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Getting through the holidays - Member Topic of the Month - November

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    Getting through the holidays - Member Topic of the Month - November

    Your Member Topic for November is here!
    You made suggestions and we listened!


    Thanks to all who participated in October's Member Topic of the Month!

    For the month of November, your topic will be on how you manage getting through the holidays. How do you shop, cook, plan, keep sane and have energy for company and holiday festivities? Even though it's usually a happy time for all, stress is still there.

    Please join us in this important conversation on ways to alleviate the stress over the coming holidays Your thoughts and concerns on this topic are always welcomed.

    Thank you all for your participation and stay tuned for more of your suggestions in the months to come! We appreciate all your thoughtful ideas and hope to hear more from you! You can add more suggestions here: http://www.msworld.org/forum/showthr...the-Month-quot
    Kimba

    “When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.” ― Max Planck

    #2
    This year, we have decided to take our own vacation and not visit family to reduce stress.

    So I am going to follow this member topic to learn how to manage stress during the holidays for when we do visit family.

    Comment


      #3
      Over the years our family has grown! Our adult kids are all married with kids and now we are up to 18 with #19 on the way. This year Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday celebrations and dinner will be with 12-13 of them and for me, that's still a lot of people. I always get anxious around this time as we are the hosts as we have the largest house.

      Some things that help:

      Have a potluck dinner. We supply the main course and dessert and everyone bring everything else. Kids all pitch in to help with cleanup in the kitchen.

      Christmas shopping in stores wear me out (too many people and noise) and it's hard for me to get around, so I now do most all of my shopping online. And I try to start early

      After the celebrations, I pay someone to clean my house.

      I try to pace myself with early preparations.

      With all these tools to help me, I still get somewhat anxious and stressed beforehand! Guess I'm a "nervous nelly" and want everything to go smoothly. After it's all over, I'm relieved, everyone has a good time and I'm worn out.

      I found this link here on MSW by clicking the "Above MS" banner and finding this https://www.abovems.com/en_us/home/l...ay-stress.html

      Hope this helps others who may be stressing out about the holidays and wonder what other tricks you do to get by?
      1st sx '89 Dx '99 w/RRMS - SP since 2010
      Administrator Message Boards/Moderator

      Comment


        #4
        Originally posted by Seasha View Post
        Over the years our family has grown! Our adult kids are all married with kids and now we are up to 18 with #19 on the way. This year Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday celebrations and dinner will be with 12-13 of them and for me, that's still a lot of people. I always get anxious around this time as we are the hosts as we have the largest house.

        Some things that help:

        Have a potluck dinner. We supply the main course and dessert and everyone bring everything else. Kids all pitch in to help with cleanup in the kitchen.

        Christmas shopping in stores wear me out (too many people and noise) and it's hard for me to get around, so I now do most all of my shopping online. And I try to start early

        After the celebrations, I pay someone to clean my house.

        I try to pace myself with early preparations.

        With all these tools to help me, I still get somewhat anxious and stressed beforehand! Guess I'm a "nervous nelly" and want everything to go smoothly. After it's all over, I'm relieved, everyone has a good time and I'm worn out.

        I found this link here on MSW by clicking the "Above MS" banner and finding this https://www.abovems.com/en_us/home/l...ay-stress.html

        Hope this helps others who may be stressing out about the holidays and wonder what other tricks you do to get by?

        Like Seasha I try to start early - like in Jan of each year.

        Since my family has started renting places to hold the family get-togethers / dinners, and since I suggested that a 'box' be maintained to keep things like salt and pepper, plates and cups, tablecloths and napkins, eating utensils, pot holders and can opener etc I was voted to maintain said box (no good idea goes unpunished). As I said - I start early refilling the box.

        Everyone brings something to eat to the dinners. My mom in in charge of lining up the different dishes. Since my my mom and I work so closely to ensure the success of get-togethers I always get to choose first what dishes I wish to bring - but to be honest it seems that everyone has a certain dish that they are good at and kinda expected to bring. If anyone wants to try something different that is okay too.
        I try to prepare whatever ahead of time and freeze it if possible.

        The dates are pretty much set - every year we get together the day after thanksgiving and on christmas eve - only the times vary. My mom started this tradition years ago in order to avoid conflicts with in-laws wanting to spend time with her children and their 'new' families on the holidays.

        My mom insist that she has to have a gift for everyone that attends, but I have limited my gift giving
        to my parents, my aunt and uncle, my brothers and their wives, my children and their spouse and my grandchildren. No more nieces and nephews or cousins and their kids / grandkids .
        What gifts I don't find in the first part of the year gets ordered on-line.

