The stores would have you believe that Christmas started in October, however with less than a week left until Christmas, if you’re still behind the ‘bauble’ where your Christmas plans are concerned then this little article should help.
Now, depending on how big your Christmas usually needs to be in terms of whether you have a large family gathering; whether or not it’s your job to host the days festivities or if like me, you tend to live in your car all day, without being ‘too’ detailed, there are a number of basic things on most people’s ‘to-do’ lists, being:
- booking holiday (optional)
- cards & mailing them on time (especially for overseas recipients)
- gift buying (especially for overseas recipients)
- day schedule (including visiting)
- decorating
- food
I’m sure I don’t need to be ‘detailed’ on what each of these things mean. I think it’s obvious that each heading would have it’s own ‘individualised’ list within them based on your particular situation. For some of us, a few of the items on the list don’t need to exist at all. Try and find one to either leave off your list altogether or that you could simplify and ‘reduce’ the stress of.
For those of you who still want to get ‘very’ detailed about this type of thing, there check out this list to an article on Real Simple: The Ultimate Christmas Countdown Checklist (current December 2022) which helps you to start planning 6 months in advance (to save me reinventing the wheel).
The Lighter Side of Christmas
- Online Christmas games for the kids (interactive fun)
- Easy Gift Wrapping/DIY Gift Packing Ideas
- 23 School Holiday Activities To Beat The Boredom
Keeping It Real
I do believe that ‘this’ Christmas may be a little more low-key for many families who may be struggling to make ends meet, or like me, you prefer not to ‘accumulate’ and/or need to know how to go about clutter-free gift giving the correct way without offending people. So with this in mind I’ve also provided a link to a wonderful blog by a fellow NAPO organiser Jeri Dansky where she has a discussion with Miss Manners on the etiquette of clutter free gift-giving and receiving.
Lastly, in the spirit of good-will, my gift to my readers is to have a peaceful stress free Christmas. For some of us Christmas can be a difficult time, due to family relationship stress; bereavement; income stress; distance; divorce or a host of other reasons. With this in mind here are a couple of links with some practical, compassionate and common sense advice to help those of you who may be feeling a bit lost this season.
- Headspace: Managing stress around the holidays
- Life Family Education: Christmas where divorce is a factor)
Have a peaceful and joyful Christmas everyone and remember it’s NOT about the stuff!
*All article links current as of May 2023.
