…and the to-do list is NOT delightful!
If you’re like me, you probably find yourself IN CHARGE of Christmas arrangements every year. Let’s face it, moms are the CEOs of the family, and I don’t know about you, but I don’t have an administrative assistant to delegate to!
So, come December, I find myself in a flurry of activity. Let’s see, we’ve got:
- Put up decorations. Yes, this involves either putting up the outside lights myself or goading my husband into doing it for me (through the liberal use of a "honey-do list"; except I don’t call him "honey", and sometimes he doesn’t do the things I ask him to. Darn independent thinkers…)
- Re-locate the decorations that I’ve delegated to the kids. Usually they will all be placed together on the fireplace mantel. I know they have their priorities straight (let’s face it; this is where Santa makes his big entrance, so of course they will focus their decorating energy there) but I like to spread the cheer a little more evenly through the main floor of the house.
- Buy presents for everyone. For my husband. For my kids. For myself (although I do have to give my husband credit…he does usually come through with a good gift every year). For my in-laws (ack. What to say?).
- Make presents for everyone. For the record, my family agrees not to spend money on each other (kids excluded) and I send a big box of homemade goodies (edible and knitted and/or sewn and/or scrapbooked) for them to open together.
- Bake stuff. A lot of stuff. I love to do it, but where is the time?
- Knit. This was a great idea, but when you’re knitting slippers for the kids, you have to wait until they’re in bed before you get out the knitting. That’s a small window of time. I’ll let you know if these make it under the tree or if they become a New Year’s present!
- Scrapbook. Why did I buy 3 12X12 frames in which to present my scrapbook masterpieces for the in-laws? Again, a great idea but where is the time?
- Put up the tree. Last year we caved and got a fake one. At least I can scratch "vacuum pine needles" off my post-Christmas to do list. But that’s about the only good thing I can say about our fake (sob!) tree.
- Buy new tree lights. Has there ever been a tree-decorating party that didn’t involve a last-minute trip to Rona to get new lights?
- Order an organic free-range turkey. Pick up the turkey. Clear a big enough space in the fridge for the turkey. Cook the turkey. Cook everything else to go with the turkey. Oh well, at least I’ll be too busy to fight the kids for a turn on the Wii on Christmas day.
Well, there you have it. My Christmas Top Ten To-Dos. At least I know what we’re having for dessert on Christmas day, the delicious Baileys Cake that Agathe made!
What do you have on your list?
Kath is a regular urbanmoms.ca blogger at Losing It, and she also writes on her own personal blog, This Is Kat.
Hmmm…I took my 3 y.o. son to my husband’s kids Christmas party (it’s the TO fire department…it’s a big party with lots of stimulation)…did I mention that my husband forgot about it and had committed himself to something he couldn’t back out of so then I had to chase my son around all afternoon all by myself? Then there’s my work’s kids Christmas party which I also am attending solo as the hubby is working his shift that day (can’t fault him from keeping the city from burning down). This is followed the next day by my boy’s b-day party for which I will have done everything for. Then a few days later my parents arrive for a week (and you know they’ll be judging how clean the house is…or isn’t in my case). Oh, and I’m working full time too, add to that I’m organizing the company Christmas party, hosting a pre-Christmas family dinner for 15 people and a boy who pulls a fit in the morning because the sun came up. He should be happy the sun came up because if it didn’t we’d all have a whole new set of problems to worry about! Oh yes, then there’s the decorating, present buying, card writing & mailing. Seriously where’s my assistant???
When you say it like that, Christmas doesn’t sound fun. It just sounds really, really “fatiguant!”. But I also love Christmas. Putting up the decorations can be a task on your list, but doing it with Jen’s favorite Christmas music (see Jen’s blog) makes it a fun moment. I love the thought of you knitting at night… hi, hi!
It’s the Christmas cards that always put me in a panic. Get a cute picture of the kids, buy the cards, address the envelopes, buy the stamps, send them out… I get panicky just thinking about it!
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! The list is overwhelming! Thank god I LOVE every minute of it!!