The most wonderful time of the year......

That's right.....only 51 more shopping days left until Christmas. At least, that's what I think it is. I didn't actually count, I just looked at another blog and took their word for it.

I find the shopping to be one of the easier parts of preparing for the holidays. I think it's more like 51 days to complete the wrapping, the baking, the menu-planning, the Christmas partying and the coordinating of kids activities times three.

I'm not complaining in the least; I'm just admitting to the fact of the busyness of the season. And most of it is good stuff that no one wants to miss, so I'm trying my best to organize and make sure most of it can happen and everyone (including me!) can enjoy this sweet season together.

To add to the mix, my 3 beautiful children were all born within 6 weeks of (before and after) Christmas. No, I didn't quite plan it that way. But it is what it is, and I want their memories to be of wonderful Thanksgiving and Christmas times and FUN birthdays that just added to the festivity of the season.

So here's what I've started working on:

1) Master list of baked goods and supplies needed
I realize not everyone bakes, but this is a huge part of what I do for gift giving. In the past, I have been almost paralyzed by the multitude of choices and creative ideas that I see online or in magazines. I hem and haw(sp?) trying to decide on the PERFECT baked items for each individual person or family.

Consider 2010 to be the year of new beginnings. New decade, new Mindy.

As of Halloween, I had decided in advance what items would be baked, how they would be packaged, and in what they would be given/contained. There is a huge relief in my mind knowing exactly what I'm planning to do. It's now just a matter of figuring out the best time to work it in.

2) Getting everything out of my head and on paper, down to the smallest detail

Once written, I can then prioritize by date, if need be. I wrote down a list for November items to be completed and was able to check off 4-5 this week alone.

3) Wrapping as the gifts are purchased

This is going to take some getting used to. I would typically "save" my wrapping for a few nights in December as I cozily got the kids into bed by 8:00, made myself some hot cocoa and turned on a Hallmark Christmas movie. It was done in the 2 hour movie time and I went to bed right on time, wraps put away and the kitchen spotless and shining from my afternoon of baking cookies.
WAIT......whose life is she talking about?!?!?
The more likely scenario was that I didn't get the kids to bed until after 9:00, but needed at least 2 of the gifts wrapped the next day so stayed up late to finish but was so exhausted and needed the immediate sugar boost from the leftover cookie dough scraps from the still messy counter.

New decade, new Mindy. I'm even going to try and get in the habit of bringing a roll of tape in my purse so I can immediately put the gift receipt on the box once purchased.

4) Delegate, delegate, delegate....and then ask for some help/favors

Mom, dad, friends, neighbors....you've been warned. I started this yesterday when my Dad came by to take Kevin to lunch. "Hey Dad, while you're out, could you stop and get Kevin's haircut?" He willingly did (thanks, Dad!) and my boy looks great. One of my neighbors offered to take over a cookie exchange that I had done for a couple of years so I didn't have to host again since it always fell around the same day as my daughter's birthday...DONE!

5) Eat better, exercise a little more, sleep longer

Honestly, the sleep part of this might be the hardest.

6) Trying not to stress over the perfect gift.

When in doubt, bake something yummy, add a pretty ornament and wrap it all up in cellophane with red and green curling ribbon. Or make a card with a gift certificate to go out to lunch together to celebrate in the New Year.

Well, I'm off to check my list once more and get to bed at a reasonable hour!