Managing the Holidays - Top 10 Tips

November comes around and suddenly we expect to turn into a “Martha Stewart!” We want a beautifully decorated house, delectable homemade treats, perfect, well thought out personalized gifts and well-behaved, eternally grateful children......even after we’ve disrupted their sleep routines and filled them up with cookies and candy. A little unrealistic, perhaps?


So how do you avoid creating a horribly hectic holiday? Here are some tips:

• Ask each family member what their number one favorite part of the holiday is and only do those. You donÂ’t have to do everything! You might be surprised that there are some things that arenÂ’t as important as you thought.
• Skip the holiday cards-send New Years cards in January or Valentine cards in February when you have more time. When you send something later, people are more likely to read it. If you send cards and family updates in January or February thereÂ’s a better chance theyÂ’ll remember what it said.
• Give theme gifts: Magazines subscriptions, donations in their name, gift cards, concert tickets, movie, play, etc. Go through a list of magazines and choose one that fits each person on your list. Think about their favorite store, go online and order a gift card for them. Give them tickets to an event you both like and maybe theyÂ’ll share the second ticket-the gift that keeps on giving.
• Take a nap after Thanksgiving Dinner and wake up when the ball drops on New YearÂ’s Eve. Thought IÂ’d toss that in for fun.
• Make a list before heading out the door. Nothing is more time consuming that wandering around the mall waiting for the perfect gift to jump out at you. Go through catalogs or magazines for ideas, decide what you want and buy only whatÂ’s on your list.