Works for Me Wednesday

I love the holidays. I love the feeling of fall coming on, October coming around, rolling into Halloween, partying through Thanksgiving and all the festivities that come with Christmas. What's not to love!

The lights, the music, the spirit of unity that permeates this time of year... wish I could bottle it.

I LOVE IT!!!

My best tip for the holidays is to sit down, sometime in October or the beginning of November, and prioritize. Make this a family meeting or, if you have younger kids, make this a meeting between just you and your spouse. What are some things that you like to do as a family? What worked last year? What do you not want to do again? Was your schedule too full or do you want to add something new this year?

Next get out your calendar and begin to outline your plans. Is there two events on one day? You're probably going to have to cut one or the other. Sometimes it works out to do both. Maybe one is geared toward a specific parent and child while the other child is more likely to want to skip out. But more than likely you'll need to par down to one activity in a weekend.

Don't forget to make time for special worship events if that's a priority for your family. Is there a special Christmas Eve service that you want to attend? Don't schedule anything else for Christmas Eve.

These are just a few of the things that we are scheduling for this holiday season:
*Thanksgiving with D's parents--We're not entirely sure he'll get the day off, but if he doesn't we'll just down for the weekend. This gives our kids a great chance to spend time with extended family they don't usually see. Additionally, we'll try to see some family friends.
*Evening in Avonlea--I still have hopes that I'll get to do one this year. Have the girls' over for an evening and watch Anne of Green Gables with fun munchies.
*Lighted Christmas Parade--A family tradition since we moved here. Picnic dinner on the parade route and hot chocolate afterwards.
*Lighted Tree and Christmas Display--We'll probably make this an evening to spend with a few friends and enjoy the season through our kids' eyes.

Along with this, always comes the unexpected. I'm volunteering at a craft fair for my MOPS group, we have a few birthday parties to attend, and our church is doing a ladies' night. But by prioritizing our time early on in the season, I can take a deep breath and think about the real reason for why we do all these things. The real reason why this is such a joyous time of year.

Prioritizing also keeps me from overcommitting to things that aren't worth my time. Why commit to so much when I already know what's going to be most beneficial for my family? Sure there will be things I'll want to do and I'll have to say no. But really in the long term prespective, say no will be better for all of us.

For more Works for Me ideas, check We Are THAT Family.