Here’s A Holiday Tip That Made Me Stop Resenting My Family

 

Thanksgiving morning…

It’s only 11am and I’m already pulling my hair out.

My resentment is rising as I realize extended family is coming in only a few hours!

 

I’ve already cleaned the house and been to the grocery store 4 times (or is it 7 if you count all the little errands I’ve run the last two weeks to prepare).

 

Meanwhile, my Hubby is kicking back, content on the couch, oblivious. Not a stressed out bone in his body, unless you count the occasional, “Ugh! No! Geez!” because his favorite team fumbled the ball.

 

One Daughter is stowed away, door closed on her phone (haven’t seen her in over 14 hours).

One is still sleeping.

And my son is happily playing video games.

 

There is still a laundry list to China of ‘to dos’ and NO ONE IN MY FAMILY SEEMS TO CARE!!

I scream, “Hello people! Is it too much to get a little help around here?!”

 

Nothing.

 

Then I try taking a few breaths and I calmly ask for help.

But you know what? It’s still like pulling teeth.

 

What happened to holiday togetherness and thankful hearts?

I am tempted to take the path of least resistance and just grit my teeth and do it myself.

 

Sound familiar?

 

While the holidays aren’t always smooth sailing and chances are you will still get resistance when you ask for help, I want to share something that has helped me to ask for help (which isn’t always easy to do) and gotten the whole family to pitch in.

 

This idea will spare you a boat load of resentment, is actually fun and gets the whole family involved…

Get a pad of multi-colored sticky notes.

Take a piece of paper and write every single thing you can think of that needs to get done – cleaning the bathrooms, mashing potatoes, filling the glasses with water, lighting candles, emptying the coats out of the front closet, and even greeting Aunt Edna and hanging up her coat (write ten pages if you need to).

Take your sticky notes and assign each member of the family with a color.

Divide and conquer: Take what’s on your list and assign each task to a family member (it helps to take into consideration what they each enjoy doing and their age).

Stick on the wall lined up under each name.

Give them instructions: “Take one sticky note at a time and once it’s done you can throw it out. Keep on going until your sticky notes are gone.”

Remind yourself that Thanksgiving is not about perfection. It’s about being together, creating memories and having fun. And asking for help, getting the family involved helps us to be grateful and love our families that much better!