The holidays are an amazing time of year. It can also be the source of stress and exhaustion.
For years, my intention for the holiday season is PEACE. I have learned a few things in pursuit of peace.
Here are my tips for creating a peaceful holiday get-together
With the holiday season comes pressures to achieve perfection. The perfect party. The perfect gift. The perfect meal. The perfect holiday vacation. We can place a lot of pressure on ourselves to achieve perfection, both for ourselves and our families.
The problem with trying to achieve perfection is the it sets us up for failure right away. It sets us up to be disappointed. Instead, if we adjust our expectations and our plans, we can have a lovely experience.
A friend of mine once said, "your guests don’t have a better time just because you spent another hour on the meal."
I get that family comes with a whole set up anxieties and expectations. As the saying goes, you family knows how to push your buttons – they installed them. This brings me to my first tip, and that is to set an intention for your get-together.
Set your intention
What is the intention for your holiday party? Is it to see family for an afternoon (ahem, and not all day)? Is your intention to have someone else do the cooking? Is your intention to spend more time socializing than cooking? When planning your table setting, meals, entertainment, let your intention be your guide.
Set the stage
Use mood lighting, music and decorations to set the stage for your party. Mood music can help set the stage tremendously and can maintain a calming ambiance.
Create a menu and make it as simple as possible.
I always thought it was a little crazy to make a menu for the holidays, but here’s the honest truth. If you make a menu, you know exact what you’re making and what to delegate to other people to bring. That way you don’t end up with 3 of your cousins bringing napkins.
For 4 people you should probably count on having 1 main, 2 sides, a dessert.
The more people you have, the bigger the main dish should be, and the more sides you should have.
By making a menu you can streamline your dishes and not get side tracked at the grocery store. For example, you don’t need to buy cream of mushroom soup if you’re not having green beans.
When you make your menu you can also identify where the holes are. This is great for delegating to guests what they can bring.
If you are the solo chef this holiday season, check your menu to see what items freeze well. You can prep these items ahead of time to save time the day of your party.
iMy mother used to host epic parties. She used a trick to make sure that she had plenty of time the day of the party. Start a week or two before the party she would make a different appetizer every few days. She would then reheat the appetizers by putting th frozen apps directly into the oven to reheat. You can use the same strategy with most of the times from your holiday meal.
By making items ahead of time, you’re saving your party energy for the actual party.
You can easily make items like your mashed potatoes or sides ahead of time. It’s one less thing to worry about the day of your event. Think about which items need to made the day of. This is usually your turkey or ham. Many of the side dishes can be made ahead of time.
Don’t forget to ask for help and delegate. I delegate a lot of tasks to my kids. They can mash potatoes, work a hand mixer or do any number of tasks for me. Get your family used to helping out, especially on big holidays. Everyone helps in my family and everyone enjoys the meal.
There’s no shame in buying the whole enchilada. There’s no shame in buying your whole Christmas dinner meal. Sometimes it just makes sense to order your meal and not worry about the prep or mess you will make in the kitchen.
No matter how you plan your holiday party, I wish only blessings for you during this holiday season.
Don’t forget to take care of YOU this holiday season. Go for a walk and clear you mind the day of the event, mediate, do breath work or other relaxing modalities. And don’t forget to spend time after the party relaxing, as well. Have a cup of tea, put your feet up and be proud of yourself for hosting a fantastic holiday gathering.
