Are you ready for Christmas? I AM NOT and every January I say, “next time I will be more organised,” but here we are in October, and nothing has been done in preparation for the most wonderful time of the year.
When I say prepared, I had wanted to have the following things done by now:
Presents
Bought at least three presents for my 5-year-old, along with finding and clearing somewhere to hide presents that he cannot physically get to or reach.
My list is written. Having a large extended family is an expensive Christmas for me but not if I plan, plan and plan!! I have siblings, nieces, nephews, parents, close friends and their families I like to buy for. Each list I do has their name, the idea for a present, whether it’s bought and wrapped. That’s 27 presents in total!
Stock Up
The other thing is stocking up for the Christmas holidays, making sure we had everything in and ready for the impromptu visits. This included biscuits, crackers and all the bits with a long expiry date. These are the sort of things that can be whipped out and made into a snack or even some sort of brunch when someone turns up with presents at the last minute. Not forgetting the booze of course. Come on it’s the Christmas holidays, the most wonderful time of the year!!
However unfortunately this year and I don’t have any excuses and I have nothing ready.
Backup plan!
I like to think that by September I’ve started some of the prep for Christmas. When I realised this wasn’t going to happen, I went to my Christmas jar. I didn’t mention that did I? Every payday (apart from January because let’s face it that is the tightest time of the year) I top up my jar. I usually put anything from £20 to £60 in there, depending on what sort of month I’ve had. So when my car needed an MOT I put £20 in, when we were in Isolation and didn’t get out £50 went in. You get the idea.
Lockdown I used an extra savings account I have because everyone got vouchers. This year it’s all about consumables, as a family, we had previously discussed the amount of money wasted on Christmas ‘tat’.
Consumables
This is one of the best presents you can get, I have had recipients say to me, “what a lovely idea!” I know others make hampers for their families, and they can also be purchased already made up. However, you always get that one thing that you don’t like. For me, it’s fun wrapping them individually and watching them being opened, and it takes the worry out of ‘what to do when the presents are open’. It takes the pleasure away from those people that enjoy making and creating things like this, but it’s not for everyone. It’s nice if you do like doing hampers because it can be quite therapeutic.
However, for me, I just like purchasing luxuries for people to enjoy. Getting my parents wine that they like, my dad a pack of his favourite chocolate bars and my mum her favourite soap. I know it may seem a tad boring to some, but I know my family and friends appreciate it. I look forward to a chocolate orange every year from my brother and I know he looks forward to his Toblerone!
As well as from us, my five-year-old also likes to wrap and give presents at Christmas which can also work out expensive. This is another reason why we end up getting consumables, getting something, you know they like. This year he will be getting extra presents for everyone, but they’re all going to be biodegradable or better for the environment. The Christmas before lockdown for my family they each got something homemade, or sustainable. This way it’s encouraging them to continue with this and we’ve also done our bit, we go to the local farmer’s markets where we live which is always a good place to start. We also have a little shop called Lemon & Jinga that sell unique gifts too.
You shouldn’t need to spend a lot of money on your loved ones, I know the children don’t understand so much but the last time I bought everyone presents I spent £8 on each person. That may be a lot of some but the average that people spend is between £10 and £50, I feel that the more people you spend on the less you spend.
Conclusion
The main thing is to enjoy Christmas because remember last year when we were in lockdown? It was limited to who we could and couldn’t see? I felt for larger families. We were lucky we all had our own little families and we all split into our little bubbles. FaceTime and Whatsapp were our friends, but it made us appreciate what Christmas is all about.
We won’t be going back to our large gatherings at Christmas just yet, we’re all holding off this year because of the pandemic. However, we have had get-togethers in the summer where we’re all outside which has been lovely. I feel grateful that we have the technology to keep in touch with each other currently and I still wear my mask when I’m out and about.
About the Author
I’m Annabel and I like to write! I’m a mature mum navigating life having had IVF after multiple miscarriages. My miracle baby boy finally arrived early at 28 weeks. My blog http://annabelwrites.com is full of my world with ideas, tears, tantrums and belly laughs along the way.
