Once Upon a Lifetime

I grew up celebrating most holidays with my family and extended family.  When I was really young, my Grandmother had a couple of the big holidays at her house.  While I do have a lot of happy memories, I also can not forget how much work went into any given holiday.  The holidays we had at our house were definitely the most stressful, and I noticed how much my mom stressed before each holiday… how she carefully planned what she would cook and how much cleaning had to happen before we had company… she also planned out and stressed over what to bring to any gathering that she didn’t host.  I don’t remember my dad being around for most (if not all) of the holidays… he typically worked. 

The last few years I take a much different approach to the holidays… for the last 5ish years, I have had my mom come down for Thanksgiving and sometimes Easter or a birthday.  We usually have a mix of catered/take out and homemade food (I typically have the turkey, gravy, and potatoes made for us), and we eat when we are hungry- not at a pre-set time.  We also usually get to go swimming or go to the beach or something that reminds us we are in Florida and not some stinky cold northern state.  (I’m from NY, so I have plenty of experience with cold and/or gross weather).  It’s been so awesome to just hang out and spend time together without stressing over a bunch of things that just don’t matter.  2 years ago, my brother and I just did Thanksgiving alone since mom couldn’t come, and my ex-husband had Maddie, but it was fabulous!  We discussed beforehand what parts of the meal were our favorite, what we would order, and what we would cook at home.  It was a very enjoyable holiday! 

Basically, the easier it is to “prepare” for a holiday, the more fun it can be!