Too many years I’ve dreamed and come up with an enormous list of things that our family should do over the holidays.

Things like baking, sharing, checking out the neighborhood lights, visiting Santa and the shut-ins, making our own ornaments and stringing popcorn, playing games all day on Christmas Day, hosting parties, attending church services, chopping our tree in the great outdoors, hosting an open house, having the entire family help with Christmas cards (yah, right), you name it …. I wanted to do it.

It’s wonderful to be enthusiastic over the holidays, but now that my kids are teens, and I’ve learned a good, hard lesson about life during December, I want to share a few insights.

-Make a list of your dreams.
-Share it with your family in November (the last day – today!)
-Decide what’s important for your entire family.
-Decide what you want to keep as a tradition.
-Cross off the things that don’t get the “votes.”
-You may need to narrow it down even further.
-Agree that you won’t have hurt feelings.

As a mom, I know that I get very excited over the holidays, but I can also carry my over-exhuberance over to the family. I can put my expectations in their laps, so they inherit my “to do” list when they are wanting “simple.”

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I’ve learned that every year I start off with good intentions, but I can get off track.

This year I’m going to create my list, keep my list, and keep checking my list … so that I stay on track.

Do you get swayed into doing too much during the holidays?

How do you rate yourself when it comes to dumping your “to-do” list on the family?

On a scale from 1-5:
1 – you keep your agenda to yourself
5 – you put expectations on your family

I can’t wait to hear your answers. They may even be a little giveaway for the best answer. Be real, friends. And if you have good tips, let’s share them and help each other out.