- my iParenting
- quick clicks
- grandparents today articles
- grandparents today q&a
- community & groups
- research baby names
- prepare a birth plan
- content channels
- ip channel rss feeds
- read birth stories
- read parenting stories
- recommended books
- e-newsletters
- safety recalls
- ip diaries
- ip store
- mom of the month
- dad of the month
- editor's letter
- letters to the editor
From Our Sponsors
- e-newsletters
- Sign up to receive our free weekly e-newsletters
- award-winning products
The iParenting Media Awards program helps parents find the best products for their families.
Ready or Not, Here They Come
Preparing Yourself and Your Home for the Holidays By Beth Skarupa
(The Gift of Time, 2002). "I do what I can but work at having fun with the people I love. I don't worry if something is missed or not as clean as it could be. I also make sure to maintain my fitness routines – that really helps to keep me sane."
She's also found that taking time for herself increases her ability to deal with the "craziness of Christmas." She participates in cookie exchanges, hires someone to clean her home and buys several of the same gifts to make shopping easier.
Shopping for presents year-round, putting up her Christmas tree before Thanksgiving and buying ingredients for holiday dinners before December are some of the ways Sonya Weiss, a mother of four in Goose Creek, S.C., gets through the holidays. "When I get everything done ahead of time it's so relaxing afterwards," she says. "We like to drive around and look at the decorated houses, visit the county park light show, build a gingerbread house ... I can't do those things when I'm not done with my preparations."
Several free planning guides are available on the Internet to help you get prepared. Flylady offers a Holiday Control Journal to help you keep track of recipes, gifts, menus, shopping, decorating, festivities and more on her Web site www.flylady.net. Another planner is available at www.organizedchristmas.com. Both are most effective if started in October but can still help you keep track even if you'r not on their schedule.