This post is sponsored by Red Baron but the content and opinions expressed here are my own.
With Thanksgiving in just a couple of days, the holidays are on my mind and I’ve already started thinking about ways to calm the chaos that I know is right around the corner. Between the two boys and all of their school, sports, and other obligations, finishing everything on my giant to-do list before Emma is born (just 50 days until my due date!!), and all of the holiday gift shopping, decorating, and planning, I just know that things are going to be crazy around here. I’ve come up with a few simple ways to keep things running smoothly and I’m sharing them because I think these tips can help everyone during this hectic time.
Keep meals simple.
I’ve discovered that during the holidays it’s best to keep meals simple. I love having frozen pizzas on hand for those nights where we are running from event to event and don’t have time to cook. They are also wonderful for family movie nights where we are cuddled on the couch watching movies together. Pizza is one of the few things that everyone in my family loves and it even gets my picky eater’s seal of approval. We love Red Baron Classic Crust pizza because it has a crispy crust with delicious toppings and can be made quickly on busy evenings. Plus, there are 11 flavor varieties so there’s plenty of tasty choices to choose from.
Let go of perfection.
During the holidays I always want to make everything perfect but I’ve discovered that sometimes I’m so busy making sure everything is perfect that I don’t actually enjoy the holidays. And guess what? My kids fondest holiday memories aren’t the times when everything has been perfect but the moments when I was spending time with them. They’ll take the evening of helping me decorate the tree over branches full of perfectly placed ornaments. They’d rather help frost cookies -and add an extra shake or two of sprinkles- than have a platter full of professionally frosted sugar cookies. And perfectly wrapped gifts? My kids could care less so why have I spent so many hours agonizing over how the gifts are wrapped?
Pick your family’s favorite holiday traditions and schedule them.
When my boys were younger I tried to squeeze in every single holiday tradition that I could and would be dissapointed when we didn’t do everything on the long holiday “to-do” list. In recent years though, I have chosen to pick our family’s favorite traditions and make sure to schedule time for our family to do them. Things like making gingerbread houses, having a holiday “cousin’s sleepover”, packing shoebox gifts, visiting Santa, baking cookies, and having family over on Christmas Eve all make our list. Then I stopped worrying when those things that weren’t so important- the things that weren’t our favorite traditions- didn’t get done because I knew we had made time for those that meant the most to us as a family.
Make time for yourself
The holidays are typically the busiest time of year so make sure you are taking time for yourself every day! Whether that’s taking a bubble bath, enjoying a mug of hot apple cider or hot cocoa while you watch a holiday movie on Hallmark, or reading a good book, making time for yourself every day is essential to finding peace during the holiday season.
How do you calm the chaos during the holiday season? Chat with me on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook and let me know.
