Monday Musings – How to have a Hassle-Free Holiday Gathering – 3 Easy Tips

Deck the halls with friends and family, fa la,la, la la, la,la lal la. What makes the Holiday fun for you? Perhaps it’s shopping for others, volunteering, spending time with loved ones, or simply relaxing. You can experience all of these when you find balance.

Are you in charge of hosting your family gathering? Go easy on yourself and enjoy the process.

There are 3 easy ways to have a hassle-free Holiday gathering:

1.      Relax

2.      Keep it simple

3.      Make it fun

Think about the things that you find fun when you go to a family gathering and incorporate them in the event you’re planning. The Holiday season should not cause us extra stress. Make a promise to yourself that you will relax more and stress less. Do not overthink things, your guest will not think any less of you if you keep things simple.

When you combine simple and fun you have a winning combination. This year my family Christmas was a hybrid event – my brother and I were at mom’s house and the rest of the family was on Zoom. Our theme was a Pajama Party. It was simple – wear your favorite (warm) pajamas.

We played bingo, family trivia, and had a fuzzy sock, and gingerbread house contest. My family was quite the competitive group. To participate in the fuzzy sock contest, each person had to text a picture of their socks on their feet. Nothing else could be in the photo. I didn’t want any identifying factors that would sway the judge. We had first through third place winners and an honorable mention.

Construction of the gingerbread houses brought a lot of joy to the event. The houses had to be assembled during the event. After a few games of bingo, we took a 20-minute intermission to allow contestants to construct their houses. They remained on Zoom as they squeezed icing, erected walls, and added a roof. One family member even video recorded his final structure; he was one of our millennials.

Mom peaked over at my brothers’ house as she struggled to determine how close to build her walls. Exasperated she said, “I think my house was hit by a tornado, but that’s okay Jesus was a carpenter, He will take care of it.”

After looking at my nieces’ house I said, “Oh, Norma’s house must have been on the same street as yours. Her roof is missing.” As it turned out, one  of her kids had eaten the roof before a photo could be taken.

We had prizes that included things like pocket sized hand sanitizers, small decorative candles, Coco in a tin, and instant lottery tickets. It’s up to you the type prizes to offer. You could also include things like free baby sitting for a relative, offer to run errands for a day, or something else that doesn’t cost money but offers value.

Our family Pajama Party was a success for me. There was no need to dress up, not much clean-up required, and I was already dressed for bed at the end of the event.

What tips do you have for a hassle-free Holiday gathering?