Ahhh, the holidays. Halloween is in full swing, and Thanksgiving and Christmas are just around the corner. It’s the most magical – but also the most stressful – time of the year. Right in the middle of creating magic, comes the scheduling. How do you find the time to visit everyone for Christmas, while still managing to squeeze in a bit of your own family time? Between parents, in-laws, travel, and work, it quickly turns into a holiday headache. But worry not. As a girl who is well versed in dividing her time for the holidays, here are my top three tips to plan your Christmas visits with ease.
Plan in Advance
Sure, it’s the end of October, but start sending those text messages now. You know, the ones that go: “Have you thought about Christmas? What day should we celebrate? Who’s coming?” Maybe your family lives far away and you need to alternate between seeing them and your in-laws each year. Or maybe you can take the guesswork out of who goes where by setting a reoccurring date to celebrate with specific family members. Have these conversations early so everyone has time to plan, the expectations are clear, and there are not any surprises or hurt feelings later.
Give Yourself Room to Breathe
Don’t pack your schedule too tight. Give yourself a day with each group, even more if you’re traveling. This is especially important if you have young kids. Have a day or more between travel days so everyone can relax and enjoy their Christmas break. Maybe you can push some of those festive visits to after the 25th. That way you can extend the Christmas joy even longer and have more meaningful family time, instead of cramming it all in before or in a hectic 48hr period.
Plan For Your Own Family
This might be the hardest one to achieve. It’s really easy to compromise your own traditions when your kids are very little and don’t know when or what Christmas actually is. But if you’re a young family, this is so important to consider. What will YOUR family traditions be? It’s easy to feel like you’re still a kid, and you should visit everyone the way you did before you had your own little ones. And it’s even harder when your parents still expect you to do that. If you’re in the thick of this, you’ll know that things get much more complicated when you add in-laws and babies. Decide which traditions are important to you and stick with them. It’s always hard that first year or two, but it won’t be long before everyone adjusts, and you’ll be glad you pushed to preserve the moments that are special to you and your kids.
Having to plan and schedule your way through Christmas may not be very fun, but it can mean the difference between a stressful few days that fly by, or a slower-paced week when you can thoroughly enjoy all of your family members. The older I get, the more I realize that family is what truly matters for the holidays; getting to see everyone all together brings back the good memories of my childhood. So make those calls and get planning, and I promise not to wish you a Merry Christmas until the day after Thanksgiving!
