The following is a guest post from regular contributor, Angie at Echoes of Laughter.
Hello Org Junkie readers! I know many of you are celebrating Thanksgiving this week so I first want to wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you had a fun day with family and lots of good eats!
I know that it’s the season for a lot of moms to start stressing about how the next month leading up to Christmas will unfold and how they will manage to get everything ‘done’. I, myself, have stressed over the years about the very same thing. With time, I have learned to start Christmas tasks early and to simplify as much as possible.
So to help you in the weeks leading up to Christmas, here are 5 tips to help you simplify and stress less.
1. Decorating
Don’t have a lot of time for it? Keep it simple and decorate just one room. Choose the room where the Christmas tree is or the room where your family will spend most of their time.
Here is my living room from last year and it’s the room that I concentrate on during Christmas.
2. Shopping
In the last post HERE, I shared ideas for getting the kitchen organized for Christmas. Now is the time to take 15 or so minutes to make a list of things you will need for the next few weeks for appetizers and Christmas dinner. Pick up things as you go instead of leaving it for a big trip to the grocery store that leaves you exhausted and with a too many things to put away. I suggested 3 list additions to your regular grocery shop each week-one for baking supplies, one for special foods, appetizers and drinks, and lastly, the Christmas dinner list.
3. Baking
If baking is part of your Christmas traditions, just make one favourite treat for each person in your family. Or if time is really at a premium, just make one recipe that everyone likes. This is my favorite sugar cookie recipe. It’s a DROP cookie and does not require rolling out and cutting. I love this easy recipe!
4. Scheduling
Don’t over-schedule yourself or your family. Sometimes it’s okay to not attend every thing. Pick and choose those activities that your family really enjoys. And schedule in time to just stay at home in warm jammies and hot chocolate to watch a movie. And make sure that you do something just for you. For me, I love to do a few creative projects for my house in December…like this wreath that I made last week. Doing something for yourself gives you that soul-satisfying feeling that is so wonderful!
5. Wrapping
Make wrapping simple by choosing one wrapping paper for each member of the family. It takes much less time to wrap gifts in one paper than it does when switching gift wrap each time. And you will also use up small pieces too so this means less waste. And if gift tags should fall off, you know what wrapping paper belongs to which child. I have been doing this for years and it makes wrapping a snap.
I hope that you find some tips here to make the month of December just a little bit less stressful! Have you made any changes to the December calendar in recent years that make your holiday less stressful? If so, please share! We all love to hear amazing ideas from other moms!
Wishing you a great next few weeks!
Angie’s blog, Echoes of Laughter, is all about filling your home with love and laughter. She loves creative projects, organizing & decorating, cooking, baking, and all things domestic. Angie lives in Alberta, Canada, with her husband and two great kids.
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Linda@Creekside says
I’m so with you on this, Angie!
http://creeksideministries.blogspot.com/2008/12/here-comes-nativity.html
Here comes the nativity! And we’ve got choices on how we want to celebrate, what we say yes to, and what we say no way, no thanks to!
Laddi says
Nice tips, will use them to work! I got a feeling this Christmas is going to be really stressful
Gin says
One wrapping paper for each child? How about one gift for each child!