It's here! Today marks the official start of the Holiday Grand Plan. For those of you unfamiliar with the Grand Plan, it is one of several holiday prep guides available from Organized Christmas to help you prepare for the holidays one week at a time.
I mentioned previously that there are several other plans out there. There may even be some I'm not familiar with, but the Grand Plan has been my plan of choice because it provides several things:
A clean house: With three little ones running rampant, I seldom have time to do anything but surface cleaning (and even that can be a stretch at times). By tackling one room each week, I can be confident that my house has been deep cleaned and is ready for company by the time Thanksgiving arrives- something that's necessary after 3 months of keeping the house shut tight from extreme Summer temperatures.
Freeze ahead meals: Regardless of how aware I am of it, the busyness of the holiday season somehow manages to creep up on me. December arrives and suddenly I feel thrust into this whirlwind of events, parties, and programs (most of which I schedule myself, mind you). The Holiday Gran Plan forces me to plan ahead by making one freeze ahead meal each week so that when the holidays arrive I have two weeks worth of meals ready to be popped in the oven any night. It makes it easier on me and our budget because we're not running out to restaurants because we're stressed and short on time.
Goodies galore: One of my favorite holiday activities is baking. I love when the house fills up with the smells of the season. But let's face it. Who has extra time to spend in the kitchen? I can't even begin to tell you how many years I've been baking at 9:00 pm (or later) on tired feet just so I can have some holiday goodies for my family and friends. Not only that, but when I started baking in December, I realized I didn't have the goodies I wanted early enough in the month. I wanted cookies for my kids to munch on while we decorated the tree or a plate to bring my hairdresser for my holiday appointment and they were never ready in time. Somehow I would manage to make a few dozen, but because it was so late in the season, they were still hanging around well into the new year. Now I can make more than I ever dreamed possible with what seems like half the effort!
There are countless benefits of starting a holiday plan this far in advance, but these are the are some of the most valuable to me. I hope you'll find they make your holidays easier too as we tackle them together over the next several weeks!
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