How To Eat A Christmas Elephant (Or Any Other Kind)

It is almost impossible to believe the holidays are here again! I love every minute of them – time spent with family, Hallmark Christmas movie marathons, shopping, and the food! Ooooo, my mom’s homemade cookies and fudge!

The holidays can also be overwhelming, because there just seem to be too few hours in the day to accomplish all that needs to be done. If you agree, please keep reading. I have a few ideas that may help you survive with your sanity intact!

There is an old saying you may have heard that goes something like this: “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.” When faced with a monumental task or project (like Christmas!) remember these words of wisdom. Breaking something down into manageable, bite-sized pieces will afford you the greatest chance for success! Not to mention the feeling of peace and joy you will have right in the middle of the chaos.

While people often laugh at my over-the-top spreadsheets and project lists, I think many of them also secretly admire my ability to accomplish so many things at once. It is not rocket science (so please don’t tell the admirers) but it does require some planning. YOU can totally do this!

Every year, for as long as I can remember, I have hosted our growing family for a BIG Christmas feast complete with turkey, dressing (yes, I’m from the south – it’s dressing) sweet potato souffle, green bean casserole, fruit salad…you get the picture…a total “elephant” task when the season is already so busy. I enjoy having everything ready so my busy grown children can just show up with my adorable grandkids and have a wonderful time. It is a LOT of work! But it is so worth it to this Mama’s heart. Keep in mind that at the time of this writing, I am still employed full-time. So how do I pull something like this off without losing my mind or being so exhausted I can’t enjoy the festivities? Here is my secret.

Weeks before the big day, I make a long list of everything that would make it successful – and I mean everything – ingredients I need to buy for the recipes, a reminder to take the turkey out to thaw, and the fact that I need to turn on the Christmas lights before the grandkids arrive. Excellence is in the details, so no task should be left off the list – no matter how small.

When the master list is completed, I assign a date to each task. (This is where a spreadsheet is handy, but if you are using pen and paper, that works too!) All the items are then transferred to new pages – one for each of the dates used on the master list.

At this point, most of the individual day pages are completely manageable. My Christmas Day page, however, still needs a lot of work! Beginning at the end – the time of my Christmas Day feast – I work backwards through all the tasks assigned to that day until I reach the time I need to begin. Here is a sample of how this might look this year:

Nothing is more stressful than forgetting to allow time for mishaps. I can be clumsy sometimes, so building time into my schedule to clean sweet potatoes off the wall when the mixer goes haywire (yes, that really happened, and John has never let me forget it) is a really good idea for me. When you make the schedule for your big day, please remember to make time to eat…and breathe. Big days make big memories, and I want yours to be really good ones! Write and let me know how it goes!