Today is the first day of December!
Are you all still with me? No panic attacks or passing out? This time of year always seems to fly by and it feels like I am squeezing 3 times the events and activities on to the calendar as will comfortably fit there.
Today is my birthday, but a couple of weeks ago, I got a great present from P&G full of stuff I need and will use (who told them my grey hairs were showing again?). In addition to the hair color, there were Crest Whitestrips, make-up from Cover Girl, Ivory body wash and this luxurious gift pack from Olay.
P&G has a line of gift sets available now in stores for about $10/each that might be the answer to some of your gift giving dilemmas (products like Olay, Pantene, Secret, Venus and CoverGirl) . Even people that have everything can use body wash or shampoo. And how nice to get presents that you’ll actually use and won’t clutter your home or add to your waistline. The Wall Street Journal even wrote about these kind of gift-giving ideas. You can like P&G on Facebook to get more details! So, like I said, it’s my birthday but I’m giving you the present!
I just need a little of your help, first!
If you’ve read my blog for long, you will know that “Simple” isn’t my forte. I love it when things are simple, but my schemes tend to be on the grand end of the spectrum and often turn out to be more complicated than I had planned. (Did you read about my cookie trees?) With custom Christmas cards, homemade gifts, and too many December birthdays, it is easy for me to be overwhelmed with stress. I need your best tips for avoiding holiday stress! And P&G is collecting them.
If you need a couple of ideas you might listen to the MomTime Radio podcast I participated in (called Holiday Organizing), where we shared ideas, AND please join me in the #SNAPchat today about this very topic! (You’d think with all of these resources, I’d start to figure it out.)
I do have one tip to share…
–though it may be a little late for this year.
I’ve been doing this for a while and it works well for me. I bought these pretty boxes from IKEA and put fun labels on them: “Boy Toys” and “Girl Gifts”. They live in my closet, up on my shelf, where prying eyes can’t easily reach.
Through out the year, when I find great deal (usually clearance) on toys or gifts, I buy them and put them in the appropriate box. Also, sometimes I’ll find great deals on shoes or clothes that are just a size or two too big for my kids. They go in the box, too. When Christmas (or birthdays) roll around, I pull down the box and see what I have to work with before running to the store. I usually don’t need to do tons of shopping for gifts at the last minute and save the stress of spending all of the money at one time. One year Target had an awesome clearance on tons of toys in the first week or two in January. I loaded up on gifts that lasted me all year–even some until Christmas. When kids were invited to a birthday party, we’d pull something out of the box instead of rushing to the store.
I hope this is helpful to some of you. Around Christmas time, I have to expand my hiding places as the gifts might not always fit within the confines of the boxes, but it really helps to keep the small things together and keep an inventory of what I really have.
Your turn:
Leave me a comment with your best tip or story about how you simplify the holidays–with out losing the magic–and you’ll be entered to win your own great gift basket from P&G–valued at around $90!!!
(2) BONUS ENTRIES: You can get one extra entry by sharing this giveaway on Facebook or Twitter and leaving a comment letting me know! You can say something like this:
{Presents for YOU! Enter to win a $90 P&G Beauty gift @myinsanity #giveaway http://ow.ly/7LgeO }
Participating in today’s SNAPchat TODAY at 10:30 is also worth one extra entry. Just leave a comment telling me you did and what your Twitter handle is.
Official Rules: No purchase necessary. US Residents Only. Giveaway will end on Monday December 5, 2011 at 11:59 pm MST. One winner with a valid entry will be selected at random using random.org. Winner will be notified by email and will have 48 hours to claim their prize or another winner will be selected.
Disclosure: This post was compensated by P&G and the Motherhood. All opinions expressed are my own!
I hope you can help me make it through this season in one piece!
We plan one crock pot meal a week, doesn’t matter if its summer or winter. Since dinner is so easy (and so is cleanup) that night, it’s our family night. We bake cookies, take a walk, play a game, etc etc. Since we are both working parents, havine 1 night a week where dinner is ready when we walk in the door and cleanup takes 5 minutes, it really frees up a lot of time for us, so we make the best of that extra time. Weeknights are hectic and full, so it’s a nice break mid week, and my son loves it.
That is a great idea! I always feel like supermom when I have a crockpot meal hot and ready, even though they are so easy to do!
As part of our advent calendar I plan out all of our Christmas activities BEFORE December. This ensures we still do all the things we would like to without having to rush around coming up with a plan.
Smart! We only have time for what we make time to do, right?
During the holidays there is always so much to do, that we forget that not “doing” something is just as important. The last three years have been extra special. One night we black out- no planned events, no visits, no special activities. With 5 little boys, these black out days don’t lack for excitement and some of our favorite memories have come from those days.
I need to go to my calendar and see if I can find any days to black out!! Love this!!
