Printable For You :: Christmas Gift Planning & Organizing
In planning for Christmas gifting, there is always some organization involved. I have no idea why it has taken me so long to do this, but alas, this morning I sat down and put together a printable that I could tuck in my planner….and get organized with my gifting plans.
I thought it might be useful to others, too! So, I’m sharing it with you! My planner reflects the fact that we do St. Nicholas Stockings on December 6, Christmas Eve gift from Mom and Dad or a family member (Secret Santa), and then the Christmas morning gift. And…we have a few children that have birthdays right after Christmas so it helps me to list that, too.
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| (I am not sure why all of the images here are slightly gray – in fact, it is really bothering me!! But, I’m out of time to try to figure out why the image is loading gray!! !$!@#$!@# The actual pdf is a white background) |
Since I know all of you don’t follow the same traditions we do, I created a few different generic versions so you could pencil in different options for yourself.
Download Christmas Gift Planning Sheet #2
Thank you for sharing! I am so behind this year-maybe the $2500 car repair bill we just had to pay has something to do with it! We usually put some aside but having two cars needing attention at once put us a way over budget! Loving the new pictures-your kids are beautiful and you look great!!! It is so great having posts from you again!! God bless, Judi
Thanks:) Interested that you have b'days right after Christmas, love to chat one day how you pull that off to be organised and make their day special. This baby is due only 7 days before and chances are I could go over and have 3 days after (past records) and I'm obsessed with this question. Told God today would be a lovely day;)
I'm so excited for you, Erin!
Birthdays around Christmas are exciting, but they're challenging to plan for, too! I happen to have two children with birthdays around Christmas – my oldest's birthday is in early January, and my third child is 3 days after Christmas, on the Feast of the Holy Innocents.
Now, the obvious solution is to celebrate 1/2 birthdays, but neither of my children have ever enjoyed that. They like celebrating on their real birthday. So…I carefully plan ahead. The key for me is SIMPLICITY and QUALITY.
One of the things I HAVE-HAVE-HAVE to do is to plan birthday at the same time I'm planning Christmas gifting – which is exactly why you see it listed the way it is on my little printable. This lets me plan gifting out and make sure things are balanced nicely across the board.
Now, full disclosure, we've always kept birthdays pretty simple. We don't do parties {there have only been a couple of exceptions to this over the years}. Keeping birthdays simple overall means that I'm not getting stressed about organizing and executing a major-themed birthday party-with-guests…three days after Christmas. >>eek<< Birthdays here consist of one nice gift {that's the QUALITY part} and meals of the birthday boy/girl's choice {that's the SIMPLE part}. So, I mentioned that I'm organized well in advance for the gifting part. I also get organized early for the meals, and plan menus accordingly. Ideally, for the child with the birthday on the 28th, I purchase the birthday gift and plan menus at the same time I'm planning all of that for Christmas. Then, I have to be really organized in **storing** all the gifts as they arrive. I store unwrapped/awaiting-to-be-wrapped gifts in brown paper bags {one per child}. 🙂 I sort, order and bag small gifts within the brown paper bag, too – and that helps me divide up St. Nick stocking gifts, Christmas and birthday gifts. I guess it just helps to be organized so I know what's-what. Otherwise…you accidentally wrap a birthday gift for Christmas…and then you have nothing for birthday…and you're stressing about shopping a day after Christmas!! Merciful heavens! Perish the thought! Hope this helps give you some ideas, Erin! Many prayers while you wait for this littlest!!! 🙂
Jenn
that really, really helps! Makes me feel far calmer. Do your two still feel special, or do they wish they weren't so close to Christmas? and chances are I'll be having this baby on the 28th.
My kids have never complained about their birthdays and the proximity to Christmas. In fact, my fella with a birthday on the 28th absolutely LOVES his birthday on that day! It's one of the reasons we've never gravitated to 1/2 birthdays – they enjoy their real birthday enough that it's never been an issue. I think the key to that though is being organized and treating the day as special…in spite of the fact that the birthday is so close to Christmas.
We'd love to know if we share birthdays on the 28th!! Keep us posted!
Great idea. Thank you. The new pictures of the children are so cute!
Beautiful planner. How do you do what you do??
Peace & Raw Health,
Elizabeth Marie
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