Organizing Next Year's Holidays

As wonderful as holidays are, they can be a trying time for families. While you are cleaning up and taking down and packing away all your decorations, put some thought into next year's holiday season. Ask yourself how you could make it more organized and more enjoyable. Here are some question to ask yourself:

• Do I need to keep everything I am packing up and storing for another year? Can I eliminate 1/4 to 1/3 of this?
• Do I really enjoy each of the items I keep?
• Could another family member use and enjoy these things? If so, would this be a good time of year to give them away?
• Is there a better way to store them, such as getting new tissue paper and storage containers so the things I do decide to keep don't get broken. January is the time of year when storage containers are usually on sale. Think about getting color-coded containers and be sure to label each container with contents.
• Is there a family tradition that we continue every year, yet don't seem to enjoy? Traditions are important; they reinforce meanings in life, bind us together and provide continuity of the past.
•  Could be eliminate an old tradition that our family has out-grown and substitue a new one that we would enjoy more? If a tradition doesn’t work for your family, establish your own traditions that better fit your family.
• What could I do so the family is more involved in cleaning up and packing away all this stuff? For example, how about a pizza party while the tree is taken down.
• Do we need a "Post-Holiday-Blues-Buster?" Anticipate and plan for that post-holiday slump with, for example, a post-holiday family ritual or activity. For example, I like to hide one very small present for each of the kids under the tree skirt that isn't found until we're taking down the tree. I pretend I am surprised when we find them each year, too.
• What else could I do now that would make 2013 holiday season more enjoyable for me?