Learning to share

As the Jolly Old Elf is preparing to make an appearance at our house, I'm immersed in the time honored tradition of sorting through old toys to determine what we'll donate or throw away to make room for the new.

Every mother knows this is a task that's much easier to perform when the kids aren't looking. But that kind of defeats the purpose, doesn't it? I'm hoping my son learns about sharing in this process. My goal is that he'll choose some toys to give away to the needy--nice ones, still in good condition.

After all, isn't sharing the most important lesson we can teach during the holidays?

Having a good time?

Between you and me, the holidays can get a little tricky around our house. A few reasons, but mostly it amounts to high expectations.

Every year we have a minimum of two Thanksgivings and three Christmases, followed directly by me and my husband's wedding anniversary and our (shared) birthday. Yup, same birthday. What were our parents thinking?

But in the midst of all of this revelry, what really gets us down are the expectations—our own and others. I want the house perfect. I want to make everyone happy and try to see as many relatives as possible over the holidays. I want to cook a fabulous meal served at a beautiful table with the perfect table setting. Makes me tired just thinking about it.

But it doesn't have to be that way. Who says you can't serve up a good old fashioned bowl of chili for Christmas? Didn't God invent paper plates for a reason? And maybe it's OK if the house isn't dusted and the baseboards don't get washed, just this once.

I mean, after all, this is supposed to be fun, right?

Dinner for a crowd

This year, we're spending the holidays with my husband's family. Ten adults and seven kids - from nine to one year - will be crammed into my in-laws' house. That part seems easy now that I've been told I'm going to have to come up with at least one day of meals for the crew. While I love to cook, I'm less than excited about putting together meals for the variety of diets: two kids are dairy-free, an adult is on the South Beach Diet, two others don't eat pork and another few don't do seafood. Then there are the quirky particularities of each family (i.e., my kids will eat grilled broccoli but will not touch it when its steamed). Yeah, it's gonna be fun. My plan is to plug all the preferences into a variety of recipe searches such as Epicurious, Food Network and Recipezaar to see if any recipe meets everyone's restrictions. I'll keep you posted on my progress...feel free to send suggestions.

Hot weather, cool tempers

When my husband was growing up, he had a couple of longtime neighbors that always planned a huge 4th of July extravaganza in their backyard. Think grilling, horse shoes, all the American family pastimes.

Along with all the food and fun, this family—we'll call them the Flops--fought. A little too much beer, a little too much sun, and the afternoons always entailed a boxing match. It was a joke around my husband's house: "The Flops are at it again."

Every year, the Flops set out with the expectation of a fun-filled family event. And every year it ended with a rumble through the azaleas.

Our own holidays tend to be a little, ahem ... quieter. But I do wonder if the hot temperatures can have an inflaming effect on tempers that are naturally inclined to run a little hot.

As I enjoy a cool drink on the patio this weekend, I'll think of the Flops ... and hope they're celebrating this hot weather with cooler tempers.

Happy 4th!