Page 27 2025 Home For The Holidays Lincoln Daily News hours in the snow all bundled up picking out that special tree and helping to cut it down and remembering the drive home singing Christmas carols, setting it up in that perfect place, decorating and finishing with a mug of hot chocolate while admiring everyone’s work. The relaxation of wrapping each present with that special paper and getting all those ends cut and folded under exactly right, adding a large matching ribbon with different colored curlicues to match the paper and top it off with a big bow with the name so carefully add on just the perfect tag. Ahh and those smiles on their faces when you’d take them to the mall to see Santa, it was a little hard keeping them occupied while in that long line, but that picture would be worth it! The kids were so adorable, so perfect, they were so polite to each other and everyone else, and their manners were exceptional, so much to be proud of! Oh, the joys of Christmas Eve services and Christmas morning with the excitement, patience, love and gratitude for one another and the season is beyond words… WAIT… Where did that come from, because that definitely was not the typical household that most of us knew of or grew up in! That memory must still be stuck in my head from last year’s binge watching of the Hallmark channel!! The reality is that you are an empty nester and you have already converted one of the kid’s bedrooms into your craft room, have a bunch of magazines you need to go through on the chair and you’ve already cleaned out one of their dresser drawers and part of their closet for quilting material. Not to mention in the family room, which has several puzzle tables up with half worked puzzles, and dad has used one of the kids’ skis and toboggan as an extra table for his wood working projects. Whether you are looking forward to your kid(s) coming home for the holidays or it is something you may be dreading, there are ways that you can take the stress, anxiety, cost, and unnecessary pressure out of the picture and actually enjoy this holiday season, regardless of who shows up at your door. The first step is to think about yourself first! Selfish, did you say? No, no matter the age of your kids you have done your job, raised them the best that you knew at that time and they are adults. Not to mean that they still do not need the support, love and understanding of you, the parent, but that they need to realize that the holidays are for everyone, not just for them anymore. Here are some tips on how you
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