This year, how can your family reap all the warmth and joy of the holiday without getting worn out in the process? Take charge. If you are dreaming of a stress-free holiday, this list of 77 strategies will help get your family on track and keep you on course all December long:
1. Pick a holiday season keyword like goodwill, jolly, peace, joy or love. Type the word in various fonts and sizes and post it all over the house.
2. Start your holiday prep early. Pace yourself. Enjoy everything you do.
3. Leave the beds unmade during the month of December.
4. Commit to only maintaining seasonal rituals that matter most to your family. Cut back on the rest. You can recoup whatever you miss next year.
5. Buy yourself an electronic teapot as an early present, so you’ll never have to worry if you left the kettle on.
6. Create a custom holiday playlist and keep it on shuffle.
7. Gather some pinecones before the first snow and stack them in vases or bowls.
8. Sort your holiday wrapping supplies early. Buy only absolute necessities for full price.
9. Haul out the decorative pillows, throws and quilts and up the comfort factor.
10. Keep the outdoor lights and decorations simple and classic.
11. Give each family member a small, full coin purse and take turns giving out donations to holiday bell-ringers.
12. No time for a cookie swap? Deliver Poinsettias to the neighbors instead. Maybe you’ll get some cookies in return.
13. Clean out clothing closets so you can put gift cards to immediate, practical use.
14. Set aside a weekend day to organize and back up your digital photos, so you can place early orders for inexpensive cards, calendars and gift books.
15. Give each family member a different color water bottle so they will stay hydrated throughout the winter. Wash them weekly.
16. Donate old toys to charity by December 1st. Now you’re ready for the next wave. Focus your gift list on quality, not quantity.
17. Brainstorm a meaningful family ritual you can commit to for a few years, like Christmas tree cutting or tree trimming.
18. Put hats in one basket, mittens in another and scarves in a third. Bring on the cold.
19. Add a splash of red to your décor. It will perk up every room.
20. Become an under-committer. Say, “I’ll let you know,” to any invitation. Once the pressure is off, decide if you can squeeze it in.
21. Put some spicy perfume oil on your pulse points. Inhale. You can do this.
22. Offer to volunteer at the local animal shelter. You might even fall in love with a new pet to bring home after the hustle and bustle of the holidays.
23. Cut fresh evergreen boughs from your own yard. Deck the house with them.
24. A delicious, tummy-warming lunch is grilled cheese (made with whatever cheese you have on hand) on hearty bread, piping hot tomato soup and sweet pickles.
25. Make sure you are fully-insured. Then relax about everything you can’t control.
26. Stay healthy. Take extra vitamins or get a flu shot.
27. Throwing a party? Make a quick banner out of Christmas cards, a hole-punch and leftover ribbon or yarn.
28. Avoid the holiday bulge by keeping your appetite at bay. Eat plenty of protein, oatmeal, brown rice and veggies all month long.
29. Hang mistletoe at every entrance. Smooch often.
30. Hire a housekeeper for November, December and January, even if you usually don’t.
31. Don your hat, gloves, mittens and lip balm for a leisurely stroll in the snow.
32. Keep your birdfeeders full. Daily winged visits will lift spirits.
33. Institute a late afternoon quiet time. Perfect for reading, reflection or even a quick catnap.
34. Keep lavender-scented foaming bath on hand and know when to use it. Up the froth factor with a shot of unscented bubble bath.
35. Make moderation the family motto. When anything feels like too much, it’s time for stop, drop and reconsider.
36. Plan no-brainer holiday meals rather than elaborate or labor-intensive alternatives. Stews, crock pot favorites or even grocery-store gourmet are easy alternatives.
37. Write a letter to Santa. Tell him what you really want. Have family members put something you come up with on their shopping lists.
38. Snuggle up in your favorite oversized sweater. Ah…
39. Stick a pile of whole cloves in an orange. Tie a red ribbon around it. You will feel centered by the time you are done and have a gift to give.
40. Keep a pile of classic holiday books handy to spontaneously read out loud.
41. Celebrate a snow day as an unexpected staycation. Declare open season on indoor fun until just before dinner. Then everyone has to pitch in and clean up.
