Christmas 2024 Debrief

I am a firm believer in practicing what I preach, so I’m answering 7 Questions to Ask After a Holiday for my benefit and to inspire you to do the same. Our future selves will thank us!

Hello and Happy Christmas! Since Bryan and the college/high school kids still have some time off from school and work, we’re still in that weird mode of part holiday and part getting back to life. I am trying very hard to get back on schedule and remember what day of the week it is.

If you haven’t done your holiday debrief yet, now is a perfect time to do so. Chances are good you still remember what happened last week or can easily access the images on your camera roll.

Trust me, you will want this information come next October and November when you’re trying to remember what you did and if you want to do it again.

What went well?

We had a great week for both Christmas and 2nd Christmas. Our four kids still schooling were done with finals and in relax mode. I was able to tap most of them for help, something I don’t do as often when they have both work and school going on.

• We had a lovely Christmas Eve dinner of Asian bowls. And Bryan and the kids even found Chocolate Samanco at our local 88 Ranch. This is often hard to find, but they scored.
• The gift exchange for 1st Christmas was a success! Since our family is planning a trip to Japan in late spring, I purchased gifts that were Japan- or travel-related.
• The Buche de Noel I made for Christmas Day turned out better than I expected. In fact, I think I’ll be making a jelly roll cake more often, it was so easy!
• FishBoy20 and I made Beef Wellington. It was far and away the most expensive meal I ever prepared, but it worked out. We didn’t ruin a $100 piece of meat!
• I had planned on a craft for 1st Christmas, but we didn’t get around to it. Instead our little painting project happened after the Sacramento Fishers got to town. I had just happened to have Bryan prime EIGHT tea tins instead of six and so there was enough for everyone.
• FisherMan24 and his SO got to town early enough on 2nd Christmas Eve that we were able to do the Secret Santa gift exchange per tradition instead of the next morning.
• 2nd Christmas Morning went well. There were no tears and no gift disappointments that I can tell. I ended up buying each FishKid (SO’s are included in that) a small gift to open along with gift cards that I knew they would like.
• We had plenty of food, drink, and dessert for our extended family when they arrived for 2nd Christmas lunch. Some of the girls and I had made the tamales back in November and frozen them which made things so much easier!

How did others respond?

Over all, I think it went well! A general response was a preference for small, quiet celebrations. This will be challenging the bigger our family gets, but I love a challenge, don’t I?

The craft was originally met with raised eyebrows from some, but like the bird houses of 2023, they all leaned in and made them their own. It’s so fun to see that Bryan and FisherMan27 ended up painting very similar Christmas trees.

Everyone agreed that they enjoyed the Beef Wellington, but it’s not a must-make by any stretch of the imagination. Still, I’m so proud of us for making it and having it turn out!

What am I proud of from these last few months?

I have had a series of epiphanies this past month, but I will share those, appropriately on Epiphany since they are generally more personal and not so much holiday-related.

As far as Christmas itself goes, I’m proud of myself for drawing boundaries with time management. I set certain guidelines for myself as well as for others in terms of when things could or needed to happen, and I followed through on those. Even when it was hard.

I love it that we got the tamales in the freezer ahead of time. I love it that we got desserts squirreled away so that it was one less thing to do during Christmas week.

What stressed me out? Are there things that I regret?

Generally speaking, no. I feel like most things came off pretty well.

Of course, no one knows the depths of my heart like I do; there is room for repentance in there. I think I did better than most years with my attitude, but there were moments when I could have been more generous in spirit and thought, if not in action.

While we had our Advent calendars and candles, we didn’t really keep up on those things. It was Imperfect Adventing, to be sure.

Near the end I felt really rushed which didn’t make sense since I started planning Christmas in July!

What will I do differently next time?

Bryan and I have been chatting about these things and brainstorming alternative solutions and approaches. We’ve learned that it’s helpful to have a list of “next time, we could do this…”

I realize that some of rush at the end was in part due to indecision. I had lots of ideas but hadn’t made specific decisions on some things. Next time I’ll be more decisive.

What do I want to do next year?

Right around December 21st I started getting lots of good ideas, ideas that I would have attempted to pull off in years past. This year, the Voice of Reason was louder and reminded me that I could do that thing next year.

Recently, we’ve been trying to be more conservation-minded when it comes to trash. For instance, we started participating in our city’s composting program. That in turn has me thinking about all the waste that Christmas produces. I’m simmering ideas on how to reduce what waste leaves our house and how our Christmasy stuff can be more sustainable, especially when it comes to wrappings.

Bryan bought me the sewing machine on my wishlist, so I may sew Christmas bags like these that can be reused from year to year or something like that.

What recipes do I want to make again?

The Beef Wellington was delicious; I would make it again if I ever got a free tenderloin. I seriously broke out into hives making that big of a meat purchase.

The Buche de Noel was so easy this year; definitely making that again.

I spent a lot of time in the kitchen before, during, and after each of the celebrations, so I want to consider making things a little easier. This may mean veering from what we always do in exchange for easier, throw-together meals.

There aren’t any other meals that really jumped out in my mind, unlike years past when I had been on a roll with recipe-developing. I guess there’s a season for everything.

FishFam Christmas Traditions