I love lists so I’ve been making a gift list. Since we have no money at this time, I’m making everything by hand. Pinterest has really helped with my gift list this year. I work on projects when I can. I always have my “craft” bag ready of the items I can do on the go.
LOVE Pinterest. I’d love to see what all you come up with!
When the kids do something unplanned, I try to go with it – – a fun puppet show or quick dance game – – makes me slow down and have fun!!
Great tip! So hard to be “in the moment”, sometimes, when you have a giant to-do list.
I try to start getting Christmas gifts and ideas for people in the summer. Doesn’t work for everyone on my list(like my husband!) but it does help me be less stressed now!
I tweeted! http://twitter.com/#!/Monzarts/status/142302400164798464
I tried to participate in the snapchat but I’m new to twitter and don’t understand it that well!
No problem, Monica. Let me know if you need help next time. I just go to Tweetchat.com and enter the snapchat hashtag. It’s not too tough, once you know what to do.
We have decided with out kids that we don’t need a lot of stuff coming into our house and we have decided that the season is really about spending time together as a family. This year, we are taking a trip with extended family before Chirstmas. We will be spending winter break at home playing games, cooking and crafting as a family. We want our kids to remember that it isn’t always about what you get, it’s about what you can do to give to others. My kids are getting stockings this year and we will be getting some family games.
I think this is fantastic! Kids can get a little entitled about the present thing. I love it when we can shift the focus to something more important.
Do as much baking and cooking ahead as possible. Spend more time with your family that way. I spent many years being in the kitchen for what seemed like days before Christmas. I missed out on so much. Also this year we are incorporating RAOK’s into our routine.
I also do not know how to snapchat.
I’ll tell you how to Snapchat if you take me what RAOK’s are. Oh wait! Random Acts of Kindness?? Is that it? That is what I need to work on with my kiddos this year. Do you have a Twitter account, Sandy?
I try to simplify the holidays by planning ahead. I shop for the kids’ presents throughout the year so I don’t get caught in the last minute rush. And I avoid stores in December at all costs – internet shopping baby! 🙂
I hear ya! I always shop through the year when I can get things at a good price. I just checked my inventory though, and realized I don’t have much for my girls, yet. 🙁
We try to simplify things by drawing names in our family for gifts. That way we only have to focus on a gift for one family member instead of 10. I am also a list maker so I make lists for everything and start planning way ahead of time!
We do the name drawing thing, too. If we bought for all of our siblings, that would be 11 families to shop for!!
I have found over the years to take one day off (even SAHM’s can do this) in the middle of the week with my husband and finish up shopping. I plan to get the things I need his help with, such as larger gifts, MIL & FIL gifts. We kill 2 birds with one stone – get the shopping done and also spend the day together, just us on a “date”. A fun shopping date, and it is very stress free and relaxing, as well as fun!
Good point! Why can’t the process be fun, not just the result? AND middle of the week is so much better for shopping than weekends!
To simplify things at the holiday without losing the *magic*, I buy gift cards online as gifts so I don’t have to fight any crowds, drive for hours looking for a parking space, or wonder what to get someone. That way they can get whatever they want and I don’t have to worry I got them the wrong size or color – it’s a win/win!
I am turning more and more to on-line shopping. Real shopping wears me out!
I tweeted this giveaway (@fwoodward)!
I try and wrap all my presents as I purchase them, to avoid Christmas Eve all nighters.
Such a good idea! I need to work on this one. Do you set up a present wrapping station somewhere in the house?
Christmas is my very favorite time of the year and I love so many of the activities — it is hard for me to simplify! 🙂 A few things have helped…having five kids has taught me to roll with the punches. Sometimes for me it is not the busyness or “complicatedness” (yep, that’s a word now) that is the problem; the real problem is often my attitude. I can do something grand as long as I enjoy the process. I enjoy the planning and the dreaming and then I do my best to enjoy the reality no matter how it ends up. Also, finding quiet moments to truly celebrate Christ plus finding fun moments to laugh with the kids are both things that help. Maybe I don’t worry so much about the word “simplify” and instead I turn to the word “focus”…focus on the emotions and memories, the special scents and sounds of the season. That, for me, is what makes Christmas magical.
I love this, Becky!! I always feel bad that I’m not good at simple, but maybe focus is the better word for me, too! Maybe I can stop feeling bad that my grand schemes aren’t more simple and just focus on the excitement they bring!
We have a holiday decorating party each year. It’s a fun way to bring in the holidays, visit with family, and to keep the stress away.
Everything is much more fun when it is a party, isn’t it?
Shared on Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/ccboobooy/posts/253895571338507
For those of you who were asking about joining in the #SNAPchat. There is a step by step tutorial on this post: http://www.snaptheconference.com/how-to-participate-in-a-twitter-party/
We chat most every Thurs @ 10:30 MST.