Surviving the Holidays - Part 3

There are 18 people in my house now and another 10 coming by Thanksgiving. In order to enjoy the holidays I have had to think about what is important and how to accomplish that with the least stress possible. This works whether you are enjoying the holidays alone, with family or with a large group.

My secret is that the over arching meaning to the holidays is not about me or how wonderful a meal or how beautiful a house I can have. The meaning of Thanksgiving is to convey thanks to God for His bountiful blessings. Secondary to that for us it is a time of gathering and building relationships as family and friends. Christmas likewise is to celebrate Jesus who was and is God but who chose to humble himself and become man in order to work out God's plan of redemption and then secondly it's a time of passing on the wonder of humanity at that act to our children. Thirdly for us it is about the fun of gathering and traditions.

So, if these holidays are not about how well I preform, how clean my house is and how wonderful a cook and hostess I am then I can relax and enjoy the chaos of 13 kids under the age of 12 much more. My kitchen is never totally clean because as soon as everything is put away someone gets a snack or gets a drink, but I can take the time to read a few books to a five and two year old (or write this blog) before doing the next round of put away/clean up because some of the time I can remember what is most important.