Christmas Is Nearly Here? I’m Still Eating Easter Eggs!

The end of the year and more importantly, Christmas has snuck up on me like Seth sneaks up to chocolate – stealthily, with purpose and without a care that you planned to do something else with it.

I can’t believe that I am already starting to look at pictures on Instagram of people putting up trees and setting up their twinkly lights.  It’s almost surreal that we are already here, prepping for the end of the year.  And let’s be honest, prepping is not my strongest skill.  Aaah, who am I kidding, it’s not even really a skill that I possess at all, I just sometimes pretend that I have got all my crap together.  But also, it really feels like just yesterday that this was happening in my lounge…

If there is one thing that Pinterest has taught me – besides the fact other Moms always have beautiful, TIDY houses, perfectly manicured fingers and toes, the skills to make amazing meals at the drop of a hat and enough free time to make crazy crafts with their children every day…  It’s that people seem to have their crap together a whole lot more than I do.  Let me give you some examples of how everyone else is getting their festive season planning going:

• Already prepping all the ‘special’ Christmas decorations that represent every member of their family for their Christmas tree or making gorgeous crafts with their kids everyday to adorn their tree (that is probably already up).
• Already finding new and more creative ways for their Elf to surprise their kids every morning leading up to Christmas morning – I’m also going to go out on a limb and say that they may have already started this too…
• Already planning (and probably already purchasing) gifts for like, every person they have ever met.
• Already have the special Christmas outfits for the kids to wear on Christmas day safely tucked away in the cupboard.

Is it just me that is feeling seriously behind on this?

So I’ve decided that I am going to get my butt in gear and actually be productive now, rather than later, when I would be struggling to get everything sorted in shopping malls that have so many people in it that I would rather work straight through this season just to avoid it.  But just because I’m getting myself sorted out doesn’t mean that I am going to be spending hours on everything, I would rather be spending this valuable time with my family.

My aim this year is to make things simple, enjoyable and keep it in line with what suits our family. 

Nothing makes organisation easier than lists (or so I’m told).  So this is my list of things to get done that are part of our traditions:

• Sort through the toys that the kids have and get them to give some away to kids that don’t have any toys (we will be doing this through Uncle Pauls this year – finally!)
• Make some wrapping paper with the kids (with Seth’s scrap A0’s that he gets from work and a little water colour paint, it’s perfect to keep them busy and also looks cute as wrapping).
• Going for a family photo shoot (finally).  I figure Christmas (a full year and a bit after Knox was born) is finally time to commission a family photo.  You know, before he turns 18 and refuses to be in it.
• Put the tree up only around 1 December.  It’s a big flipping tree and I prefer to get a fair amount of use out of all the effort we put in to get it up.  I’m really excited to see the tree in our new house though, and also secretly hoping that it won’t end up like last year.
• Get the kids their Christmas outfits for Christmas day.  I am actually going to go the online route for this – with Sticky Fudge – then not only do they get gorgeous clothes, but they also get to open an early Christmas present.  (If you are looking for a place to get your kids clothes for Christmas, then you should definitely check them out…)

What’s on your to do list to make your Christmas traditions come to life?