On Christmas Eve, as we were preparing for our course of a progressive dinner where 13 people would be joining together in our kitchen (buffet style), it was getting down to the wire.

On the Eve, and throughout the day, we counted 7 families who stopped by with goodies and gifts. We felt so honored and loved!

But as I kept looking up at the clock (4:30, 5:10, 5:20), and I knew our guests were coming in 10 minutes, I lost it. I was saying things like, why are we doing this? why do I commit to these things? get the salad ready! put the drinks here! wipe the counters! put this away! put that away! … and then I ran into my bedroom to put on a dress, boots, scarf, and lipstick.

DING-DONG.

What wasn’t done wasn’t done. Period. The night of Christmas Eve was about to begin.

Later we talked about the night as a family.

TRUTHS
1. It was cool how our whole family rallied together in the last 30 minutes and got everything done!
2. We were thankful for all of the friends that stopped by to wish us good cheer!
3. It was good I had thought ahead to what I wanted to wear, and had it laid out.
4. Once 5:30 hit and we started settling in with our guests, we forgot about the “mad rush,” and we were able to relax.

REGRETS
1. I didn’t start earlier in the kitchen that day to get prepared.
2. We weren’t able to take the time to sit down and visit with each family that stopped by.
3. I wasn’t more gracious in welcoming the people who came to my door. Instead I kept working away.

So here is a New Year’s question for you. If you knew you had around 15 people coming to dinner at your house, and this scenario happened to you, do you think it’s better to take the time and sit down and talk with the guests and let the “schedule” go out the door?

Or, keeping in mind that a progressive dinner means that you have to stay on a “schedule,” do you think I did the right thing by letting our friends come into our messy world (the kitchen was a disaster!) and chat with us while we continued to prepare appetizers, do dishes, and I guess you’d say “multi-task?”

I’d love to hear your thoughts? And I’ll tell you ahead of time, since each person has their own hostessing style, there really isn’t a right or wrong answer!