Holidays are fast approaching, whether you believe it or not. As you know, because of COVID-19, larger gatherings are not possible, which ultimately affects the way we’ll be celebrating the upcoming holidays.
A lot of us might choose to celebrate remotely by making use of video calls and pictures. However, there are also some people who would like to celebrate with their closest family members.
If you’ve decided to include your loved ones in the upcoming festivity, it might be time to begin the planning and have the right guidelines in mind. As we draw closer to the middle of November, it’s the ideal time to think about how you want to host these holidays.
Being a Hosting Can Be a Little Scary!
From getting together with some close family members and friends, to hosting a few out-of-towners, you might find yourself overwhelmed, mainly if you’re hosting for the first time! Now that quarantine restrictions are messing things up, the added need to be health-conscious when planning requires additional preparation.
Let’s discuss a few tips that can enhance planning and reduce stress in the end, whether you’re an expert in hosting people or are doing this for the first time.
The holidays are there to be spent with family for celebration and enjoyment time. Therefore, it’s essential to adjust your preparation to imitate that. Read on to gain more knowledge about ways to generate a productive and well-organized process for yourself during the holiday season.
Tidy up High Traffic Areas
This will not only calm you down when preparing the entertainment area, but your visitors will also feel more satisfied in a cleanroom. It is vital that everyone in your house feels comfortable.
Keep busy places, which also serve as common rooms, clean and tidy. This creates a more inviting atmosphere. Such places include the sitting room, kitchen, and all entrances.
Since these are areas where you’ll all spend a lot of your time to gather together in these rooms, it’s easy for them to be overcrowded. Additionally, it’s essential to use the months as we approach Thanksgiving and Christmas to concentrate on making these rooms clean.
If you leave the places untidy and messy until just before the guest arrives, you can put even more pressure on yourself. It’s also important to clean the entire room thoroughly, following the COVID-19 guidelines.
With a tidy and organized space, this will be a lot easier to do. Also, make sure that hand sanitizers are available when guests arrive.
On top of that, the holidays are often accompanied by cooler weather; people are likely to come into your house wearing extra cloth. Remember this when you commence your fall cleaning!
Give priority to your entrance area, and clear space to store items in an orderly manner. Staying on these sections in the months before your event saves you extra time and reduces stress as the holidays draw nearer.
Make Delivery Your Best Friend
To be as prepared as possible usually means purchasing everything in advance. Pen down what you hope to do, and be sure to get all you need before you host.
You can also use companies like Vital Choice Wild Seafood & Organics to make an online purchase, or, Thrive Market and Grassland Beef. This way, you can make sure that when you can focus on entertaining your guests that day.
But what happens when you’ve started cooking, guests are turning up, and you need additional olive oil for your meal? In this case, finding online delivery services that can deliver same-day grocery can be an excellent standby plan.
Being able to remain where you are rather than running off to the store will reduce the stress of entertaining your loved ones. Suppose you choose to have food delivered instead of shopping in person. In that case, your time in the grocery store where you are most likely to be exposed to COVID-19 will also be limited, whether you need to enhance your pumpkin pie with whipped topping or rosemary for the mashed potatoes, knowing that grocery delivery will help you in an emergency and give you a chance to relax this holiday season.
Organize Some Entertainment
Although being together is good enough, there’s nothing wrong with planning some entertainment for your get-together? This is essential, especially if younger kids are included in the gathering as they can easily get bored.
Having some games for the whole family, or only the adults, is an excellent way to keep everyone occupied while you finish preparing the meal! For instance, if you’re hosting a Thanksgiving dinner, there are a number of themed games to consider.
Try a Thanksgiving Mad Lib where every player alternately calls out words until the whole sheet is occupied. Inserting the names of family members can make it more festive and entertaining.
For a more Christmassy game, let the grandchildren burn off their sugar rush with a game of Santa Limbo. It’s just like the regular Limbo game, but with a twist.
Tuck pillows in your shirts and then try to sneak under the pole as the limbo-like Santa would!
There are many holiday-themed games that you can incorporate into this years’ holiday celebrations. You can never tell, you might like them so much they will become a family tradition!
Never Turn down Help
As the host, you will probably want to do everything. If someone offers you help, accept their offer!
With the support of everyone attending the celebration, everything will go a lot smoother. Be it adding a plate to the feast or dropping in early to help you arrange the seating space.
If someone offers to take care of the starters or even one of the main dishes, allow them! This will relieve both your stress and your workload and allow you to concentrate on cleaning and arranging the main entertaining room.
It might feel like inappropriate host etiquette when accepting help, but it will ultimately enhance the occasion’s general experience. It doesn’t matter if it’s something as small as helping with tidying up; you’ll be surprised how fast you can get things done with a few extra hands.
Make Progress With Your Holiday Planning
Making progress with your holiday planning is not a terrible idea or a misuse of time. The better prepared you are in time, the greater you’ll feel when the occasion is over. Preparation is the key, and it is crucial to go into your event with some kind of plan.
But at the end of everything, you do not want to forget what’s important to you, in addition to the motive for the season! Be grateful you got the chance to spend time with everybody and that you have the opportunity to celebrate with your loved ones and neighbors.
If a few close family members cannot make it, consider setting a time to zoom and video chat with them, so they are not left out!
With Gratitude and Love
Dewvy 
