There’s nothing like the holiday season to conjure up memories of family, tradition, great meals and relaxation. By the same token, the word holidays inspires anxiety in many with all of the frenzied shopping, planning and cooking.
As someone who lacks any skills in the kitchen, the thought of entertaining truly inspires fear in me which is why I have developed my own holiday tradition. We have started having family occasions that are pot luck. This way, the stress is not always on me, the food assortment is amazing and quite frankly, no one has to smile their way through the meal pretending that my cooking is even remotely tasty. It may be different than most holiday dinners, but it’s what works for us.
That’s what the holidays should be about. Doing what works for you and your family. It’s not about making sure that everything looks like Martha Stewart put it together but it’s about the memories that will be made and the traditions that will endure.
This holiday season I issue you a challenge. A challenge to forget about the work stress, homework, after school programs, carpools and whatever else fills your typical day. Forget about the pictures in magazines that show you what your home should look like in order to entertain and the perfect dinner table setting that is too fancy to actually include children in a meal. I challenge you to relax and just enjoy. Enjoy your family and friends.
Make this holiday season stand out by creating beautiful new memories and reminiscing about old ones. Bring out picture albums and old holiday cards and laugh or cry over the times you’ve shared together. Put away your devices for those few hours. I promise your cell phone won’t leave you because of neglect, it might even appreciate the break. The connections you can make while face to face and not through facetime, are priceless so enjoy every minute, because life can change in the blink of an eye, so why have any regrets?
From our family to yours, we wish you a happy and healthy holiday season!
For some great last minute shopping tips, gift ideas, and a must have hot chocolate recipe, visit:
