The Big Show - Christmas Is Here, Baby!

It's here!  It's here!  The most magical time of the year!!!

In short, Christmas!!!!

(insert brakes)  screeeeeeeeech.

Now what?

How does one handle the multitude of present opening, candy filled stockings, holiday bakery treats, honey baked ham and EGGNOG?

Oh my goodness.... it is a food frenzy!

Well, it can be.

Or

Not.

Over the years (and from quite honestly having two little ladies living with type 1 diabetes), we have perfected the Christmas morning.

Here are several tried and true ways to make the holidays a little less stressful and a little bit more fun.

1.)  Have a game plan.  Take a few moments and write down a schedule of how you would like to see the day unfold.  Include eating times and menus.  This is also a great time to write down a grocery store list for things that you may need or have forgotten.

2.)  Think ahead.  Look over your prescription list and make sure that you will not be running out of any necessary items like insulin, thyroid hormone replacement, syringes, glucose or even child cold and fever medicine.  As one mom told me, Walgreens now has an app for sending in prescription refills.  If you are using a traditional pharmacy, be sure to call ahead and check store hours as the night before Christmas, many places will be closing early.

3.)  Assemble a few food items ahead of time.  A family favorite for us on Christmas morning is our delicious orange rolls.  We wait throughout the year for the ooey gooey and oh so sweet morning treat.  With that said, serving only orange rolls would be a blood sugar disaster, so with that comes an egg casserole.  Both food items are assembled the night before in preparation for the crazy unwrapping mayhem on Christmas morning.  As one parent tests blood sugar, the other quickly pre-heats the oven and slides in the two dishes.  In an hour, we are ready for breakfast (and a nap!).

4.)  Give kids some guidelines.  Sure, they want to run into the family room as soon as they wake up to see what Santa brought but as any parent knows, having them get there too soon would be a loss in getting a few of those first moment of wonder pictures.  Explain to the kids that no one is allowed to go into the family room until mom has her camera AND blood sugars are checked.  Mom can take the ultimate part of this blame so that the Diabetes Monster stays out of the picture.  Just be prepared for a few eye-rolls.

5.)  And finally... charge those batteries in your cameras and camcorders.  Every year, I am so caught up in making sure that Christmas goes off without a hitch and I often forget the most important part... capturing those magical holiday memories forever.  The night before, put your recording tools in the same room that has the santa presents and make sure they are charged and ready to go.

Then sit back and ENJOY the magic! 

 

Merry Christmas!