It’s October. Yes, we haven’t celebrated Halloween, yet. Yes, I am going to be THAT person talking about Christmas before the jack-o-lanterns have even been carved. But friends, it’s all intentional. A Christmas Plan now can make the season a bit more magical and peaceful come December.
Last year was my first year planning Christmas early after speaking to a sweet mom at MOPS. This mom told me she finishes her Christmas shopping before Thanksgiving. Her reasoning was this: she wanted to enjoy December in all it’s glory and not fret about gifts and planning. At the time I thought it was a little extreme, but the more I thought about it, the more it resonated with me. I want to savor December, too.
My Christmas Plan was super helpful last year and I was able to be more present with my people and soak in the magical season. So I am back for round two.
As I write this, I am close to 50% done Christmas shopping, have been readying my pantry, and thinking through our Christmas Calendar.
A good plan is a good idea. Plans allow us to be intentional with our actions so we can achieve our goals. A plan isn’t always necessary, but can be helpful and, at times, essential. I don’t need a plan for what I’m going to do at quiet time each day (although it sure helps). But, I should probably have a plan when taking our family of six to Disney World.
For our family, Christmas is a big deal. Commemorating Christ coming to earth as a baby is cause for great celebration in our home. It may or may not be for your family. If it is, I would argue a Christmas Plan helps make the holiday much more enjoyable and a lot less stressful.
Here is what I am doing to prepare for the magical Christmas season.
Christmas Shopping
I use a Christmas list spreadsheet to outline the people our family will purchase gifts for this year. It outlines in detail who we are buying for, what we are buying, and the cost of the gift. Each year I copy and paste the previous year’s spreadsheets into a new tab. I have used this list for years and although I review and revise each year, the bones stay the same. In the past I have edited at the end of October, but now I open it early September and start making plans.
An alternative to a spreadsheet is a notebook outlining the who, what, and cost of each Christmas gift.
I am about half way done with my Christmas list. The last gifts I need to buy are mostly for my own babes. My hope is to be done before December 1 and (fingers crossed) I think it’s realistic at this point.
A few things I have found to be helpful in buying Christmas gifts.
1. Start Early
For years I have shopped year round and kept bought gifts in a ‘GIFTS’ tub high and away from little eyes (The women in my life have taught me well). However, the past two years, I have been intentional with starting the list sooner. The earlier I have my list in hand, the quicker and simpler my shopping becomes. My spreadsheet holds every person I will buy for along with the gift and cost. This keeps me accountable to stay on budget, to shop intentionally, and helps me avoid impulse purchases.
2. Give similar gifts for specific groups of people.
This has been sanity saving for me. I give the same gifts to various groups of people. For example, I enjoy giving small gifts to my MOPS table as well as neighbors. Giving the same gift to similar groups of people just makes sense. This small Christmas hack makes Christmas shopping a bit simpler and I still believe people feel loved in the giving.
3. Shop online.
This isn’t rocket science, but it is smart. In the time of COVID, this is probably the route many are taking. Most of the shopping I have already completed has been online. I have shopped small and shopped Amazon. (Some of my favorite small shops are: Alice and Ames, Charli Dean Designs, Wax Buffalo, and Natural Joy Boutique.) When those packages come in the mail, I simply place them in the ‘GIFT’ tub that lives in my master closet. I will wrap all the gifts when the season gets closer because it is something I enjoy. My Thursday and Friday afternoons in December will be spent watching Christmas movies and wrapping gifts for the special people in my life.
Readying the Home
No, my Christmas decorations are not up. Pumpkins are still donning our porches and our costumes are hanging in the closet ready to be worn on the last day of October. Christmas pretties wait until after Thanksgiving at our house.
However, I have been readying our pantry and freezer for the upcoming holiday season. Our family has tried to use what we have in the pantry and freezer this fall to make room for the goodies that will fill it for the upcoming holidays. I also did a quick pantry sweep to purge expired items.
In the next month, I will stock up on pantry items needed for the holiday season. Things for baking: flour, sugar, pie crusts, vanilla, peanut butter, sprinkles. And ingredients for comfort foods: butternut squash, chicken stock, yeast for bread, and bacon. Readying my home now takes one thing off my plate later.
The Christmas Calendar
We all know the month of December can fill up fast. Things might be a little different with COVID in the mix, but there will still be things to do and ways to celebrate. Last year we made a list of things we wanted to do as a family. This year we did the same and they are currently on the calendar. In October. We won’t be scrambling to find time to do certain activities together because we already know when we are cutting down our tree and delivering neighbor gifts. It’s on the calendar.
Another perk of including the calendar in the Christmas Plan is it allows us to know what we can and can’t do when things come up. It’s impossible to do everything in December, so knowing what we do want to do and planning ahead allows us to make space for it.
Christmas Traditions
I am a sucker for Christmas traditions. They give me all the warm, fuzzy feelings and I can’t help but appreciate them all. However, I know myself and how I can get overwhelmed. I know myself and know I can’t do all the Christmas traditions. I know myself and what will work and won’t work for our family. This year I made a list of traditions our family will do and will not do. I honestly think there is more power in making the ‘will not’ list.
We will…
Read a Christmas book each day.
Cut down our Christmas tree and decorate it together.
Deliver gifts to our neighbors.
Make a birthday cake for Jesus.
We will not…
Wrap a book up for each day of December.
Visit every Santa sighting.
Do elf on the shelf.
Add things to our ‘will’ list after scrolling social media.
As someone who sometimes struggles with FOMO, I know the Christmas ‘will’ and ‘will not’ lists will come in handy. If you make a list as well, please know your list will be different than mine and that’s 1000% the way it should be. It’s quite possible a tradition I desire for my family will not be one you desire for your’s. THERE IS NO RIGHT WAY TO DO CHRISTMAS. #amen
I yearn for a little more peace in my Christmas and a little less hectic. I am hopeful having a Christmas Plan will allow me to be more present during the month of December with my people and truly celebrate the reason for the season: the birth of our Savior. Tell me: Will you have a Christmas Plan for the upcoming season? Do you have any tips or tricks to make Christmas a bit more peaceful and a little less stressful? I would love to hear!
1 thought on “A Christmas Plan”
Comments are closed.