Oye vey! It has now been 2 days since Christmas and I have
still not fully recovered.
Being Christmas and the season of giving and all that jazz,
I would like to “give” all my fellow mommies and first timers a little
Christmas advice for next year. I do ask
that you try not to get offended…I will most likely be much more cheerful after
I have made a complete holiday recovery. J
- DO NOT bite off more than you can chew with the whole Santa thing. There is absolutely no reason to add 2 more years worth of debt to your already staggering amount just so little Johnny can get every single item on his Christmas list. Let’s be serious here.
- Start putting out granola bars and low fat milk for the big guy because he really needs to go on a diet—and by Santa I mean me.
- Do NOT use the wrapping paper that you used to wrap other gifts with as makeshift “Santa tags” to avoid having to buy actual tags. Your 7 year old WILL question this strange coincidence. “Mommy, this gift is NOT from Santa, this is the same paper you used to Gramma’s gift?!?!?” “Um, uh, well….Brian, do you want to take this one?”
- When friends and family ask what your kids want/need for Christmas, don’t be coy. Just tell them already. This will prevent a) them wasting their money on the wrong size b) getting a terrible gift that you will have to either re-gift or wait in a long line to exchange for something else. Without their knowledge, assign every one who asks a different item as this ensures they get everything they want!! Genius or evil?? You decide!
- Go through old toys and clothes BEFORE Christmas! Do NOT wait until they get 27,000 new toys and outfits to organize it all. There will be hell to pay and you will cry.
- Make your kids help you organize the old stuff into 3 different piles; keep, give away, and trash. Also, it’s a good idea to make them come with you when you take the “give away” pile to the Salvation Army. This way you can explain to them how much it will help another kid in need so they can have a good Christmas and it will teach them to appreciate what they themselves have. Plus, you can use your donation as a tax deduction! Cha-ching!
- Do NOT cook a big dinner—that is what relatives are for. If you must be forced to visit your entire extended family on Christmas day, at least get something out of it and eat ’til your heart’s content! Plus, who really wants to cook for hours and then clean up for a few more right after a sleep deprived, hectic Christmas Eve? Not me, that’s for sure!
- Do NOT buy your infant hundreds of dollars worth of presents. A baby has no earthly idea what the heck is going on. Save yourself the money and give them a pile of bows—it will keep them occupied for hours!! Trust me on this one, my 8 month old refused to play with any of his brightly colored, flashing lights, and noisy gifts. Nope, all he wanted were the bows!
- Please, put your kids to bed on Christmas Eve in at least halfway decent jammies. You will undoubtedly take 172 pictures of every move your kids make on Christmas day and then post them all on Facebook. We really don’t want to embarrass our babies, now do we?
- Skip the whole ordeal altogether and save yourself the stress- - the kids will eventually forgive you for ruining their childhood and faith in Santa, right? Okay, okay, I’m kidding…no but seriously, skip it!
Well, that’s all from me for now. I have but a few days rest before chaos will
reign down upon my household yet again. Darien and Emily’s
birthdays are in January. Yay!
I would like to hear from you though! What advice would you give your fellow
mommies and first timers? Let’s all help
each other get through the holidays with some sanity intact. Let the advice fly!!
Kristen B Riggan
Recovering Christmas Over-doer
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