When you conjure mental images of past holidays, they are likely centered around family at the table, friends around a tree, or folks bundled up and gathered together for various celebrations. Though we may spend a lot of time thinking about gifts, meals, and travel plans, it is our relationships to family and friends that truly make the holidays a special time of year.
By starting your holiday planning early, you can be better prepared to take care of the details and then have the time to focus on what truly matters during the holidays. Here are a few examples of the kinds of preparations to begin to consider:
Gifts
Although gifts are supposed to be a selfless way to demonstrate your love and gratitude to another, they have become the single biggest stressor when it comes to the holidays.
Not only is there so much pressure to find and afford the “perfect gift”, but the expectations of gift-giving are often unreasonable. The first step to less stress at Christmas is to prepare your gift list.
Gather your family around the table for a brainstorming session on how you can consider handmade gifts for family and friends.
Start shopping online and through catalogs for ideas.
Set budgetary limits.
Give yourself a deadline well before Christmas to accomplish your gift-buying.
Gift-Wrap
You may be tempted to just skip over this one, but how many people end up organizing gift wrap and wrapping gifts on Christmas Eve? Taking inventory of your wrapping paper, gift bags, bows, ribbons, tape, and gift tags should be done as soon as possible. Then schedule a gift-wrapping party with friends or plan to wrap present each week on a certain week night.
Cards &/or Letters
The holidays are a great time for keeping in touch with family and friends, whether near or far. The steps to accomplishing this in plenty of time is to sit down and plan out your needs; add cards, letters, or supplies (for making your own) to your shopping list; and schedule time with your family to write, fold, lick, stamp, and share in the fun.
Giving
Yes, there are expectations from family members. Yes, there are traditions that must be carried out. However, if we forget that the meaning of the holidays is to give, whether it be through some sacrifice of our time, our abilities, or our resources, we forego the happiness that is allowed for ourselves and others. Brainstorm ways to give of yourself this holiday season. It truly is better to give than to receive.
There are other ways to prepare for the holidays ahead of time. Now is the time to be considering what can be done so that you can enjoy the holiday season to the fullest extent. Join us as we talk about how to plan ahead for your holiday food, holiday festivities, and your holiday fortress in the next 3 weeks.
Jennifer Tankersley is the creator of ListPlanIt.com which has hundreds of printable lists, checklists, and planning pages to put your world-and your holidays-in order.
She also writes 100DaystoChristmas.com, which gives a daily dose of inspiration and motivation to get you through the busy holiday season.
The First in the Holiday Planning guest series by Jennifer Tankersley
The holiday season brings with it many associations and memories. Among the most common are of family, warmth, joy, and beauty. The reality is that it is often a time of busyness, anxiety, and stress.
The key to a meaningful holiday is a little planning and little more action. It is not enough to just think about what it takes to manage a successful family holiday. Scheduling time into your day to accomplish tasks early will bring the kind of peace to December that makes the song true: It’s the most wonderful time of the year!
Creating a guide of things to accomplish before the rush of the season is a great way to get started. Actually including your goals on your calendar will help you hold yourself accountable. Knowing that whatever steps you take to prepare for the holiday season will make you feel that much more confident.
There are four main ways to divide and conquer your holiday preparation:
Fortress,
Family/friends,
Food, and
Festivities.
Breaking your tasks down will help you make this holiday season your best yet.
Fortress
A home never feels as “homey” as it does during the holidays. If you are hosting any holiday celebrations, than you will likely be readying your home and outfitting it for the season. There will be decorations to array/hang and surfaces/furnishings to clean so scheduling time for these to dos is an absolute must.
Family/Friends
One of the best parts of the holiday season is getting together with family and friends. What are the holidays if not an opportunity to recognize and relish the meaningful connections in our lives. Many will meet and exchange thoughtful tokens of love and appreciation. For those who will not have a chance to see loved ones face-to-face, holiday cards may be a consideration.
