A mother has gone viral after her son shared the meticulously detailed “home for the holidays” menu plan she created for him and his siblings.
On 12 December, writer Khalid El Khatib revealed on Twitter that he and his siblings had just received an annual email from their mother, in which she details all of the meals she planned for the week they’d be home for the holidays.
In the caption, El Khatib joked that the “incredibly thorough” menu shows why he is able to “gain 15lbs in one week”.
“My mom’s annual ‘home for the holidays’ email to me and my siblings just dropped. An incredibly thorough, detail-rich look ahead at how it’s possible for me to gain 15lbs in one week,” he wrote.
Along with the tweet, El Khatib included a screenshot of the lengthy email from his mother, in which she’d outlined the meals she’d provide each day that her children, their friends, and their spouses are home in the lead-up to Christmas, as well as the meal the family would have on Christmas Day.
According to the schedule, on 18 December, when the family arrived home, El Khatib’s mother planned for a casual meal of pizza.
“Arrivals. Rest and Happy Joes Pizza for dinner. There will be puffed popcorn, Chex mix, and various candies available for grazing throughout the day to include jelly beans and Peanut M&M’s,” El Khatib’s mother wrote.
On the following Monday, the detailed menu included a note that it would be a “work day for all” and that dinner would consist of chili and fresh bread, while Tuesday suggested the possibility of a “summer burger night”.
For Wednesday, El Khatib’s mother included various options, as she noted that they would be travelling in the afternoon, and may want to enjoy dinner out. In addition to including various restaurant options, she noted that “grandma could babysit”.
“Otherwise, dinner at home: grilled bourbon glazed pork tenderloin for dinner with accompaniments,” she wrote.
The schedule for the Thursday before Christmas sees El Khatib’s mother remind her children that it will be an “evening out” and that they have to “dress up”.
“Chicken parm dinner or ribs? I need your input,” she wrote, before asking: “Is there any interest in a bourbon tasting?”
The itinerary doesn’t include just food, however, as Friday’s plan reads: “Ladies have manicures at 11.30am followed by lunch out. Boys babysit our little girl. Lunch out at Stonecliff Winery. Boys can join if they want.”
On Friday, El Khatib’s mother also noted that, at 3pm, “friends arrive” along with “spouses and children”.
“Taco night, chicken and beef, hard and soft shell with taco dip, guac, chips and salsa and margaritas. Cookies for dessert?” the menu continues.
According to the email, Khalid usually decides the menu for Christmas Eve, however, his mother offered some suggestions, including lasagna or deli sandwiches.
The email concluded with a thorough list of all of the food the family will eat on Sunday, Christmas Day, including a breakfast of egg bake, french toast, bacon, fruit, mimosas, and coffee, followed by snacks.
In a follow-up tweet, El Khatib admitted that he’d cut off a portion of the email where his mother had asked “if she should make a ‘butter board’” and “asked for us to vote on homemade Snickers, blueberry or raspberry cheesecake on Christmas”.
As of 20 December, El Khatib’s tweet has been liked more than 145,000 times, with hundreds of people revealing how impressed they were by his mother and her attention to detail.
“Holiday mom goals,” one person commented, while another jokingly asked: “What do I have to do to be invited to your family Christmas?”
Others revealed that they have been “inspired” by El Khatib’s mother, with one person writing: “This itinerary is everything I aspire to.”
“I love her. I want to be her when I grow up,” someone else wrote.
The extensive menu also received a reply from Chrissy Teigen, who wrote: “Making this detailed schedule for all my kids 20 years from now is truly all I have ever wanted in life. This is very much exactly exactly it.”
Teigen’s tweet prompted a response from El Khatib, who shared a photo of a table covered with freshly baked, homemade cookies and said Teigen was “welcome to come to Iowa to get some tips for 20 years from now” before noting that she would be put “to work assembling candy and cookie trays (and you aren’t allowed to eat from them in the process)”.
As for those who want an invite to the family’s Christmas, El Khatib joked that there are only “two ways in: if you’re Ina Garten or by marrying me (my mom and both my sisters are taken)”.
While speaking to Today about the viral tweet, El Khatib said the response has been “so overwhelmingly positive” and that it was “really heartening, especially in a time when the news is mostly negative”.
According to his mother, Janet, who noted that she has a Twitter solely to look at her son’s tweets, she was “blown away” by the response.
Janet said she was also touched by many of the responses, espeecially from those who are looking for “warm family time”.
“I was so touched by the responses from so many of the people, and so many who have lost, say, their mother, and it just brought back so many fond memories,” she said. “I mean, at some points, I almost was moved to tears because I just felt people are looking for a happy holiday and they’re looking for a warm family time.”