        While I have to arrive early to set-up the clean-up is usually not a problem - everyone helps with that (I think that they are so grateful that all they have to do is bring a dish and eat that they call it a good deal to help with clean-up ).

        Even with all the prep work and starting early things DO get hectic. I try my best to do as little as possible the day before any event and to get a good nights sleep the night before. I have done this for so many years that it is somewhat second nature now - I have 'routines' in place to make sure that everything gets done . And I have learned to NOT stress the small stuff. (example - i purchased tablecloths last year that have activities and drawing for the small kids to color on, but this year cannot find all of the crayons that I had last year. So they can share the ones that I bring!)

        I love my mother dearly, and sad to say this, but after she is gone this tradition will be over. I WILL NOT attempt to do this without her (she is the reason I am doing it now). Even my dd has said the same thing. But for now she gets to see her family at least twice a year, every one has a good time, and I get to rest up after it is all over.

        Comment


          #5
          Christmas shopping -- I do some online. My husband does some.

          Decorating -- I do less than I used to. I used to decorate a lot more on bookcases, mantel, wall hangings, etc than I do now.
          Setting up the Christmas tree has never been a job that I do most of. Hubby sets it up and puts lights on, and I hang some decorations. Now that the kids are grown, I no longer feel the need to put up all of their decorations, so I have fewer decorations, and it has more of a color theme.

          Christmas baking -- I do almost none. I buy Christmas cookies, etc, from bazaars and local places.

          Busy-ness -- I decided what to say "yes" to and what to say "no" to. Sometimes, it means saying "no", even to things I'd like to do, just because I need to pace myself and not over-do. I don't feel guilty when I say "no" to others. It's a health-maintenance, just like taking my Copaxone is. No need to feel guilty for taking care of my health.

          Weight maintenance -- I try to follow the same strategy I follow all year long. I lost weight, once, and now try to maintain that, by using a calorie cycling strategy. Two days a week, I eat "enough" (for me, the 1200-1500 calorie range). Usually Sundays, and Wednesdays, but I can change that. Like for instance, next week, I'll eat enough on Thursday instead of Wednesday. Once a month, or so, my enough day can be a splurge day. But, even then, I try not to go over 1700-2000 calories.
          • The other five days, I eat a little less ("medium" days). Now, it's usually 900-1200 calories. When I was in weight loss mode, for two days a week, I even took that down to 700-900 calories and called those "hungry" days.
          • If there are more events than "enough" days or "splurge" days, I just try to eat less earlier in the day.
          Eating less is easier for me if I eat small, but frequent.
          And, if I'm hungry, to visualize the pounds melting away.
          Eating less is also easier when I remind myself that I have an "enough" day coming up.
          Eating less is also easier with a full plate. I try to eat grains and starchy vegetables (potatoes and corn, especially) pretty moderately. So, if I'm eating less, I fill 1/4 of a lunch plate with protein, 1/2 with vegetables and 1/4 with fruit. A full plate, but, not too many calories. Not low carbs, exactly (there are carbs in fruits and vegetables), but healthy carbs.


          Housekeeping -- I hire a housekeeper, once every two weeks, all year round. When I have guests coming for Christmas, my housekeeper makes up beds for guests.

          Cooking -- I try to do easy things. I order from Schwan's; many of their foods don't require a lot of preparation. I buy a ham loaf from a local meat place. I buy smoked meat (usually pulled pork and smoked turkey) by the pound. German sausage, baked in the oven is easy. I sometimes purchase carry-out potato salad and coleslaw from local restaurants. Etc.
          I usually cook, but hubby cleans up after the meal.
          When my daughter and her family visit for a week or so, she pitches in a lot.

          Christmas music. I have a variety of Christmas categories on Pandora. I listen to that more than CD's. Good for my mood.
          ~ Faith
          MSWorld Volunteer -- Moderator since JUN2012
          (now a Mimibug)

          Symptoms began in JAN02
          - Dx with RRMS in OCT03, following 21 months of limbo, ruling out lots of other dx, and some "probable stroke" and "probable CNS" dx for awhile.
          - In 2008, I was back in limbo briefly, then re-dx w/ MS: JUL08
          .

          - Betaseron NOV03-AUG08; Copaxone20 SEPT08-APR15; Copaxone40 APR15-present
          - Began receiving SSDI / LTD NOV08. Not employed. I volunteer in my church and community.

          Comment

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