I was doing some holiday shopping at Michael’s (the craft store) in the late afternoon when I heard a conversation in the next aisle between a mother and her six-year-old child.

“Oh, Mama, look at this!”

“Uh huh.”

“I love this!!”

“Uh huh.”

“I have one don’t I!!!”

“Uh huh.”

“You made it for me didn’t you Mama!!!!”

“Uh huh.”

“Can you make one for Sissy?”

“Uh huh.”

As I listened to the excitement and love for her mother in the child’s voice and the drone of her mother’s responses, tears welled up in my eyes. I thought about how many times I’d done the same thing with my children when they were young. After all, the holiday season meant I had a centerpiece to make, a decoration for the coffee table to think about, colors to consider, people to impress and not enough time! 

The holiday season is notorious for inciting panic in women and if they don’t know how to deal with that shoulder-burdening aspect of this time of year, they’re destined to miss what the holidays are really all about…PEACE, JOY, HARMONY. We need ME time to re-charge.

I recently appeared on a local television talk show in Portland, Oregon, to talk about the free day I have in my weekly plan. To bring up this topic, this time of year when most women who work outside their homes can barely find a free hour let alone a free day each week, seemed absurd!

If you'd like to watch that segment, just click on my little Christmas girl.

If you need activities for kids to do on Thanksgving, this craft will keep them entertained while you are busy with all that goes into your Thanksgiving Day feast. For this craft, all you need is a pack of colored pens and a white, flat twin sheet. 

You'll not only be giving them a creative outlet and keeping them busy, they'll create a family heirloom. 

In this short video, two of my grandchildren, Jackson and Brooklyn (now teenagers) enjoyed making this tablecloth that I use every Thanksgiving.

Happy Holidays!

 Thank you for being here! 

The holidays definitely impact SHEs (Sidetracked Home Executives). Because we're creative, we can go into OPM (Over Production Mode).

Our perfectionism kicks in and we want to recreate the magic we see on glossy magazine covers without thinking about how fake it all is. (Incidentally, this turkey is plastic. Marla the Flylady gave it to me because I told her we all want that Norman Rockwell image of the family around the festive table while Gramps carves the turkey at the table.)

In truth, cutting up the turkey at the table makes a horrible mess! I decided if we had a fake turkey for a photo op, we'd eliminate that unnecessary mess at the table.

We SHEs love the holidays, and since we're easily distracted throughout the year, this time of year can pitch us over the festive edge.

The holidays are here, and they don't let us off the hook to follow our daily routine, but they can distract us. Imagine that you have a free half hour specifically slotted for housework. You’ve got four 3x5 cards with specific chores on each to direct your work. There's an estimated time telling you how long each task will take written on each card. You’re dressed for housework, so you won’t wreck your good clothes and you’ve got sensible shoes on. You're a SHE (Sidetracked Home Executive) and you're easily distracted.

According to your math, you can do the tasks on the cards in half an hour, but what has happened to your good intentions when you find yourself at the mall buying Christmas presents? WHAT HAPPENED?

Today the Cleaner Guy shows how to make safe, toxic-free furniture polish. Since he made it for this video, I've used nothing else, because it really works. Good-bye Pledge!

One note: I wanted a container that would squirt out just a little bit, so I got the bright idea to use a ketchup holder, not thinking that someone might think it was ketchup and squirt it on his french fries. That wouldn't really be dangerous because this furniture polish is not poisonous. I don't think it would taste very good though.

Mom Let the House Fairy Help

If you'd like to listen to this blog, it was recorded so you could get some mindless job accomplished while you listen.

Chances are, if your kids are in a mess it’s because you’re in one too. But there’s hope. Your children can get organized when you make it fun. What will make the difference? Magic! But in order to put magic into the mix, you’ll need to call upon your children’s imagination. Think of the power you have around Christmastime with Santa and his elves lurking around and checkin’ his list. Kids are natural imaginers! And that’s where the House Fairy comes in!

It's hard to ignore the fact that the holidays are here! We’re flashed with tons of emails squawking about Holiday Sales on everything from food and kitchen appliances to fake Christmas trees and yard decorations. We get inundated with sparkly catalogs hyping the urge to get new furniture (for holiday entertaining) and glossy pages advising us to consider getting new china for that holiday table and maybe even a new car (red or green of course).

We complain about the commercialism and materialism of the holidays, but put us in our local Starbucks slurping a yummy Caramel Brulee Latte from that festive red and green cup and we brim with excitement and anticipation about spending time with family and friends. Love is really what the holidays are all about.   

Starting with Thanksgiving, a holiday that marks our gratitude, to Christmas with its message of peace, love and joy, it’s a magical time and love is behind it all. The 5 words to remember are:

Let’s think about the month of November for a sec.

If you live where there are seasons, you're lucky, because you get to enjoy the winter weather of November. November is a cozy time of year. Time for crackling fires, homemade stews, baked apples and roasted walnuts.

Mother Nature has many lessons to teach us in November. She uses this month as her reminder to us to streamline our homes. It’s her month for letting go of last year’s stuff by stripping her trees bare and putting her plants into a deep, winter coma. November reminds us to slow down, rest, and hibernate a little. She gives us longer nights and shorter days….hint, hint. She also uses November to remind us that life can be harsh sometimes, but it doesn’t last forever.

How many Novembers have you lived? Does the thought of November bring memories of family get-togethers centered on turkey feasts, or are they filled with chaotic recollections as the holidays loomed? Have you been organized in any of your Novembers? Are most of your November memories good ones?

Maybe these illustrations will call up some fun memories for you.

Yesterday was Halloween and Terry and I had such fun in our costumes! We dressed as Trump and Clinton. (I actually planned ahead and bought wigs on the internet.)

Our main stop was to the bank to get crisp five dollar bills for our trick-or-treaters (we just have six children in our neighborhood who have been coming to our house since they were babies). Our banker and the tellers were all dressed as minions and we enjoyed laughing at each other. They wanted to know why our bank accounts don't reflect all that money we have! 

If ever there was evidence that we all have an inner child just waiting for any opportunity to play, Halloween certainly gives us a reason to let them out.