42. Put lemon soap in your bathrooms. Buy lemon-scented cleaning products for cleaning. Hang a lemon air freshener in the car. Citrus smells boost your mood.
43. Stock up on flannel shirts and jammies, warm socks, fuzzy slippers and thermal long underwear. It’s going to be a long, cold winter.
44. Make hot chocolate from scratch. Don’t forget the cream: whipped or marshmallow.
45. Take time to enjoy gift shopping for friends. If not buying gifts, then write three or four hand-written cards, while you sip a seasonal drink at your local coffee shop.
46. Burn cinnamon-scented candles to instantly make your house feel like a home.
47. If you surf the Web in the kitchen while you cook, use a flexible, waterproof keyboard that can handle the spills.
48. Cram the whole family on one big sled at the top of a steep hill, take a quick snapshot, then scream all the way down.
49. Have a ticking timer to set when your whole family needs a time-out. Nobody is allowed to bother anyone else unless it’s life and death for however long you can get away with setting it.
50. A simple centerpiece is pears, tangerines, whole walnuts and lemons in a vase or bowl. Bonus: you can eat them later.
51. New ritual: each family member buys each other a thoughtful ornament to open after dinner the night before Christmas.
52. Load up a basket with old scarves and mittens, scraps of ribbon or yarn, unshelled nuts and carrots. Then go out and build a snow family.
53. A magazine subscription makes a great last-minute gift that keeps on giving. Roll up a magazine and tie a ribbon around it.
54. Drive around the neighborhood, suck on candy canes or old-fashioned ribbon candy and enjoy the light show.
55. Frustrated with technology overload? Stuff stockings with classic toys that develop agility and coordination instead.
56. Keep your pets safe over the holidays. Don’t bring home anything that might harm them. This link shows which plants are naughty and which are nice, www.chemistry.about.com/od/toxicchemicals/tp/poisonous-holiday-plants.htm.
57. String popcorn and cranberries or make paper chains while you watch a holiday movie marathon.
58. Take five minutes to connect with your spouse. There’s an awful lot to do.
59. A charming, inexpensive gift for teachers or co-workers is a small vintage-style paper bag filled with cinnamon-scented pinecones with one shiny ornament tied to the handles. Even more charming if you can find a pinecone ornament.
60. Set aside a morning to video-conference with faraway relatives. Use email to plan the day and time in advance.
61. Let loose cabin fever with an impromptu snowball fight.
62. Turn off all the indoor lights. Turn on the tree lights. Sit. Be still.
63. Buy those Santa stocking caps and let your kids wear them to school. Enjoy their elfish grins.
64. Spice up your lingerie drawer with some seasonal sachets.
65. Turn off all the decorative lights as a before-bed ritual to save energy.
66. Stuck making too many desserts for parties and events? Try The Cake Mix Doctor cookbooks for baking shortcuts sure to impress.
67. Call on tin foil and glitter to crank up the sparkle factor quickly.
68. Sit with a cup of hot Chai tea. Don’t budge until you’re done.
69. Keep a clipboard list of who got what from whom and have the thank-you notes stamped and ready for the day after Christmas.
70. If you receive a gift you know you don’t want but you can’t bear to re-gift it, donate it to your local thrift store. Someone else will enjoy it.
71. Put your spouse on duty and escape for three hours. Take a $10 bill with you and spend it entirely on yourself.
72. After Christmas, make a list of your leftover wrapping supplies then restock for a fraction of the price at post-holiday clearance sales.
73. Grab a sitter and go ice-skating - just you and your honey.
74. Fill a box with foods that your family is unlikely to eat in the short run. Donate the food, plus a little extra, to the local food bank.
75. Put an oversized basket in the corner of the living room and stock with jump ropes, exercise DVDs, a Yoga mat and some hand weights.
Now you’re ready for New Year’s resolutions.
76. Sleep in at least once a week. You deserve it.
77. Put your holiday gear away promptly. Have a back-to-normal holiday clean-up party where you crank up the tunes and everyone pitches in.
Christina is no stranger to jolly, especially during the most festive month of the year. Her latest book is The Writer’s Workout from Writer’s Digest Books.
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