The kids and grandkids are back in school and it is time to begin thinking about the Christmas list or lists.  With Labor Day weekend coming up it is probably best to only make a few notes.

Christmas List #1:  Christmas Dinner Guests

First of all, who will be home for Christmas dinner?  It is always important to know how many and who will be seated around the table.  Although other relatives will be preparing the meal at their homes, we will have a family gathering at our home for the immediate family and a few in-laws who may act more like outlaws before the day is over.  Oh, well!  The perils of the holidays.

I think it is always important to decide on the who before deciding on the what to eat.  I can remember a couple of years ago when my mother-in-law prepared the traditional Christmas ham.  We had stuffed ourselves with turkey from Thanksgiving right up until Christmas Eve.  Christmas ham is always good for some of us.  Forgetting about the aunt and uncle who, according to doctors’ orders, no longer eat pork was one thing.  Forgetting that one grandson had married a Jew was another.  When the table is being set and the guests are arriving is not the time to thaw a 12 pound turkey from the freezer.

Know your guests.  That is the first key to a good holiday dinner.

And of course, we all have at least one relative who believes Christmas is celebrated only as an opportunity for all day drinking.  To combat that scenario, I try to plan an early get together.  Call it Christmas luncheon if you want to.  Make it a middle of the afternoon event and let the invitees know the start time and the end time.  Maybe that sounds a little harsh.  But, knowing that the guest list includes someone who does not know when to say when calls for preventative measures when possible.  In fact, I have gone so far as to have two separate dinners — one for the masses, served buffet style on Christmas Eve at 1:00 p.m. and one for the immediate family and loved ones Christmas night.  Making one a buffet style event and the other a sit down around the dining room table can work out quite well.

First Draft Christmas Dinner Guest List

Okay, so far I am looking at two sons, one divorced and one with wife and two young children.  My sister-in-law will be here . Of course my mother-in-law will come with the sister-in-law.  There will be my husband and me.  That makes 9 of us — sorta.  One grandchild is too small to sit at the table, the other is still questionable.  My one divorced son may want to bring a date or a friend.  I’m still teetering around 9 people, but just in case everyone wants to sit at the table and there is an extra I’m going to count on 10.  It is always better to plan on more than less.  And, after all, we are talking about Christmas.  I’m going to plan for 10.

Needless to say, the family can never agree on the guests.  That’s natural.  My husband wishes I would not invite someone.  One of the kids wants to invite a few friends.  Well, you get the idea.  That’s the way Christmas dinner is.  Everyone gets through it and no one is 100% happy with the guest list.  Anyway, I try to give my husband a “heads up” each year, so when grumpy old Aunt Maggie arrives with her Pug he won’t be dragging me into the hall closet to complain.  The best way to break the news is with a movie.

Anyone got a better movie idea?

 

 

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