Organizing for the Holidays

When was the last time you had a stress free holiday? More than any other time of year we have more shopping, planning, decorating and food preparation. All of these additional activities have to fit in with our regular responsibilities. The best way to handle this busy time is to create a plan and get organized.

Gift giving is probably the most time consuming part of the holidays. It is important to create a list of everyone, and I mean everyone, you will be gifting this season; from family to your children’s teachers. In addition to that list, have a small wallet-sized reference card with clothing sizes for those on your list for whom you will be buying clothes. You can use this reference card throughout the year for birthdays also. Try to group your shopping by store location, so you are not doing additional driving. If you want to make shopping a lot faster, take a morning off in the middle of the week, no crowds at the mall!

When you have multiple children, nieces, nephews, or grandchildren to buy for, there is nothing worse than starting off the holiday with Johnny whining because Susie got 7 presents and he only received 6. Once kids can count, it is all over. For younger children keep the quantity of gifts equal. For older children, keep the total dollar value of all their gifts equal between children. The older ones understand this concept. Most importantly, prepare your children with realistic expectations, in other words, no puppy and no new red Mustang for the teenager.

None of us can remember from year to year, how much wrapping paper and which decorations we have. It is a great idea to store everything neatly in appropriate containers and label the contents. Holiday wrapping paper should be separate from other wrapping paper. The best containers have lift out trays for storing ribbons, bows and tags. Store fragile holiday ornaments in compartmentalized containers. Holiday storage containers can be purchased from StacksAndStacks.com, TheContainerStore.com, Target, Bed Bath & Beyond or many other variety stores.

One of the best parts of the season is connecting with those you do not get to see often or at all during the year. Whether you send out cards or annual letters, addressing the envelopes takes time. To make this easier, purchase address labels from any office supply business. Avery is a well known brand and provides formatting instructions in the box. Once you have entered all of the addresses, simply print them out and apply them to the envelopes. Additions and changes are easily done throughout the year and your file can be used over and over.

Now that we have the gifts wrapped and the mail ready, be sure to send everything out on time. UPS ground suspends its guaranteed arrival dates on December 12th. If you ship after that, you have no assurance that it will arrive on time. Your mail should be sent out no later than the 14th. Mark these dates on your calendar so you are sure to stay on track.

Lastly, but most importantly, schedule time for your family holiday traditions; walk the lights, see the Nutcracker, have a small gift exchange with friends. You do not have to say yes to every invitation; this is a time for family. Celebrate the way that works for your family. Have a joyful holiday season!

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