Saw this on social media and it cracked me up and seemed perfect for the CC Parent Cafe given past threads on both Marie Kondo and Fyre Festival.
House is decorated except for the tree. Real tree went up yesterday and weāll decorate today or tomorrow. We always do it late, just a few days before Christmas, but first time without any kid help. One gets home Tuesday and the other is abroad and wonāt be home for the first time ever for Christmas.
Gifts all purchased. Just waiting for a couple to show up still. Husband is in charge of wrapping. Beginning baking today and will go on for a few days. Need to buy more perishable food items tomorrow or Monday. Not stressedā¦yet.
How you doing on your holiday prep, whatever holiday you celebrate?
Lets just sayā¦I left home on December 16, and the only thing done was baking Christmas cookies. Gifts are done too. My DH said he would take care of all the decorating including setting up and decorating his real tree, and setting up my fake tree (which I will decorate).
I get home tomorrow night assuming the 20-30 mph winds where I am donāt mess up my travel.
Iāll let you know what did and didnāt get done.
And letās just sayā¦whatever didnāt get done, probably will not get done.
Well, my house was great a few days ago. Now the upper two floors look like a frat house. D will be responsible for the clean up though so Iām trying not to stress about it.
Tree was acquired and decorated last weekend. Scored a beautiful one on sale at a local plant nursery. We paired down the outdoor lights so only the working ones are up. When these die, they will not be replaced (only the icicles on deck will be). Gifts are either here or on the wayā¦ We donāt do elaborate baking/cookies/cards/etc.
Okay, maybe thatās overstating. Like @sabaray , I have the gifts. The tree is in the stand and has lights. And wonderful H put up the outside lights.
On the other hand, the tree still needs decorating, the gifts still need wrapping, the baking needs to go from almost zero to sixty, and - horror of horrors - I actually skipped Christmas/holiday cards entirely this year. Thatās a first and Iām not exactly happy about it, but it was a self-care choice. In the first three weeks of this particular month, SOMETHING had to go, and that was it.
Maybe weāll do New Year cards?
I hear you about the first Christmas without one of the kids, @doschicos. That was a hard one. Luckily our two long-launched ones have been great about making almost every other one since. I hope this is a one-off for yours!
Sounds like we are in the same zone, @HarrietMWelsch except I gave up on cards over a decade ago. I do send cards to those that send them to me from stock on hand over the years but the number of those dwindles each year.
New Years cards work or Valentineās or just skip it.
Havenāt done anything. Literally. My husband has been in the hospital since November 14th, and staying at the hospital has become the new normal. Kids are home, but helping with grocery shopping and cooking for daily survival. The only way I know that it is Christmas is by the lights along the route I drove home at night.
Nearly Frye Festival. Most gifts wrapped. Waiting on a couple to arrive and always do stockings last. Baking ingredients on the shopping list for tomorrow. Pared it
down to only 4 treats this year. Taking two things for Christmas Eve dinner which are not yet planned. Cards out. Decor done. Need to discuss Christmas Day meal with the hostess to see what I can bring. No stress yet but my vacation days for Monday Tuesday are in jeopardy so that could change.
We put up all the decorations the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Had the kids around - plus their SOās so it was a fun group activity.
D and my sister do all the baking. Almost done. All gifts wrapped and the house keeper was thru this past week.
Right now D has hubby watching two pots of boiling caramel mixture. Hubby has friend working on two broken strands of Christmas lights. As long as those two are occupied the house will remain clean in all other areas
Seriously, weāre ready. But with that comes ongoing bouts of chaos. Tomorrow 20 people arrive for a causal potluck. Tuesday itās Christmas Eve dinner at our house. Hubby still likes LOTS of gifts under the tree so Christmas morning results in about 2 feet of wrapping paper everywhere.
But, the kids are here for most of it. Our friends and family are healthy. Itās been mainly a good year.
I hate chaos and messes. But I have adapted over the years to where I can enjoy it for this part of the year.
I have acquired all the gifts I want to gift and wrapped most of them. One delivery had wrong address and will be redelivered on Mondayāno biggie.
We have scaled back a lot and are just happy all of us are together! Kids will likely put up our fake tree and decorate āsoon.ā D is baking cookies with cousin and they are looking forward to time to chat.
I have a wreath! Fundraiser for lab rescue organization. How could I say no?
I think Iām behind because Thanksgiving was so late and work so crazy. Plus, I was driving myself crazy trying to create Martha Stewart holidays for my family. If thereās good food and good company, that should make for a good Christmas.
Tree is up and decorated enough. I put up two of my creches which seems like enough for someone who isnāt even Christian! One is the one I grew up with and the other was made by my best friend from high school. Presents are bought. Nothing is wrapped. I donāt think I have enough stocking presents. I havenāt sent out cards since 2013 and that year I sent them out in time for Valentineās Day! I have a wreath. I got given a poinsettia for Thanksgiving, but it must not have liked the drive up from DC, itās shedding like mad.
The thing I wish I had done is the cookies, but Iāve gained 5 pounds in the last month, so perhaps itās better to wait until Iāve got my oldest here to help eat them. (He arrives Saturday.) Our youngest had to work Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years this year, which seems very unfair!
@FlyMeToTheMoon that sounds very stressful. Sending healing thoughts your way.
@FlyMeToTheMoon Glad your husband is on the mend and on his way home soon. Youāre right that nothing else matters in comparison. I hope you get a chance to rest and relax a little soon.
Definitely ready. I put up all our decorations early because we went away for Thanksgiving. Seeing my trees covered in ornaments makes me so nostalgic and happy every day. We donāt have near as many presents as past years, mostly clothes that the kids picked out. A few small surprises. They are all wrapped and under the tree. The big Santa fake credit card/wallet gifts are all done and wrapped and hidden. Stocking stuffers are purchased but in bags in the closet.
We just finished our family cookie making session 30 min ago. Thatās the only baking/cooking I do. Xmas cards were done and sent last week.
We only went to one party which was one more than Iād prefer, but it was ok. Last weekend we took a cake to our eldery neighbor in our previous neighborhood, but couldnāt stay because she had strep. We hope to go back tomorrow. We try to stop by 2-3x year. She has every single Xmas photo card of my kids on her mantle and even a framed pic of my kids when they were little in her bathroom. She is an amazing feisty positive lady and itās hard to see her getting so frail.
Since we start early and Iāve cut out most stuff I donāt like, Xmas is not stressful for me at all. I love this time of year.
Iām in the Kondo camp but only because our kids came home to surprise H ten days ago and I got everything done for that visit. I also have cut back on the usual. Presents are one per person this year. The time spent shopping and wrapping was very minimal. Since then Iāve done all the baking. A little touch up dusting and vacuuming and Iāll be ready for the whole family on Wednesday.
