August is not too early to start planning, inviting and even getting a head start on some of the preparing. Because of the "clutter" of school starting, and the holidays right on top of each other, you can keep your frenzy to a minimum by starting your game plan now.
This year, the chagim mostly fall out on shabbat. This overlap can be viewed as a plus or minus, depending on your personal point of view. I see the minuses as having to prepare all the food for two days of chag ahead of time, with no last minute "chag cooking", and losing Sundays as errand days. On the plus side, fewer vacation days to use for chagim. It doesn't really matter whether it's a plus or a minus anyway, since it is!
My holiday organization goes something like this.....
I start off with a big sheet of paper (or a fresh document on the computer) and list (leaving spaces between each) every lunch and dinner of every holiday from Rosh Hashanah through Simchat Torah. The I fill in the annual traditions (things like...we always go to Aunt Bertha the first night of Sukkot). Next would be to consider who I want to invite for which meal, keeping in mind how late lunch will be after Rosh Hashana services (don't invite people with young kids), and that my shul generally has a terrific kiddush on sukkot (no one will be hungry!). As I go along, I jot down whether I think the meal will be meat or dairy.
Once invitations have been issued and accepted, meal planning begins. More about that next week.
Shabbat Shalom!
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