Do you ever long for quiet and calm during your holidays? Do you ever wish you could avoid hurried crowds and sale propaganda that makes you feel rushed? Our family has made some changes to our tradition over the years and is happy with the calm and quiet during the holidays. It means that I get to have fun socializing with everyone and be included instead of stuck alone in the kitchen. I remember how it began too. I was very pregnant and sick with my third child. My husband felt so bad that I couldn't stay at the table that he took over the dinner. My dad and mom then helped him clean up the dishes. Because of that I was able to rest, and enjoy everyone's company. I didn't have to do all of the cooking and cleaning - which I thought was the way it was supposed to be. It was wonderful that I learned early on that I didn't have to do it all alone. Jump to when my children grew into their teens. My parents, brother, and uncles were over for Thanksgiving. Normally, my oldest daughter and husband would help with the cleaning and meal. Everyone would lounge around, come into the kitchen to check the food, pick at it a bit, then snack on the hors d'oeuvres. But the cutest thing happened that one Thanksgiving. My uncle strolled into the kitchen, saw the turkey drippings and asked if he could make gravy for the turkey. "Of course!" was my answer. He had me get out certain seasonings and flour. He was thrilled when I pulled out a cast iron skillet. (He said those work best.) And there he began, adding a little of this while stirring, then adding a little of that, and he continued stirring for quite some time over the simmering heat. When he was done, I tasted my first REAL gravy made from scratch and it was fabulous. Many of us spend so much time on fancy dishes, fancy foods, and dressing up our homes for the holidays that we sometimes forget the reason for the season. Now don't get me wrong, I love decorating and sprucing up the house. But unless we plan time that is not stressful to put up decorations and clean the house to our specifications, stress is hard to avoid. As a teacher of Personality Based Time Management, my main focus of the training is for Type A Compulsives to lighten up and Type B Messies to tighten up. In lightening up I was able to simplify our holidays. We make a basic meal for the holiday dinners and allow others to prepare special dishes to bring if they so choose. We do one basic housecleaning, and keep disinfectant wipes on hand to touch up during the time family and friends come to visit. That way I get to enjoy everyone’s company. Here’s a simple list of what we do. 1. Making things too elaborate takes a lot of time. Either set aside the time to do what it takes or don’t do it at all. 2. Clean the day or two before and have plenty of disinfectant wipes on hand for last minute or quick wipe ups. 3. Go with traditional foods that everyone loves. Then allow others to bring special foods they like to prepare. 4. Start cooking a day or two before. 5. Make the pies first. 6. Cook vegetables and potatoes and prepare anything that needs to be cut the night before. Then heat up the veggies the day of Thanksgiving. 7. Have the stuffing and other fixings all ready for the oven or precooked for quick heating. 8. Dip and vegetables are made and all cut up and in baggies the day before. 9. Wake up early on Thanksgiving to put up the Turkey. While the turkey is cooking, get the stuffing ready to put inside or in it’s own cookware. 10. Now it’s time to get dressed and comfortable for the day and do a little extra cleaning if you feel the need. I greet my grandbabies, kids, parents, and friends with hugs and a calm spirit. This sets the tone so everyone can come in and enjoy their time together. ©2006 Susie Glennan BIO: Susie Glennan has been happily married since 1982 and is a mom to three young adults, mother in law to one, and grandmother of two boys. She ran an in home daycare for 8 years, home schooled for 8 years, taught many different classes for home schoolers, worked for LA City Schools and taught at Ventura College. She’s been the proud President of The Busy Woman, Inc. located at www.thebusywoman.com and has been consulting on scheduling and time management since 1986. Give Susie a call for a FREE consultation with your order: 800-848-7715.   Related Tags: holidays, organization, time management, plan