2024 - HHP - Week 18 - New Year's

[Holiday_Mom]

Week 1 - Planning and Paperwork
Week 2 - Calendar and Creativity
Week 3 - Me & Mine
Week 4 - Close to Home
Week 5 - Guest Room
Week 6 - Wardrobe
Week 7 - Bed & Bath
Week 8 - Family Space
Week 9 - Public Space
Week 10 - Cooking Space
Week 11 - Food Storage
Week 12 - Dining Space
Week 13 - Entryway
Week 14 - Storage
Week 15 - Final Clean
Week 16 - Nearly There
Week 17 - Celebration
Week 18 - New Year’s

This Week's Focus: New Year's
Ring in the New Year this week, then make a good start toward an organized Christmas next year.

This Week's Household Checklist

• Minimum maintenance. It's the organized solution for busy times: a rock-bottom chore checklist of must-do household chores. Does your household have one? Create a minimum maintenance checklist and post it publicly. Encourage family members to pitch in and share the work. Delegate, delegate, delegate!

This Week's Holiday Prep Checklist

• Recycle holiday paper. Give Mother Earth a holiday gift: reuse or recycle gift wrap, ribbons, holiday cards and packaging materials. Alternately, swap leftover gift wrap and holiday cards with a friend; you'll each enjoy fresh new designs to use next year.
• Write family thank-you notes. Best way to teach the art of the thank you note? Do it as a family. Write notes together this week.
• Plan low-cost, no-cost activities for kids. After the big day, the small fry can experience a real letdown. Keep the holiday week a happy one by scheduling a few simple, inexpensive activities. Whether it's camping out under the Christmas tree or a drive to see holiday lights, some mid-week events will keep sparkle in the season.
• Decorate for New Year's. Will you hold a gathering to celebrate the New Year? Replace Christmas decor items with New Year's decorations to keep decor fresh.
• Make New Year's resolutions. This year, plan to keep resolutions as you harness the power of paper. Use a free resolutions tracker to pin new habits down on paper.
• Set up a calendar for the new year. Designate a fresh new calendar for the year ahead. You've polished calendaring skills as you've worked the plan, so carry them forward into the new year.
• Take down remaining decorations. All good things have to end--and the visible Ghost of Christmas Past can be a real disincentive to an organized new year. Take down remaining holiday decor next week. You'll see it again, next season!
• Take down fresh trees and greens, and deliver them to recycling. Watch local news sources for information about recycling Christmas trees.
• Store holiday decorations. Take the time to store holiday decor securely and in an organized way. However ready you are to move on, sloppy storage will cause new problems down the line. Be sure to use sturdy, moisture-proof containers and organize stored decorations neatly. Make notes of any items that need to be replaced, and purchase replacements in the after-season clearance.
• Set up a "lost holiday box" for stragglers. No matter how you scour the house, a few holiday items will always hide out in laundry, kitchen or corners. Give them a place to go with a holiday box: a designated container for any last holiday items you find. In a few weeks, take the box to the storage area for next year.
• Hold a holiday debriefing. Get a head-start on next year's planning--and avoid traps--with a quick debriefing session. High points or low, they'll guide you next year.
• Mark your calendar for next year! Will you join us next year for the House and Holidays Plan? Tuck your Christmas planner into a bookcase; you'll be ready to get organized for Christmas next year!

What are you doing this week?

 

[Holiday_Mom]

This is our last week together! Thanks for going along this journey with me this year.

Household Checklist

• Minimum maintenance.

Holiday Prep Checklist

• Make New Year's resolutions.
• Set up a calendar for the new year.
• Take down decorations.
• Hold a holiday debriefing.
• Mark your calendar for next year!

 

[happy2bme]

I can't believe we are almost done for another year!

HOUSEHOLD CHECKLIST:
minimum maintenance done

HOLIDAY PREP CHECKLIST:
plan New Year's Menu done
set up 2025 calendars done
take down decorations done
holiday debriefing done

 

[jampss]

Thank you @Holiday_Mom for the great list keeping us organized! I am just doing maintenance cleaning/straightening up ... and decluttering as I go!!

 

[Myron's Mom]

Thank for posting HHP each week! I am primary a HGP girl but I check over here every week. It’s always helpful to look at my holiday planning from a different angle to keep me organized.

 

[Holiday_Mom]

What worked?

• I wrapped gifts as I bought them.
• I set December 17th as the date to have all cards mailed and all gifts wrapped.
• Color-coded gift tracking in Google sheets kept me sane.
• I worked on the gift cards/gift certificates before Christmas Eve but not as early as I would have liked to have done it.
• Bought sodas and seltzers on sale.

What didn't work?

• Didn't get to cards until December at which point I got sick. Not everyone got a card this year.
• Getting sick that first week of December slowed me down a lot. I focused on getting things done for the family but the cards and other gift wrapping got put to the wayside.
• I had hoped to make the ornaments earlier but that didn’t happen.
• We still had too much food and that is with us cutting back.
  • Bought one box of Club crackers, several types of cheeses and meats. I still have cheese, crackers and meat left. We only ate it on Christmas Eve.
  • I bought three packages of cocktail franks and 2 cans of biscuit dough. I only used one of each.
  • I bought and prepared raw broccoli, cauliflower, peppers, cucumbers, celery and carrots for snacking on Christmas Eve. We snacked on that daily until we ran out.
  • We unexpectedly had a ton of desserts given to us this year. I still have half of our baked cookies in the freezer.
• I had no freezer meals in December other than store bought ones.

For 2025:

• In July, choose one gift idea for those who provide services to us. If possible, buy them in early autumn. Prepare them to hand out during Thanksgiving week. [This is a must for me now. Since I started at this job, I have been unhappy with balancing the work demands with the home demands. October/November are less stressful than December. I have got to get my act together on this one and stick to the plan. Life would have been so much easier if I did this sooner. ]
• In July, decide on stocking stuffers and buy whatever can be found then. [Again, another must do for my sanity.]
• Get the gift cards/gift certificates done first instead of last. Keep them all together in the planner.
• Work on ornaments in September/October.
• Prepare Dry Mixes for speculaas, springerle, gingerbread, stollen in August. [Again, another must do for my sanity.]
• Prepare extra freezer meals for December. [That would have been helpful for those sick days and the busy days.]
• Use those mixes to make cookie dough and freeze in October or November. [Again, another must do for my sanity.]
• Make speculaas, springerle, gingerbread and stollen.
• Buy one box of Club crackers, two soft cheeses and two hard cheeses, pepperoni and lots of fresh produce.

 

[Holiday_Mom]

Thank you @Holiday_Mom for the great list keeping us organized! I am just doing maintenance cleaning/straightening up ... and decluttering as I go!!

Thank for posting HHP each week! I am primary a HGP girl but I check over here every week. It’s always helpful to look at my holiday planning from a different angle to keep me organized.

I am glad this helped!

 

[Cindylouwho]

This is our last week together! Thanks for going along this journey with me this year.

Household Checklist

• Minimum maintenance.

Thank YOU for keeping us going! I'll come back and post on this a little later. One thing I can say that needs to NOT happen ever again is allowing myself to be booked with work during the holidays. I need to be better with boundaries. We ran into this last year too. We tried to extract ourselves completely for the full 2 holiday weeks and got just a few days. Next year Im holding firm 12/15 to 1/15. I might need to tell everyone we are leaving town. The other stuff can wait. Is it just me? I just want to cuddle with my fully grown kids!

More later.