I'm freaking out a little. Why? Because Christmas is only 60 days away!! That's why! Are you ready? (I'm not.) Have you started getting ready?? (Well...kinda sorta. I'm Pinning!) Who am I kidding? No, I haven't started getting ready.
Fortunately, whilst in the middle of a panic attack that was brought on by reading the "Hot New Toys and Christmas Wishlist of 2011" I remembered something wonderful. A couple years ago I started writing a letter to myself on Christmas day. I call it "Lessons Learned from Christmas (fill in the year)." Every year, after all the wrapping and the unwrapping, the laughter and the tears, the hugging and the fighting, the binging on candy and the diet resolutions, I find myself generally happy and satisfied with how Christmas went, but also coming up with ideas for how it could have been better. Particularly in the gift-giving department. Having grown tired of watching the girls break, lose, destroy, and abandon their Christmas toys by New Years Eve year after year after year, I decided I need something to break the cycle. Something that will reign-in my impulse to buy TOYS for Christmas. That's when I got smart and started writing Christmas Day letters to myself. See? I am (on occasion) quite brilliant and cunning and wise. Here are my words of wisdom to myself from last year.
Lessons Learned from Christmas 2010
Amber, pay attention! This was written just for you on Christmas day 2010…so these ideas are FRESH and probably worth considering.
Forget toys! Ok, maybe ONE cool toy per kid. Focus instead on:
- Games that involve 2+ players. Family game night has been a huge hit lately! Especially with Haleigh and Brooklyn getting older and better at playing a variety of games.
- Puzzles…the girls LOVE those (especially Brooklyn) and they didn’t get ANY in 2010.
- CLOTHES! They’re girls. They love getting new clothes And let’s admit, their wardrobe usually looks a bit shabby by the end of the year.
- SHOES! See above.
- Movies are always a hit. Think of all the kid-friendly box office blockbusters they never went to see. Better yet, what were YOUR favorite movies when you were a kid? Think obscure...like The Flight of Dragons, or the Secret of Nimh, or The Never Ending Story, or The Flight of the Navigator.
- Musical instruments. All the girls loved your guitar that Warren gave you. Especially Haleigh. Maybe you could outfit them all with some sort of instrument and you’ll have your own band!
- Craft items. I know you hate them. But they DO keep the girls entertained, they love them, and are very rarely a waste of money. (unlike those toys…hint, hint)
- Scrapbooks or Memory Books. You have gajillions of digital photos of the girls from the moment they were born. But very few have made it into print. And Brooklyn is so sad that she doesn't have a baby book like the other two girls. This could get expensive or, at the very least, time consuming. But think about how much you loved looking through all the family photo albums when you were a kid. The best part of making memories is being able to look back and actually remember them!
- Electric toothbrushes. You know they beg for stuff like that but you never buy them. Stocking stuffers!
- Speaking of stocking stuffers, make those items stuff you don’t really care if you’re not around when they open it. That way they can take their stockings to their rooms and dig in, while you & Warren get some extra shut eye.
- Speaking of shut eye...make time to prep EVERYTHING before Christmas Eve. And I mean everything. Wrap all the presents and make all the gift tags. Get all the stocking stuffer stuff divvied up and ready to go. Don't stay up late no matter how tempting it is! Go to bed when the kids do and set the alarm for 4am to do the Santa thing. It’s better to get to sleep from 9pm to 4am, rather than from midnight to 1am.
- Taryn’s gonna be 10 ½ this year, so keep in mind she doesn’t need the little kiddie gifts anymore. Maybe something a little more mature. A charm bracelet, a nice journal, maybe some music, or a nice purse.
- Something you said ON Christmas day 2010 was “Next year I want to be more practical and thoughtful in my gift giving.” So before you buy anything this year, keep that tucked away.
Sometimes I love myself. Great advice, self! Ah, now I feel like I can breathe a little and not freak out so much about Christmas. Oh, I'll still have at least one melt-down, I'm sure. But then I can pick myself up off the floor and go back to my plan for a better, more practical, more thoughtful Christmas in 2011.
This IS genius! So many great ideas I can use, too!
Posted by: Regan | October 25, 2011 at 03:44 PM