With it already being November, you are probably starting to think about preparing your home for the upcoming holidays. My family gets a break from Thanksgiving, in that we always have it at a relative’s house. But we do host Christmas, so I am starting to think about those preparations in advance.
Here is the thing about holidays and having friends and family over…we tend to get too wrapped up in the little stuff. How many people do you know (or perhaps you are one of them) that will spend hours and hours cleaning or scrubbing areas that your family and friends will never see?
For some reason, the idea of having guests over causes us to go into overdrive. Suddenly we begin to tackle the closets, the drawers, and other areas of the home that will never be seen by one of our guests.
The problem with this is that it not only creates undue stress but it takes away from doing other things that can make the holidays more enjoyable…like decorating or baking cookies.
This is why I am a big fan of fall cleaning, something I talked about in the beginning of September. Instead of doing spring cleaning, I do fall cleaning in the months of September and October. That way, when November does arrive, I can spend more of my focus and energy on the more enjoyable side of preparing for the holidays.
I don’t want to be scrubbing my house from top to bottom. I want to make the holidays as stress-free as possible. So for you, it might mean letting some things go. People really aren’t going to sneak into your drawers and closets to see how well organized you are (well, at least I hope not). So don’t fret about the areas of your home that really don’t matter.
Shut the door to a messy room and ask your guests to not use it. Ignore the areas that really won’t create memories. Because after all, that is really what the holidays are about…creating memories.
Long after your guests have left your home, it is more likely they will talk about the fun they had rather than the cobwebs they didn’t notice on your ceiling.
You really can enjoy stress-free preparations for the holidays when your perspective is in the right place.
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Photo by jurvetson in Flickr