The American family is coordinating and preparing for the upcoming Thanksgiving Day. As I covered in October, many other countries prepare for this holiday at different times of the year, and the following stories and ideas are those in how you ready your home.
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Are you the hosting type?
I like having people at home. However, since my wife and I have introversion tendencies, we are very selective on the people we want to enjoy spending the time with each other. Just a reminder for you small families, that your regular dishes may not cut it if you have a lot of people in your home. This means having a stash of plasticware for having company, the trash bags on hand, and maybe enough games for the entire family.
The most gregarious of us will have some agenda to move the evening forward. They will have some samplers, a main meal, a game, a dessert, and then…. Silence. They will start cleaning up as a way of moving your company OUT so you can get some rest. This might be the typical flow to your hosting evening, but within my culture, its only known when your host is not engaged with you they are signaling to say it’s time to leave. Otherwise, other cultures are more direct in saying they need to leave.
How do you setup your home for hosting?
My family has more Christmas decorations than any other holiday. We keep a box of favorite with garland wrappings, Christmas trees, lights, ornaments, and other decorations to keep around our home. I’m not even mentioning the tree decorations, I’m thinking of dioramas of little villages and sets that are conversation starters with guests. It gives a different appeal when you discuss the new decorations in your house that gives a warm and cozy look that make your guests feel welcomed.
I cannot speak for this year’s theme, but collecting your decorations over time is a financially feasible way to build upon your home decorations. It might even spark memories for family events, major life changes, and remembering certain years.
Are your decorations easy to setup and remove?
I had to think about this one, because we have neighbors in our town that REALLY love certain holidays. We saw a house that continued to add skeletons to tea parties for Halloween. As I recall, they kept their decorations and lights up in the yard for a week after the holiday because of their enjoyment for the day.
Do you really feel like Clark Griswold and want to setup your show for the rest of the neighborhood? I really enjoy National Lampoons: Christmas Vacation to remember the awkward family, nosy neighbors, and the rambunctious function of the holiday spirit. Much is meant for reminiscing these moments as you’re spreading your feelings for some of your favorite holidays.
In case you missed it, retail stores do collect their Christmas decorations in October. They will get instructions from their corporate office when and direct their employees to setup over the following month. The idea is that for about a month, the stores will incrementally setup the odds and ends to bring a festive mood for a month.
Knowing the store setup, I’m sure you would do the same thing with your home. Setting up the different lights, the decorations, and testing your lights at the beginning of the season to make everything work. This might be a weekend or weeknight in November, or a cold Christmas day.
Or, how about the garlands, wreaths and ribbons? Do you have poles and other things to increase the mood in your home? Having the habit of decorating is a fun time for kids, and also for new pets that want to chew on something new. Speaking of fun setup, any cat owner knows that some things might not last very long and will need an endurance testing.
Do you have enough setup for one or multiple holidays?
The best part of holidays is the cheap layaway items after the holiday. It is an awesome opportunity to make that last-minute brand-new purchase, and then put it away in your box for the following year. Over time, you will have spent far less for your decorations without the markup because the stores will want to remove the stock for the incoming season.
These setup items will help you accrue what you like the best in your decorating style as the years change. You might have different interests and styles that you might want to work with, but not everyone has the luxury of buying things brand new at the beginning of the season.
Or how about the amount of storage that your own home possesses? You might have inflatable or packable items that will transition from one season to the next. Cardboard boxes are usually much cheaper than those plastic bins, and you know if it’s time to change based on the box-wear.
Do you have so many decorations that you can rotate through the years? I’ve picked up new items at the end of seasons when they go on clearance and have a fun time doing the setup and tear-down of these items. It makes it a fun conversational starter with your neighbors and keep your families minds active into the spirit of these celebrations.
Celebrating holidays is a popular thing for Americans at the end of the calendar year. It has the biggest hype of any event, including the amount of things that are purchased from major retailers. Creating this mood is also helpful for you to mentally think of your favorite time of year and have fun as a family. It is also a great way to mentally shift from one season to the next and increase personal happiness with the celebration of each season.
When do you setup for the holiday season?
I know a lot of stores are stocking up for Christmas items by Thanksgiving. However, they want to make sure that as soon as that holiday is over, they can clear as much inventory as possible and have everyone turn a profit during this time. However, it is also a decent time to make any last-minute adjustments if you want to capture the cheerful part of this year with decorating your own home.
In conclusion, we like to do our setup at the beginning of December, right after Thanksgiving. This might be your ideal time, or the time to search for a Christmas tree. If you have any tips or tricks to make this season better for yourself, don’t forget to leave a comment and share your thoughts on how you get ready for this season.
