Holiday Spirit, Holiday Cheer

‘Tis the season to be jolly and this season lasts ¼ of the year, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Chanukah or Kwanza, New Years and Valentines Day. These months are filled with parties and family gatherings that have one thing in common, EXCESS!
Excess food, excess drink, excess stress, excess expectations, a little less of all of these is not such a bad thing. Holidays that are celebrated with less food, drink, stress and lower expectations will be better remembered if the EXCESS is trimmed and new activities are incorporated into your holiday routine.
Group activities will bring the family closer together and can help bring back holiday spirit and holiday cheer.
Reminisce about the “old” days. Kids love hearing about their great, great grandparents or cool stories about their parents or other family members.
Enjoy playing games. Clear the table as quickly as possible and start playing some games, the longer you sit at a table with food, the more you may be tempted to eat or eat without even being aware you are noshing. Games like Charades or Bingo are great for the entire family to play.
Reading about the holiday and having kids act out the story or just discussing it is another activity kids and adults can do together, http://www.nj.com/parenting/sandra_lee/index.ssf/2009/11/reading_holiday_books_can_be_p.html, and it can done without a lot of extra stress. It’s also a great way to steer the conversation towards holiday spirit and away from stressful conversations like the economy or the heathcare debate.
During the holidays there are bound to be situations that occur that are stressful. Stress only brings on more stress. Think of things to do when a stressful event happens to help you re-focus your energy so that it does good.
Positive reinforcement gets you more than complaints, so make sure you use your best manners and tell everyone how much you appreciate every little bit of help you get for setting the table, carrying the groceries, meal preparation and clean up, you’ll be surprised how a little positive reinforcement goes a long way.
It’s all about attitude, keeping a positive attitude can be catchy. No matter what happens be positive and be aware of how it affects everyone around you.
Pre-think holiday meals, do not buy too much extra food. Figure out how many people will attend your meal and what the accurate portion sizes of the food you are serving are. Only buy enough for the meal. There will be less left overs and it will help keep costs within reason.
Spreading holiday cheer and getting into the spirit of the holidays is much more important than stuffing yourself to the point of not being able to get up from the table. Sure every family has family traditions but it is never too late to start new traditions.
Have a happy and healthy Thanksgiving!