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Countdown To The Holidays: A Daily Guide For Enjoying The Season
Every year you swear that, regardless of what holidays you observe (Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, the Chinese New Year, or some occasion all your own), this time you’ll do it. You’ll have more fun during the holidays, enjoy your holiday preparations, and work and worry less. Now, finally, you can make your holiday dreams come true. Here’s our guide to a no-stress, pleasure-filled month.
November 25: Forget December
It’s Thanksgiving, the very last day of the year it’s possible to keep other upcoming celebrations out of your mind. So take advantage of it. Today, your assignment is to do nothing more taxing than eating three kinds of pie, watching the football game, and falling asleep on the couch in order to provide endless hours of entertainment for the kids, who will no doubt try to stick things up your nose while you snore.
November 26: Don’t Shop
Today is the busiest shopping day of the year, but under no circumstances are you to set foot in a store. Instead, start the process of creating a wonderful holiday by spending the day with your family. Agree on some basics: how big a tree and who’s doing the decorations, who’s in charge of Hanukkah candles, what meal should be served at your Kwanzaa celebration, how many gifts, etcetera. Seal the deal over a big turkey-leftover lunch. Finally wake Dad up from the couch.
November 27: Simplify Your Shopping
Shop the Web for your out-of-town gifts today, and have everything wrapped and sent directly to the recipients. Sure, it’s early yet, but Web shopping for the holidays has gotten so popular that you might be stuck with the bright yellow jodhpurs if you wait too much longer. Remember, while Christmas is still a full month away, some families and friends will start celebrating their holidays a lot earlier (Hanukkah this year is December 16-23), and others start later (Kwanzaa is December 26 through January 1; Chinese New Year is February 18).
November 30: Put The Kids To Work
Time to assign your children projects for the holidays. They may wrap the gifts, decorate the house, or bake the cookies — whichever job they’re capable of and that you’d like to give up. If you promise them a sweet or two, maybe they’ll do the taxes early. The point is, they know what’s coming, so let them partake.
December 2: Shop Early Part II
Hit the mall before the big crush. Arrive right when the stores open, park near the entrance, and shop as energetically as you can. Be polite, only waving your sword and shield if it’s a last resort. Stop for lunch by 11:30, and then once the battlefield fills up, head for the on-site spa (many malls have them) for a hot stone massage or a botanical facial. Regale the staff with tales of your conquest. Attila has nothing on you this day.
December 3: Cut The Cards
Sending preprinted cards to dozens of people you barely know can feel like a huge, empty gesture. But if you cut your card list in half, you’d have more time to focus on the people you really care about — handwriting letters filled with family updates. Or go high-tech and send photos or even a home movie by email. If you can’t figure out the computer, the nearest grade-schooler can probably help you.
December 4: Eat Whatever You Want
If you’re trying to hold the line on weight gain — a feat in itself over the holidays — one technique that doesn’t require sacrificing all gastronomic pleasure is to give yourself one free-eating day a week. You can vary the day depending on your social schedule, or decide that Saturday will be it. And no, writing Saturday on every day of the calendar doesn’t count.
December 6: Buy Yourself A Gift
Make it a gift certificate to use during January sales — or, for more immediate gratification, a simple accessory or piece of jewelry you can wear right out of the store. The point is that while selflessness is wonderful, it’s also important to be kind to yourself. If your spouse is forgetful, wrap it up and attach a tag with his name on it, thanking him for his thoughtfulness when you open it.
December 7: Go Out With Your Spouse
Tonight, forget the office parties, the cooking, the wrapping, and the phone calls, and go reconnect over a nice non-holiday dinner. A million demerits if you even consider spending your date night at a toy store or mall.
December 9: Stick To Your Routine
"We tend to drink more alcohol during the holidays, which interferes with sleep, and to eat more fat, which makes us feel sluggish," says Harvard Mind/Body Center’s Alice Domar, PhD. "And we don’t have as much time to exercise, which is one of the most effective ways to handle stress. So we end up feeling fat, stressed out, exhausted." The antidote — try to sleep regular hours, eat normal meals, and not let exercise get lost in the hubbub of holiday preparations.
