The Boss of Christmas

So, we do things a bit differently on my side of the family.  Several years ago, we established the "Boss of Christmas".  The idea was to rotate the responsibility of Christmas decision making to various people within our family each year.  We decided to go in order of age.  So, we started with my mom, then each of my two sisters took a turn, then me--since I am the youngest.  Then, it started back over with my mom, and we worked our way down again.  We will be incorporating my niece into the rotation this time around since she is older now.  We would be thrilled if any of the husbands wanted a turn, but this hasn't happened yet.

This year is my year.  Honestly, I love being the Boss of Christmas.  I think that it is fun, and I love to have a plan. I will be sending out an email to my extended family soon with details regarding this year's Christmas.  Grace is also very excited about being my assistant.  We even have cute "BOC" pins. 

Anyway, here are some examples of BOC's responsibilities:

• Who is in charge of which meals?
• How are we doing gifts this year?
• What activities will we do when we are all together?
• What is the schedule when we are all together?

Although this approach will not work for everyone, there are some great benefits to implementing this type of plan.  First, it takes the pressure off of the person who is always in charge.  Second, it gives everyone a say in how things are done.  If you would prefer to celebrate in a different way, be supportive of the other plans, and then feel free to change things up when it is your turn. Third, it helps avoid getting into a rut.  Although we don't tend to have drastic changes from year to year, this type of plan provides quite a bit of flexibility.

This year, I am thinking about a dirty santa gift exchange where everyone (including the guys and the kids) contributes a homemade, edible gift.  I am also thinking about a family outing to the ballpark to go tubing and playing "Minute to Win It--Christmas Style".  We did this last year with some friends, but I think it is time to roll it out to the family as well.  Another goal will be to limit my mom's time in the kitchen so that she gets to enjoy our time together too. 



Sam tubing 2011

Grace tubing 2011