, My mother in law would have her Christmas with everyone on Christmas eve, Christmas morning was our time with our children. Christmas Night was at my mothers house. Now, when grandchildren came along this added a glinch. Our first Christmas without our oldest son was hard. But he had his own little family to start traditions with now and we had to understand and cope. So we came up with a plan to have Christmas with them and out grand children on another day. So now, we have Christmas with them on the night of the 23rd and we let them spend the night with us and we do all the things with them that we would do and did with our own boys. Then we get up the next morning and they have their  Christmas with us. They have the whole day to play and rest before that night which is Christmas Eve. Then they get to do it all again with mommy and daddy for their house. That way we get to have  a special day with them and then they are free to enjoy other family members get togethers too.  If it is stressful for you and family members, see if someone is willing to change a day they host theirs and work with other family members. Maybe even combine get togethers. It's a start anyway. This can even be done the week before if someone is willing. We have the whole month of December anyway. Who said it had to be on a certain day. 

I do not have any traveling tips for the Holidays if you fly or go way out of town for the holidays. We have never had to travel during this time. I'm sure there are great tips out there. 

I just had to add this picture. lol 

My next is my absolute number one tip and that is menu planning and cooking ahead. I start doing this the day after Thanksgiving as well. I plan my menu way ahead of time, like in late October. Then I will start stocking up on some of the non perishable items a little at a time when they are on sale. Come the day after Thanksgiving I will start precooking alot of my dishes and doubling batches (sometimes I have more than one home to cook for not just mine) and I will put them into the freezer. The night before one of out get togethers, I will pull those dishes for that home to defrost. All I have to do the next morning or before the time to leave is just heat them up and put them into a insulated casserole carrier. Some times I do have things that will need to be last minute or at least the night before. Somethings are just better fresh. But if it can freeze well, then it is going to go on my menu and cooked early. I've had times when I have had to cook for 3 homes and church dinner for the holidays. Yes, I wound up tripling recipes to make it easier on me. This goes for my baking treats and desserts too.  I always make treats for all the children on my side of the family and dear hubbies side too. That is alot of kids. I try to keep it simple but I get such joy from it. It has to be something that will keep for a few weeks too so I can bag them real pretty and set them aside. 

If finances are a problem, start at the beginning of the year and make a christmas budget and set aside a small amount each pay check to save for gifts. Wrap gifts as you purchase them and hide them. 

All I can say is don't wait until the last minute to do ANYTHING.  Start earlier in the year or at least a few moths early. Commercializing and trying to get things done at the last minute is robbing us of our joy during the holiday season that we go through it in a blur and do not take the time to slow down and enjoy being with family. We forget what it is all about. Then before we know it, it is a new year and we wonder where the time went and some are just glad it is over. That is sad. Take time to enjoy the holidays and family. Because one day you will look back and loved ones will be gone and you will wish you had this time back. 

I hope some of these ideas have helped you. If you do not get a chance to start early this year, because here we are only weeks from Christmas, make it a point to start in January of next year. Get a planner and write things down, start planning. Keep an eye out for sales throughout the year and maybe buy one gift a month. 

Let's get back to making the holidays special again. As soon as we get back home, I sure am. 

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