December 11: Buy A Living Tree
If you’re planning on having a Christmas tree, invest in a live Christmas tree, one you can plant in your yard once the holidays are over. Choose a species native to your area, and be sure to get detailed instructions from the nursery on how to keep the tree’s root ball and needles moist until you can plant it. Be proactive and move the cat’s dishes under there, since this will become his new sleeping location until the tree comes down.
December 12: Start A Tradition
Why knock yourself out hosting a big holiday party all alone? Instead, help launch a neighborhood tradition. An idea: a potluck dessert party, to which all your neighbors and friends bring his or her specialty. Or try a Santa Fe-style farolitos walk — on Christmas Eve, neighbors line the streets of their communities with candles flickering in paper bags and wander from house to house, sharing snacks and good cheer.
December 13: Prepare For Hanukkah
If you celebrate, dust off your menorah and make sure you have enough candles to last all eight days. Make sure you have an adequate supply of dreidels (tops) and Hanukkah gelt (money) for playing the dreidel game with family and friends. Also, make sure you have all the tasty ingredients you need for your famous potato latkes (pancakes). Don’t forget the applesauce and sour cream to make this an especially decadent treat.
December 14: Wrap It Up
The sooner you wrap the presents you buy, the more completely you can cross them off your mental to-do list and realize you need to run to the store for more wrapping paper.
December 15: It’s Hanukkah Eve
Let the festivities begin!
December 16: Hear The Music
If you need to stock up on classic holiday tunes, you can’t go wrong with Bing, Frank, or Elvis. And if you’re really in the spirit, take your own show on the road, caroling with family and friends. Just remember, joyful renditions of "Little Drummer Boy" are appreciated, caterwauling the theme song to Cheers after a day of drinking at the Chargers game is unappreciated.
December 17: Brew Some Good Cheer
It’s the ideal day to make mulled cider, the classic holiday beverage that tastes as good as it smells. For 12 servings, combine a half-gallon of cider with four 3-inch cinnamon sticks, two apples studded with cloves, five whole allspice, and a half-cup of light rum, and simmer for 30 minutes. For the perfect traditional touch, serve hot from a large earthenware bowl.
December 18: Get Away
Do you wish you could step off the holiday carousel and into an alternate universe for a couple of days? If you’ve got the time and money, this is the ideal time to do just that. Mid-December is one of the slowest travel periods of the year, and you can beat the crowds and find lower prices at some of the most popular destinations. Try a cross-coast spa getaway, or maybe hit a bed and breakfast midweek in New England, which is a good way to avoid the crowds and maybe even get a little snow in your life before coming back home.
December 20: Buy A Piece Of Childhood
For at least one child on your shopping list, buy something that you loved when you were little — like Play-Doh, as fragrant to a seven-year-old as any French perfume is to an adult. Or a hardbound copy of Little Women with beautiful color illustrations. Or Monopoly (the San Diego edition, if you can find it). Just be sure to get in some playtime yourself.
December 22: Take A Look Around
It’s the last Friday before Christmas. No matter what town you’re in, get out, drive around, and see all the lights and decorations. Try to find the house with the biggest display, and marvel at how long it must have taken to string up all those lights. Remember where the house is so you can avoid it the rest of the year — clearly the inhabitants are crazy.
December 23 : Go To Tinsletown
With all the hustle and bustle nearly behind you, now’s the time to pop some popcorn, pull up a cushion, and enjoy your favorite holiday movies. Gather the kids and your significant other around and make it a family affair. Start with the classics, such as It’s A Wonderful Life and Miracle on 34th Street, then segue into some of today’s funnier adventures like National Lampoons’ Christmas Vacation, A Christmas Story, and Elf.
December 24: Fiddle While Santa Flies
Don’t let the joy of Christmas Eve get lost in the flurry of last-minute preparations for the big day. Savor the evening with the one you love best by sharing a bottle of Champagne after the kiddies have gone to bed. But don’t leave any out for Santa, he has a lot of flying to do.
December 25: It’s Christmas
So celebrate to the fullest. There’s no need to worry about anything besides having a good time with friends and family. You can clean up everything tomorrow, or the next day, or the next day — you get the idea.
December 26: Reflect
Appreciate holidays well-enjoyed. Begin Kwanzaa celebrations with your family or join in with your friends. Look forward to many more fun-filled holidays and rituals in the coming year.
— Pamela Redmond Satran and Alicia Garcia
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