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Author: Barbara King Article source: http://www.linkup-parents.com/. Used with author's permission.
Every year when the holiday is over, you probably say to yourself "I'm going to be a little better prepared before the next holiday season". You can even if you haven't made any plans yet. Here are just a few tips that can help:
1. Holiday time means company or someone popping by unexpectedly, so first of all have your house in order. Get everything cleaned up and make an effort each day to keep it that way. This will be a lot less stressful than just waiting and trying to straighten things up when you get notice that someone is coming by. And again, what if they just pop in? Take 15 minutes each morning to put things back in there place, along with your usual household chores, just don't let the chores or laundry pile up.
2. Have your kitchen prepared. Company means food, so start now purchasing a few of the items that you know that you are going to need for the holiday baking. It will be a lot less impact on your budget to do this, than to wait till the week of Thanksgiving or Christmas and then be faced with all the food shopping.
3. Plan to make the holidays a time to relax as well as the special time that I know you all want it to be. Keep a calendar of events that you plan to attend and don't book too many things together in the same week. If one of your friends generally give a party the second week of Dec., politely ask them if they plan on doing so again this year, and write it on your calendar. Don't forget the kid's activities. Mark them on the calendar as soon as you are told about them, and make their activities blend with the schedule. 4. Christmas means gift giving time, so start your shopping as early as possible. Be responsible and don't go over-board. One of the worst feelings is for Christmas to be over and then the credit card bills arrive. Make a budget that is within your income level (without purchasing on the credit cards), and stick to it. Plan to do a lot of your shopping online. Most of the companies will have their advertised specials right on their home page, so can take advantage of any savings.
5. Gift wrapping is time consuming and can get expensive if you let it. I always hit the local dollar stores late November and purchase a handful of gift bags that have the holiday designs. Gift bags are great for odd size packages and gifts. I keep several spools of curly ribbon on hand all thru the year and you can just tie some ribbons to the handles, run the scissors down the edge of the ribbon and it will make them curl. Kid's gifts especially are targets for gift bags. Another great idea is to use newspaper. I had an unusually large gift to wrap for a wedding one time, and I used newspaper to wrap it. I found some pages from the Sunday paper that had recipes with pictures and made sure that the recipes were readable after the package was wrapped. I tied it with silver ribbons. Everyone made remarks about what a great idea that was. So, if money is an issue, save some on the gift wraps and use brown paper bags, newspaper or gift bags. If you wrap kid's gifts in brown paper bags, try putting stickers all over it with a big red ribbon.
6. Decorating your home? Make it a tradition to use decorations year after year and just purchase one or two new items if you absolutely have to. Some of my most precious memories are unveiled when I pull out the boxes of Christmas decorations. Some were made by the kids when they were younger and in school. A couple were special ornaments my husband gave me, and for the last two years, I attend a memorial service on the second Saturday in Dec., in memory of loved ones that have passed away. We get a little glass angel each year as a gift at the memorial service and I put it on the tree.
You can find lots of simple decorations at the dollar store, and especially if you have little ones, this is a great idea. Let them enjoy the tree and all the festivities, by making paper decorations or popcorn strings, things that won't break and that won't matter if they get pulled off or fall on the floor. Get a coloring book with at the dollar store, purchase some colored construction paper. Cut out the outlines from the coloring book and use it as pattern to cut out figures or designs on the construction paper. Use a hole punch at the top and thread some ribbon thru, and you've got homemade decorations that the kids can help make, and it won't cost an arm and a leg.
Keep the decorating simple and let the kids help. It will make for an enjoyable time.
7. Keep some of your family traditions or make some new family traditions. Holiday time is memory making time, so if you have family traditions or things that your folks did when you were little, why not introduce the idea to your kids. If you can't think of any old family traditions, then make some new ones. For instance we always sang Christmas Carols sitting around the tree on Christmas Eve. Another thing that you could do is have one evening as 'open house'. Get together with a sister or family member and plan a simple menu or let all your guests bring a dish and have an evening of fun. Sing carols, play a few games and have door prizes. Our family get-together is always so much fun. If you think you can't afford a party, here's an idea. Tell all your guests to bring one gift (set a dollar limit) for a prize raffle. Tell them ahead of time that the prizes are going to be raffled to help pay for the cost of the food, etc. You or the hostess keeps the money for reimbursement for the expense of the food. Combine this with letting everyone bring a dish, and you can have a party without much expense. We've done this several times and it is a big hit. It's a way to get a few last minute gifts to have on hand if someone comes to see you unexpectedly.
These are just a few ideas that you can use to help have a holiday season without the stress. Bottom line, put your thinking cap on, and keep it simple. Visit A Mom's Shop - Online Shopping Mall for great gift ideas that won't break the bank. Check out our Kid's Favorites section for toys, games, and videos that your kids will love for Christmas.
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