January 3, 2012
Dear Krista,
This is your post-Christmas 2011 self writing to you with a few words of advice/wisdom for you to take into account this Christmas season.
First and foremost, get your shopping done now!!! Prioritize this and have it done no later than December 10th! Do it online and don’t worry about sales that might be better in the future. Hopefully you have even been shopping throughout the year and have some purchases made.
You have to buy for:
(all of our family)
Toys for Tots
Military Servicemen
You have to bake/craft for:
(all of our friends)
Secondly, do NOT spoil the girls! You bought way too much last year for them. So much so that they didn’t really appreciate anything. Except the Squinkies. If those are still cool, get them a package of those. I know you have this vision in your head of a tree exploding with presents underneath it on Christmas morning, but that doesn’t have to actually happen for the girls to have a memorable Christmas. If you still want the look, wrap up empty boxes in Christmas paper. Or better yet, put fun love notes for everyone in boxes and wrap them up – still fun to open, no money expended, and you get more presents under the tree.
Do you have the Christmas card photo taken already? If not, plan it now. If you do, upload it to Costco and order 100. You don’t need more than 100. You had too many extras last year.
Next, decide on a church service you are going to now and don’t change course for anything. If someone else schedules something that conflicts with the time you have picked, so be it. You’ll either be late, need to leave early, or won’t be able to attend. Note: St. Paul had a Christmas Eve Children’s mass at 4:00 last year that the girls might enjoy.
Another thing … get your wrapping done ASAP! Forbid yourself to be wrapping anything on Christmas Eve like you did last year. Remember? You were up until 2:30 in the morning.
Also, do not forget about Santa’s milk and cookies. None of this popping cookies in the oven at midnight again.
Last year things were so crazed you didn’t get to read the girls Twas the Night Before Christmas like you have wanted to each year. Plan that into the evening. Perhaps read it at Papa Moose’s to all the little ones.
Buy the girls one cute Christmas t-shirt each.
Do NOT overpack the month of December. Remember you already will have Diego and the Triplet’s birthday parties not to mention possible Alexander’s as well. Say no. Don’t feel like you have to do everything. I think you should keep it to two planned things only. Taking the girls to walk around the Chino neighborhood of lights one night. And having the friends over for a Christmas craft another night. If all of your shopping and wrapping is done, you can do more.
If you have not already formulated a plan, purchased items, and begun to work on extra Christmas crafts for the house, forget about them. Don’t add to your stress.
Get to bed early.
Make Joel watch Love Actually with you.
Sit down with the girls and watch Elf, or Santa Claus, or Polar Express.
Do NOT forget to take a picture of the girls in their Christmas dresses like you did last year! You still need to put them back in their dresses and take one for this past Christmas.
If you can accomplish all of these things, I think you will enjoy the Christmas season much more. Remember, it’s not about how perfectly all the decorations are put up or the visual image people see. It’s about the memories and the bonds created with your family during this special time we celebrate the birth of Christ!
With love and hope for you,
Krista
Dear Krista,
This is your post-Christmas 2011 self writing to you with a few words of advice/wisdom for you to take into account this Christmas season.
First and foremost, get your shopping done now!!! Prioritize this and have it done no later than December 10th! Do it online and don’t worry about sales that might be better in the future. Hopefully you have even been shopping throughout the year and have some purchases made.
You have to buy for:
(all of our family)
Toys for Tots
Military Servicemen
You have to bake/craft for:
(all of our friends)
Secondly, do NOT spoil the girls! You bought way too much last year for them. So much so that they didn’t really appreciate anything. Except the Squinkies. If those are still cool, get them a package of those. I know you have this vision in your head of a tree exploding with presents underneath it on Christmas morning, but that doesn’t have to actually happen for the girls to have a memorable Christmas. If you still want the look, wrap up empty boxes in Christmas paper. Or better yet, put fun love notes for everyone in boxes and wrap them up – still fun to open, no money expended, and you get more presents under the tree.
Do you have the Christmas card photo taken already? If not, plan it now. If you do, upload it to Costco and order 100. You don’t need more than 100. You had too many extras last year.
Next, decide on a church service you are going to now and don’t change course for anything. If someone else schedules something that conflicts with the time you have picked, so be it. You’ll either be late, need to leave early, or won’t be able to attend. Note: St. Paul had a Christmas Eve Children’s mass at 4:00 last year that the girls might enjoy.
Another thing … get your wrapping done ASAP! Forbid yourself to be wrapping anything on Christmas Eve like you did last year. Remember? You were up until 2:30 in the morning.
Also, do not forget about Santa’s milk and cookies. None of this popping cookies in the oven at midnight again.
Last year things were so crazed you didn’t get to read the girls Twas the Night Before Christmas like you have wanted to each year. Plan that into the evening. Perhaps read it at Papa Moose’s to all the little ones.
Buy the girls one cute Christmas t-shirt each.
Do NOT overpack the month of December. Remember you already will have Diego and the Triplet’s birthday parties not to mention possible Alexander’s as well. Say no. Don’t feel like you have to do everything. I think you should keep it to two planned things only. Taking the girls to walk around the Chino neighborhood of lights one night. And having the friends over for a Christmas craft another night. If all of your shopping and wrapping is done, you can do more.
If you have not already formulated a plan, purchased items, and begun to work on extra Christmas crafts for the house, forget about them. Don’t add to your stress.
Get to bed early.
Make Joel watch Love Actually with you.
Sit down with the girls and watch Elf, or Santa Claus, or Polar Express.
Do NOT forget to take a picture of the girls in their Christmas dresses like you did last year! You still need to put them back in their dresses and take one for this past Christmas.
If you can accomplish all of these things, I think you will enjoy the Christmas season much more. Remember, it’s not about how perfectly all the decorations are put up or the visual image people see. It’s about the memories and the bonds created with your family during this special time we celebrate the birth of Christ!
With love and hope for you,
Krista
1 comment:
This is cracking me up! I have had the same "reminder" for twenty years! Just wait... the kids will be in school and need a gift for their teacher, then they will need gifts for their favorite buddies - of which you do not find out who a new buddy is until the night before the last day of school. You will have the school Christmas Program, treats for all of the students in the class, the end of year team Soccer party... I think you need to face it, women can not enjoy Christmas until AFTER Christmas. Too stressful! This was the first year that my son realized where Santa came from - so I did not have to hide gifts and wrap them in a different paper from the rest of the other gifts. I did not have to wait until after midnight when the kids were asleep to go and retrieve the gifts and place them falling out of the fireplace and getting the ashes all over the floor to look as if someone had really come out of the fire place. It was like having a child potty trained and no more diapers! I felt such freedom! One thing that my kids really loved is getting the letter from Santa though. There is a place online where you choose the letter, they mail it with a sticker and such from Santa Claus. Jackson asked me "if there is no Santa Mom, then why did HE write me those letters?" So cute!
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