Christmas tips

Sorry Annobel - I'm just one of those horridly annoying people who likes to be organised - with fragmented families and oldies still to consider, wedding anniversary three days before Christmas and DS birthday on Boxing Day - I need to be organised . Probably not the right time to tell you that I have made cakes and puddings and they are all ready for 'feeding'. I ABSOLUTELY LOVE CHRISTMAS..........

Doesn't worry me, jogginggirl. I don't have to do the organising or cooking 'cos the younger generation has taken over. I only hope their offspring will do the same for them one day in the distant future.

I LOVE christmas and all its organisation seeing my family all together and happily enjoying themselves is the only gift I need. I have nearly finished present buying and have made cake etc

We spend Christmas with my daughter,partner and GC every year, we take the gifts, desserts, crackers,wine & nibbles, my daughter & partner cook a lovely lunch & we are thoroughly spoilt. I also make a 'pass the parcel', with small gifts and forfeits! The GC love it, but have to rack my brain each year to think of suitable forfeits! As they get older it does get more of a challenge, but they still seem to love it.

DHs job is to chew the apple's left for Rudolph and leave bit's on the plate and to spill some of the milk on to a saucer,and to do paw print's from front door as we don't have a chimney,this is a labour of love as DH does not enjoy apple's,he has done this for over 40yrs with our DCs and DGCs.

Oh, glamma, I think I will volunteer for that job this year. I love apples - just hope the dentist has finished the work on my new crown by that time.

I have to admit to an excel spreadsheet which I try and maintain so that I know whether I'm repeating a present to someone. I looked at it for the first time today and have begun filling in the gaps with ideas from catalogues. Then will come the spending bit!!! This armchair shopping is a doddle

I love the individual bag idea. My presents get put in carrier bags which are totally unattractive. I think I must oil the old [and I mean old!!!] sewing machine.

I'm enjoying this thread much to my surprise.

Ooooh, might have to steal the idea of a Christmas pass the parcel "Gilly70". Sounds fun, thank you. What sort of forfeits do you have? My GC are 5,6 and 7. Would appreciate your thoughts. Perhaps would do it on Boxing Day as they tend to be a bit gifted out on THE day!!

In my Christmas pass the parcel I put cracker - type riddles, which have to be answered correctly by someone before moving on. There are lots of ideas for these or forfeits on-line. I usually do a 'pin the nose on Rudolph' also found free on- line. Made a bit of a mess, but last year I bought a snowman pinata and filled with gifts and a few sweets - tattoo transfers went down well.

Nanaplug, this is brilliant. Even the 22 month old can have his own gift box. I noticed the supermarket had piled some boxes up to take away instead of throwing them out so I will get and decorate with bright paper and cut out cards. They can use them to take home their gifts too.

Having your christmas dinner on christmas eve means that you can spend all of christmas day with loved ones, preparing a buffet type meal later in the evening. It's worked well for us, for many a year and my children are following suit with their own families.

Plan, plan, plan and plan some more! This is a 3 step process...
1. Think about what you can really do. Don't take on more than you need to (or want to), it won't gain anything in the long run.
2. Think about when it needs doing. Spread jobs out over the weeks up to Christmas - a surprising amount can be done now. This allows you to programme in some time off to enjoy the fruits of your labour!
3. Actually do it. First you need to remember about each job - I put them in my diary for the relevant week so I see them when I turn the page & don't just forget. The actual "do"ing is sometimes the easiest bit!

It's a great idea to spread present buying throughout the year but I always found that by Christmas, my toy choice was now deemed "uncool", someone had become allergic to that perfume I bought or a hobby had fallen by the wayside. Instead, I spread buying my staples for November and December (cleaning products, loo rolls, pet food etc and, nearer the time, items like freezer food, stock cubes, rice and pasta, etc). That way, I can use my grocery budget to buy presents that will be appreciated without overspending.

That's why I collect Tesco savings stamps all year Funky. I use them for all the boring staples that are still needed over the festive season (plus the odd bottle of Baileys or Port ) freeing up cash to spend elsewhere on Christmas goodies.

notso I usually save my Tesco points over the year and use them for my Christmas shop, but this year as Asda is closer we have been saving £5.00 a week on the Christmas gift card when we do our shopping for the last few months, it eases that big shop.

Be Organised, Be Prepared and Enjoy yourself!

OMG! It's only ONE DAY!

See I told you in other threads I was feeling grumpy today - it's the WITCH in me!!

HildaW I also work at Waitrose as a 'picker', internet shopper to everyone else. Last year we had a lady doing her nut because we'd sold out of Heston's Xmas Pud. and she bought it later on Ebay for £600!!! We also get shoppers who arrive half an hour before closing and being more then a little annoyed that we've sold out of sprouts,parsnips and potatos. I bet we could write a whole coloumn about the daftness of Xmas shoppers.
Me I go to my son and his wife - I help of course as I make the cake and 2 Xmas Puds -but they know I'm so fed up with Xmas by then that I can't bear the thought of it

For a money saving Christmas, save last years christmas cards and cut them up as gift tags , they can look very pretty.
Buy basics gift wrap and make it look expensive with ribbons or tissue paper flowers.
Fill gift boxes with homemade biscuits for a lovely cost saving gift for friends and neighbours.
Enjoy the day and dont let it cost a lot, children will value your time more than any gift so have a fsmily day with loads of games and family activities.

Cancel it. No, only joking!

Don't go overboard. We don't spend a lot of money on the kids at Christmas - they get the big stuff, bikes, scooters, climbing frames etc for their birthdays.

It's only one day - you don't have to lay in enough food for a siege. Don't buy tins and tins of chocs and biscuits etc because you'll be sick to death of them by the week after New Year.

Keep things in perspective. Think what Christmas was like when you were kids. Was it simpler? Did you enjoy it less?

We try and be mindful of what Christmas is about - we're not a very religious family but we do try and go to church at least once over Christmas week.

Step-by-step guides are scary. Too many of them get published. Makes people anxious.

Just get up and do it.

Too much importance can be attached to getting things "right".

I like to make sure all the prezzie's for little one's are in order and ofcourse for my DCs' specially DD as she is still classed as The Princess in DHs eye's and she laps up the attention from everyone,(stroppy is what I call it )but apart from that if I forget anything on the day it's hard luck the world will not end and it will not spoil the day.

It's your Christmas too, take any help going, spend it with people you like (if you can), concentrate on enjoying yourself instead of worrying about other people for a change.

I always write a cooking/preparing schedule with nominated people doing designated tasks on it such as preparing drinks and nibbles, laying the table, helping with serving, serving the wine, "weeing the kids", whipping the cream etc etc. It means that I can just get on with my jobs knowing everything is done. It works well