Countdown to Christmas |
Recovering holiday sanity for me meant putting into practice one of my best skills: I'm an inveterate list-maker and -keeper. Here are the tips that have helped me simplify the season. May they help you and inspire you to find your own. Hint: Don't try to do everything on this list. The idea is to simplify. And involve your family-the celebration is theirs, too!
Week Four
- Near the end of November, have family members write all of their holiday activities, as soon as they know about them, on your Control Central calendar .
- Set a goal to do something joyous every day-attend a Christmas concert, run errands for a homebound neighboi; have lunch with a friend you haven't seen in a while, go ice-skating.
- Check your Holiday Hit list every morning to see what needs to be done that day. Add any new things that have come up unexpectedly.
- Add Christmas wrap/decor to your Gift/Wrapping Center. (See User-Friendly Work Centers Make Work Easier, page 74.)
- Secure babysitters for social outings.
- Pick a night for the entire family to work on Christmas cards.
- Get your whole family involved in decorating your house.
- Make appointments with your hairdresser or manicurist for holiday.
- Decide what you'll wear to holiday parties. Take care of cleaning now.
- Finish catalog shopping. Have gifts wrapped and mailed directly to recipient whenever possible.
- Stockpile holiday staples and nonperishables before the stores get wded.
- Serve easy meals to your family. A big pot of chili or stew can last a few days.
Week Three
- Have a baking day. Get all your supplies ready the night before. Meassure out dry ingredients.
- Schedule shopping times-not during peak hours. Mornings and evenigs are best. Avoid the noon hour and Saturdays if possible.
- Buy a few extra generic gifts-picture frames, pretty writing pens, bottles of gourmet hot sauce or salad dressing-for last-minute guests or people who surprise you with gifts.
Week Two
- Schedule your child's visit to Santa for a time when there won't be long lines or crowds.
- Stock up on batteries, film, and videotape for Christmas morning.
- Watch local newspapers for special Christmas plays, musicals, and librarry events. Attend one as a family.
- Have a potluck dinner with two or three other families, then go caroling.
- Set up a card table in an out-of-the-way place for kids to create Christmas arts and crafts.
Week One
- Finish wrapping gifts.
- Deliver presents to friends and neighbours.
- Volunteer your time or resources as a family. Call community service organizations or a local church or synagogue and ask how you can help.
- Cook and freeze whatever you can for Christmas dinner.
- Trade off babysitting with a friend-to give each of you some time run last-minute errands.
- Watch a favorite Christmas video as a family.
- Start a holiday-memories scrapbook. Include notes about family events, favorite cards, photos, and letters to Santa. Add to it each year.
- Rekindle a relationship with a friend or relative.
- Attend a Christmas Eve candlelight service with your family.
- Relax and enjoy Christmas Day.
Shopping Simplified
- The key to stress-less holiday shopping is good planning. Tackle the mall with a well-thought-out list and a goal to get it all done in a couple of days. You can spend the rest of the month doing fun holiday things with your family.
- Schedule two full days on your calendar for shopping.
- Decide on a gift theme and get everybody on your list similar gifts- books, sporting equipment, kitchen gadgets, wardrobe accessories, etc.
- Recheck clothing sizes before you go.
