Scheduling Your Holiday Calendar→

I have put together a simple weekly guideline to follow for planning out your holiday season and to help keep you on track without causing you stress. Whatever holiday you celebrate, you can incorporate them into this same type of weekly plan.

One to two weeks before Thanksgiving: Plan out your holiday meal menu and get your grocery shopping done. If you are planning to have dinner guests, get confirmations from your guests so you can have an accurate count for meal planning. Don’t forget about visitors staying in your home for the holidays… you’ll want to make sure bedding and linens are fresh and toiletries and disposables are stocked for your guests.

Thanksgiving week: Get your kitchen ready for all of the preparing for Thanksgiving meal. Also early in the week, start preparing your early shopping lists if you plan to take advantage of the pre-Christmas shopping on Black Friday so you are not scrambling last minute. Don’t forget to look through all the sale ads the Sunday before Black Friday for any extra specials.

The weekend after Thanksgiving: It is always a good time to start pulling out the holiday decorations and start pre-cleaning the house for setting up for the holiday season. Determine where you want to decorate this year, whether it be outside or inside or both. Get the whole family involved; divide up areas to be decorated and minimize the time required. When decorating is finished, if you have items you decided not to use anymore, it is a good time to purge them or possibly sell them before the holidays are over.

The first week in December:  This is always a good time to send off your holiday cards. Start gathering your contact information for your card recipients. It is best to keep them in a database, so that all you have to do is retrieve the information and add to it as new people join the list. If you plan to have special photo cards made for the holidays, it is best to determine how long it will take for them to be produced and returned to you for mailing. Make sure they can be mailed around the first week of December in case the mail delivery has delays. Send Out Cards is a great way to store your database and send out cards without having to mail anything. They do it all!

Two weeks before Christmas: You should be wrapping up last minute shopping and gifts needed. Begin planning your Christmas menu and making your grocery lists. Also a good time to start your Christmas baking!
Plan for any guests coming into town and make sure linens are fresh on all sleeping accommodations and towels are fresh for guests.
If you are planning to go out any evenings during the holidays, plan ahead and secure a babysitter if needed. Getting a babysitter last minute on New Years Eve will be difficult!

One week before Christmas: Early in the week of Christmas get your grocery shopping done and prepare the kitchen for your holiday cooking. Make sure your house is fully stocked for everything you will need so you don’t have to run to the grocery store for last minute needs.

Christmas is here…Celebrate and Rejoice! Enjoy your holiday with family and friends!
As the New Year approaches, plan out your New Years Eve, whether you are staying in or going out to celebrate. If you secured a babysitter earlier in the month, get confirmation. Check ahead on the internet with your local city to determine where road blocks will be so you can plan for any delays in your travels. Carpool if possible to keep fewer cars off the road. Holidays are always precarious nights to be on the road.

The first week of New Year: Welcome New Year! You have made it through another year! Spend this week winding down from the holidays. Kids will be going back to school. Start taking down the holiday decorations and begin preparing for getting back to your regular routines. As you put your holiday decorations away, it is also a good time to purge items you won’t use anymore or anything broken before storing for another year. Then everything will be ready to go the following year.