3 Ways to Maximize the Holidays

Maybe it’s me, but doesn’t it seem like summer just ended a few days ago? Now, you cannot help but notice the holidays are just around the corner. Where did the time go? For military families, holidays may mean another year to celebrate alone; another year to stress about the lack of financial resources; or possibly another year to remember the loss of a loved one. Whatever your situation, holidays can be the greatest time of your year. Here are three ways I have seen families make the most of the holidays.

  1. Start with thankfulness. The season of Thanksgiving is a perfect opportunity to bring thankfulness into your home no matter what the circumstances. If Mom or Dad is away, be thankful they are at least healthy and safe. If the holidays are reminding you of a lost loved one, take the season to list all of the wonderful qualities that made that person special to you. Practice being thankful for the time you did have to spend with that person. Sharing this attitude of thankfulness with your children will allow them to focus on the positives as well as to help them learn mature coping skills. This will also improve your own personal coping skills and ability to find joy during the holiday season.
  2. Be budget conscious without being stingy. Just because money is tight doesn’t mean you have to withhold gift giving or being generous in other ways. Don’t buy into the idea that you have to provide a physical gift for people. Take a friend to get coffee or a pop and share with them how much you appreciate their friendship. If you have children, encourage them to think of gifts they might want to give each other or friends. Challenge them to come up with ideas from items you might already have in your own home. Pinterest is a great place to go online if you are looking for especially thrifty ideas. You might even take your family to Goodwill the first Saturday of the month and find some items you can re-purpose as awesome gifts. (The first Saturday of the month everything store wide is 50% off!) Just because you may not have much money-wise around the holidays, doesn’t mean you have to stop being generous. Honestly, one of the greatest gifts you can give is YOU!
  3. Host a party. How can you do this without the perfect space or budget to do so? What if you’re in a new city or another country for that matter? Just go ahead and plan to host anyway. You may have 20 guests show up or two, but the effort will both give you a goal to work toward and the action alone will build a spirit of festivity within your family. You do not have to decorate for the holidays in the traditional way. You can get creative and have your kids’ help you come up with ways to decorate for less. Maybe using pine cones or low hanging pine needles in your yard or nearby park! Around the holidays, people celebrate relationships, and it’s not whose party has the most tinsel or whose caterer was the best that is most important. What’ ultimately most important, is the time you spend with the people you most value in your life.

The holiday season can still be one of the most wonderful times of the year even if you are in a more challenging situation, especially as a military family. Remember, your outlook shapes the family’s outlook and more. As a military family, you may have to do things a little differently than the average American family, but that is no reason you cannot still find reasons to be thankful, to be generous and to be hospitable throughout the holiday season. Military families are some of the strongest families I know because they rise to the occasion despite the challenges. I am confident you can do the same when it comes to making the most of the upcoming holiday season.

Comments are closed.