Coming from a very large family, having the holiday blues is practically a second nature when it comes to family gatherings, especially holidays as important as Thanksgiving and Christmas. Every family has their own complications and stressful moments during this wonderful time of the year. I don’t remember the last time our family has actually had a non-stressful holiday gathering. Since our family is so large, I have relatives that travel from out of town. I think this stress factor can relate to most families; flight delays, traffic jams, and other unexpected circumstances that may happen on the road or while traveling. Everyone just hopes their family members are safe and sound but you can’t help and worry until they have arrived. Another stressful subject is space for my family. In the past couple of years we have had many new blessings, so space is a must! You can imagine two year olds and three year old running around the house getting into all sorts of trouble. This could be very frustrating for most families not just mine. So a lot of space is critical or if not then cleaning up after everyone’s mess is another pain in the butt. Whether it is a large or small area, cleaning after everyone will always be a downer for the end of a good night. Having the holiday blues is never a fun thing to have, but when you see your family all together at the end of it all, it seems to be all worth the stress and hassle.
No one enjoys being stressed on beautiful holidays like these, so with the help of the members of our organization, we have come up with a few resolutions to help take some of this anxiety and stress away for other families in our community. Taking the younger children out of the crowded houses and away from the trouble, we want to hold a hunting and fishing trip for the kids. This would help out the parents with being able to socialize with other family members. We could get them all together and plan a location and with their parents’permission to keep them occupied while the families set up for dinner or lunch. Another option we thought of was to provide food for families. During hunting season, there are hundreds of does that are not used so they want to start to use that meat and provide it for other families that wish to have an enjoyable Christmas with plenty to eat. This giving of food would definitely bring families closer together if they did not have plans to get together because of the lack of food. It would really make their holiday 10 times better than they expected and not have to worry about what they will eat or have to make. Other options were maybe a hay ride and a bonfire for the kids and family to enjoy. They could roast marshmallows, listen to great music, and enjoy the stars. I think that anyone can say that would be the most relaxing way to go after a stressful day of preparation and organization. Hopefully we can set up a resolution plan to help out as much as possible with different families.