08/23/2026
Hi friends! This is your annual summer reminder! I was talking with my fellow church volunteers this morning, and realized I needed to do my annual PSA… So here it is…You have time to prepare now. I’m actually running a bit behind my usual schedule and don’t have as many presents wrapped as I would like at this time, so this message is also for me.
If you are new to my Christmas madness, I’ll try to be as plain as possible regarding what this post is about… Do as much as you can now to make your actual holiday season less stressful. I used to buy presents somewhat in advance, but wait to wrap them until I got my tree up. Because of how busy the month of December gets with Christmas parties, seasonal outings, and such, I would then find myself sequestered in my bedroom frantically wrapping them all on December 23rd, not getting to enjoy Christmas movies, not having time to bake Christmas goodies, no time left for hot cocoa and my feet kicked up enjoying that week leading up to Christmas Day with my family. That used to make me so sad. One year Coleman kept begging to bake his “Ninja-bread cookies.” We never got around to it. They were even in a kit, and we just never had the time. I felt so bad months later, when I found the expired box I had shoved in the back of the cabinet to get them out of sight so he would stop asking. Talk about a major Mom fail conviction. I decided then, that I would take more steps during the year to prepare in advance.
Below are a few of the things that I do early that have earned me the “Christmas crazy” title that I will proudly sport like a light up jingle bell adorned sweater!
I used to wait until Christmas to wrap presents. I now wrap them as I go to keep from scrambling. I typically don’t put on bows or tags at this point. I do that when I pull them out of my “gift tote” that lives in my coat closet with just one or two types of wrapping paper once I get my main tree decorated. To keep up with what’s what, I number them discreetly with a sharpie on the back bottom corner and keep a master list in the back of my planner listing what the gift is, who it’s to, and who it’s from. Chuck keeps his own list for mine.
I also start decorating for Christmas in mid-October. I know, I know, sounds crazy, it’s still fall! But even if you are not ready to bring Christmas specific things out that early, there are still things you can do that can transition from fall into Christmas. For example: Sept. 1st- go ahead and put your evergreen garlands on your mantles, doorways, wherever you usually put them, then just weave in a garland of fall leaves and pine cones on top of the evergreen. Then when you’re ready, just remove the leaves, dust the mantle, and replace with Christmas picks, poinsettias, or whatever you like. The point is, the evergreen is already in place, ready to be decorated for Christmas.
Another thing you can do in advance is put up outdoor lights. We try to start this in early October before it gets too cold. We don’t flip the switch until November 1st, but I love that Chuck has them ready early for all the kids that pass our house to enjoy. I’ve even been thinking about what kind of candy prepping I can do in advance and freeze.
What this does for us is it frees up time in December to make more magic, more memories, and spend more time together as a family, being intentional with the few years of Coleman’s childhood we have left.
So get ready folks! Christmas is coming! We get to celebrate the birth of Christ! May it be more joyful than stressful in your home this year, too! Let me know what you do to prepare in advance, or if you have any ideas that could help me prep candy ahead of time. 124 sleeps left! Thanks for listening, Amy out. 😊🎄🧑🏻🎄
