holiday hosting

Holiday Mom Magic

| Mary Stoffel, MOT, OTR/L
Photo credit: A Bad Moms Christmas (2017)

Moms don’t en-joy, they give joy. That’s how being a mom works. – A Bad Moms Christmas

Thanksgiving starts a mad rush all the way through December. While we can’t speak for other religions and their traditions, Christmas has a chokehold on an entire month; bringing festivities, expectations, and Mariah Carey.

This onslaught includes: hours making and checking shopping lists, wrapping the gifts, sending out cards, decking the halls, baking the cookies, making the travel plans, and keeping the spirit of Christmas alive. And year after year, the person behind all of this isn’t Santa. It’s mom.

Why do we do this? Is it a rite of passage to level up as a mom? Is the expectation the same for dads? With a few weeks left before December 25th, let’s get to the bottom of this quandary and how we can alleviate this self-inflicted stress.

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Coffee Chat: Patti’s Thanksgiving Story

| Patti Webb

When Mary and I started talking about the holidays, I shared with her one of my particularly meh Thanksgivings. My parents divorced earlier than I can remember and I’ve been in a number of blended families growing up, making for some very awkward holidays to the say the least.

I had a Thanksgiving with my dad and grandmother where I was completely silent. I once spent the holiday with my mom and her friend who ended up being a hoarder. In 2008, I said I was thankful that Barack Obama was going to be president and an entire table of Boomer adults became unhinged. But in the story I’m sharing today, I am 20 and a junior at UF.

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How To Survive Family Holidays

| Mary Stoffel, MOT, OTR/L

You know at the beginning of Home Alone, where they have all these people from three different branches of the family, stuck in one house right before a holiday flight? That’s how we always picture crazy Christmas. Loud yelling, no one knows what’s going on, the littlest kid drinking a ton of Pepsi and wetting the bed. Let’s not get started on dealing with Uncle Frank….

As much as we want to create a magical winter wonderland for our whole family, it can be one of the biggest challenges with younger kids in tow. The whole season just pulses with sensory overload, and sometimes extended family can be more of a bad influence than a helping hand. Whether you are traveling to see family or if family is traveling to see you, here are Mary and Patti’s tips for parents on surviving the holiday season.

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The Quick, Long List of Thanksgiving Recipes

| Mary Stoffel, MOT, OTR/L

Okay, so you want your child to help cook in the kitchen this holiday season, but not sure what to make or where to start. No worries! We created a Pinterest Board just for you. Below are some of our favorites so far.

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