I know that all us people are different and prepare differently. I gotta say if I were not in charge of the gifts situation in our house my dear hubby would be running around on Christmas Eve. All this would be whilst complaining that there is nothing good left to buy and why are all these people around.
Like alot of mums I now I check out the mid year toy sales for some bargains for my daughter who is 5. Truth be told most of the time it is that the items are not so much a bargain in my book but they are usually either difficult to find or are only around for a limited time. This combined with the fact that my daughters birthday is 20 days before Christmas means that I have to be super organised.
Under some blankets in the top of our bedroom cupboard I have my daughters presents stashed. They seem to go unnoticed for the time being and honestly I am hoping it stays that way for a few more years at least.
December in our house is the time for a toy invasion. By the time you finish off the birthday presents from us, friends and family you are then into the Christmas presents. This means that it is well and truly time for a evaluation and cull of the toys. I tend to sell/donate anything that is no longer age appropriate, not played with, broken or missing parts. This makes some more room for newer things to come. I also pack away in tubs any toys which I think would be nice to keep to pass along to my daughter when she has kids of her own, this is generally wooden toys and books.
So far I have got my daughters birthday and Christmas presents (mainly Friends Lego). My inlaws request no gifts so I get them something small from my daughter, hubby and I dont buy for each other. My sister in law and I buy for our own kids and then just swap on the day and hand the presents to the kids. This works well as you know what you own kid would like and you are in control of the amount spent.
The only person I really have to buy for is my mum and then I typically buy a gift voucher as she is always fussy and this is much easier. So after many years of going through this I now let her buy for herself.
I set a budget for my daughter as when she was about 4 she had so many gifts she actually got bored of opening them and that's not really very Christmasssy now is it? Too many presents = overwhelmed child, we really just wanted to spoil her but it back fired. So this year I am getting one larger present and then a few dvds, crafty items and stocking stuffers. I would estimate $150 at most. I budget $200 for her birthday which I think I may have gone over just a little.
I must say that buying gifts through the year saves alot of stress come December, especially for us as there is so much going on at this time of year.
I will still be hitting the shops as I love to look at the Christmas stuff but the pressure is off.
We even decided what we are doing for Christmas lunch so all that has to be done is a little closer work out whos bringing what.
Christmas is coming whether we like it or not.
How organised are you?
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