The holidays used to be pretty easy to plan. I’m an only child, so even when my kids were little it was off to my parents for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Now that my kids are married with kids of their own and my parents are in their 80’s, the holidays are a lot harder to plan. Having ten grandkids in one place is a job in itself.

For the past ten years or so, the family still met at my folks for Thanksgiving and Christmas. I did a lot of the cooking and Mama just did the turkey and dressing. Now even that is really too much for her and the kids (grown that is) are going in five different directions at once! We never really know who to expect at the dinner table. What’s a person to do?

Holiday Planning

I’ll be honest. I haven’t figured it out yet. My daughter Tara, son-in-law and grandsons usually make it by on Thanksgiving in the morning but go to dinner at Brian’s mama’s house. Tara loves my hot rolls so she has to come by for a sneak. My oldest son sometimes has to work on holidays and he has to share the holidays with his ex-wife. Travis my youngest has five kiddos and I never know what their plans are. Do you think we have a communication problem?

So this year I’m going to find out what my parents want for the holidays. It should only take a few weeks to pin them down!! Meanwhile I’ll find out what the kids are going to do. Somehow we will make it work. Maybe we should change the day for Thanksgiving dinner? Maybe it should just be my parents at their house with my uncle and his wife? I know they’ll miss having the whole gang over but it’s just too hard for Mamma — she stresses about everything these days.

It’s hard to let go of our “used to be” holidays but life is all about changes and changing they are.

Maybe if I dig in I can get my own house in shape for company. That’s hard to do with three part-time jobs but maybe I can. I write for my local newspaper, write blogs and substitute teach at local schools.

Adapting to Changing Times

What does your family do different from years past? Have your holidays changed a lot? How about your menus? Have they also changed? I’d love to hear how all you cope with growing families, in-laws and children. I know lots of you have probably down-sized your homes and that creates a problem for having the whole family in one place.

I know a few things will not change. I will do a lot of cooking. I love treating my family to their favorite holiday fare. If we’re not together on the official Thanksgiving and Christmas, they can always come by for some leftovers. At least I have a lot of wonderful holiday memories of the whole family together. I am so thankful for each and every family member and the great times we’ve shared.

Please, do share your ways of coping with changing family dynamics.

Happy planning for awesome holiday experiences!