Mom Behind Viral “Home For The Holidays” Email Shares The Loving Reason She Does It

If you’ve ever felt a bit sad thinking about your kids being grown adults and out of the house, take a gander at the way this mom’s “home for the holidays” list is going viral. She is making the absolute most out of her kids coming home to spend Christmas together, and look no further than the optional bourbon tasting for tips on how to enjoy the holidays with adult children.

Writer Khalid El Khatib took to Twitter recently to share his mom’s annual “home for the holidays” email to her children. “An incredibly thorough, detail-rich look ahead at how it’s possible for me to gain 15 lbs in one week,” he described in a viral Twitter thread, and honestly this is such a well-planned itinerary for enjoying the holidays that this mom needs to win some kind of major award.

Examples include “Arrivals. Rest and Happy Joes Pizza for dinner,” where there will also be the option to graze all day on “puffed popcorn, Chex mix, and various candies.” This mom also allowed for down time, like when everyone has to work on Monday and just enjoy some “chili and fresh bread” for dinner. But as the week rolls on, the plans kick into high gear.

By Wednesday this amazing mom is making plans for a late lunch at a brewery or dinner out or “cocktails at the Julien” where she says they make a great old-fashioned.

Thursday is the day to dress up for an evening out and a possible bourbon tasting. By Friday she’s booking a spa day for the women while the men babysit before friends come over for a visit. Throughout there are options for menu input, including a homemade Snickers or a cheesecake. And truly, the internet is fully in love with this thorough, cool mom who is embracing this stage of her family.

“Every stage of parenthood is new and different and having not been shown good examples, I look around and take notes,” wrote one Twitter user. “This right here is my new mother of adult children/grandmother at the holidays standard. I now know what to do. Thank your mom for me!”

Another wrote, “‘Is there any interest in a Bourbon tasting?’ Your mother is a national treasure.”

Finally, one person noted that Khalid’s mom was really taking the pressure off the week by offering such a detailed itinerary. “Anyone thinking this is ‘over scheduled’ doesn’t appreciate how much stress this removes from the week for everyone involved. No last-minute planning, no surprises. It sounds like heaven.”

As far as Christmas Day goes, Khalid’s mom pulls out all the stops and is really not impressed when her son “slips into a food coma” because he’s “wasting Christmas.” Fair enough. The snack list alone includes taco dip, a butter board, two different kind of smokies, brie with honey and pecans, assorted cheeses, and shrimp if people are into it.

And, because karma is apparently real, the joy that Khalid’s mom — whose name is Janet — has brought to hundreds of thousands was returned to her in the form of an exciting surprise. Janet’s children told her she was going to be virtually interviewed by a local NBC affiliate when she was actually going to appear on the TODAY show. When host Hoda Kotb informed her that she was not, in fact, on KWWL, Janet immediately gasped. “THIS IS HODA!”

Apparently she’s a huge fan and TiVos the show every day. She went on to share that she makes elaborate itineraries every time her children come home because she wants their time together to be “special.” (She also notes that they can “always tweak” the agenda, so it’s not exactly set in stone.)

This “home for the holidays” list is more than just a fun tweet. It’s a reminder that life goes on when your kids grow up. And that you can look forward to bourbon tastings and grazing on candy all day with the whole family in the future.