Food
The holiday table brings humans together like none other. It offers nourishment, elements of tradition, fodder for conversation, and pure pleasure. Planning a menu, shopping for the right ingredients, and preparing for a feast is a tremendous demonstration of love and friendship.
Festivities
December brings a slew of activities: holiday plays, programs, and events along with parties, exchanges, and teas. The best way to prepare yourself for the myriad of goings-on is to consider the details (attire, gifts, tickets, etc) and mark them on your calendars as soon as possible.
Jennifer Tankersley is the creator of ListPlanIt which has hundreds of printable lists, checklists, and planning pages to put your world-and your holidays-in order.
She also writes 100DaystoChristmas.com, which begins September 16 (exactly 100 days to Christmas) and gives a daily dose of inspiration and motivation to get you through the busy holiday season.
Here at our house, we spend the season discussing what Christmas really is, and the most important gift that Christ has given us. We refer to Christmas as Jesus’ birthday, and when the kids were younger explained that Christ perfers that instead of giving gifts to him, the best gift we can give our love and gifts to others.
Each year we choose a ministry that helps distribute gifts to children who may not otherwise get them, and each child chooses the gifts to donate. This is an exercise in being able to think of others while in the toy department.
We emphasize thinking up and making gifts and cards for each other. If gifts are to be purchased, we go in secret to do the purchasing keeping the focus on the other person. On Christmas day, we do a birthday cake for Jesus and discuss the circumstances of Jesus’ birth and ministry on earth.
This year, I refused to take part in Black Friday and Cyber Monday, with two exceptions: the unbelievable low subscription price on a magazine I had been waiting to get and CurrClick‘s offer of freebies with no purchase required. My reason for not “shopping until I dropped”, in real life or online, is purely from a realization I had about 8 years ago when we had very, very little money for Christmas. During that time, I found that I liked myself, my family, and the holidays better when we focused on giving gifts that would mean something special and that we had made.
That year we purchased our Angel Tree gifts new, as required, but from there everything we gave as gifts was either made or purchased from a thrift store and repurposed. At the most, we spent $20 on gifts that year, not including the Angel Tree gifts.
For my little sister, who was 3 or 4 at the time and in that “little helper” stage, I made a little apron, pinafore style. The pattern I drew on the back of a paper shopping bag and used muslin I had already on hand from another project I had abandoned. I’m not a very good seamstress, and had never made my own pattern before, but somehow it turned out cute.
For two of my younger brothers who were maybe 7 and 8, my husband made little treasure boxes from two left over fence boards we had. I lined them with felt I already had. We bought hinges, a clasp for each, and a small keyed padlock for each. They loved having their own little treasures boxes; what little boy doesn’t like having a secret place to hide their treasures.
That year I discovered that precious little gifts, inexpensive in cost, but thoughtfully put together, meant more than all the money I could spend. Since then, we’ve carried on the tradition of making gifts where we can, or buying gifts that we put a very personal touch on. Not only does this save us money but it also builds bonds within our family. We spend November and December brainstorming, creating, and wrapping, talking, laughing, reminesning about our family and friends.
Instead of Black Friday and Cyber Monday and all the other commercial ploys to get us to buy and over extend ourselves financially, let’s embrace the spirit of giving, sharing, and fellowship that should come with Christmas.
For the next 24 days leading up to Christmas, I’ll be sharing some of the great gift ideas, traditions, and insights that we’ve run across during this journey. Please join in by sharing your favorite homemade and/or thougtful gift idea, favorite traditions, or stories of a favorite gift.
The more we can encourage each other and give each other the ideas and tools we want and need, the better.
Although gifts are supposed to be a selfless way to demonstrate your love and gratitude to another, they have become the single biggest stressor when it comes to the holidays. 
The key to a meaningful holiday is a little planning and little more action. It is not enough to just think about what it takes to manage a successful family holiday. Scheduling time into your day to accomplish tasks early will bring the kind of peace to December that makes the song true: It’s the most wonderful time of the year!
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