It never fails that December 16th-ish rolls around, and I start to panic. Gifts have been stuck in hiding places all over the house. I have no exact idea what I have bought for each person, and I start to think that maybe I haven’t done enough. Thus ensues the panic buying leading up to Christmas…
At least Baby J is displaying how I feel inside. I’m not proud of my tendency….and that’s why I decided that things needed to happen differently this year.
Three months ago, I started a note on my phone. There’s a list for each person, and as I went through the days and weeks, if I thought of something that would be a good gift for a person, I added it to the list.
A few weeks ago, Nathan and I sat down one evening after the kids went to bed and planned out what we wanted to do for the kids’ gifts this year. We are sticking to three presents from Mom & Dad per kid plus Santa’s gift for the boys. We decided who was responsible for buying each item for the boys.
Now as the sales have come up, I’ve been known exactly what I’m looking for for each boy, and when I buy it, I mark it off on my list as purchased.
It will also serve as my little checklist come December 16th when I’m wrapping all of the gifts the week before Christmas that everything is accounted for and under the tree for each person.
It’s also already come in handy with grandparents that have asked for ideas for the boys, as well. 🙂 I just pull up my list of gift ideas and pick a few off the list.
Hope this helps if you’re in need of a way to organize it all, too!
I always keep pretty detailed lists of what I’ve bought for each person and I have a place to check when it’s been ordered, when it’s arrived/bought, and when it’s wrapped too. That doesn’t mean I haven’t forgotten to put a few under the tree a year or two… it’s so hard when everything is hidden! It’s much easier having teens and just putting each gift under the tree as it’s wrapped! LOL
This is the ultimate goal!! Tracking everything from bought to wrapped!
I started to keep a list on my phone a few years ago. It’s not super organized, but I add ideas. Unfortunately, it’s mostly ideas for myself (to tell my mom, gma, etc) and hadley. Travis is always harder to buy for and hayden kind of is now too! At the moment, I’ve only purchased one thing for each kid. I’m feeling behind.
I think it’s so handy to at least have a list of ideas for anyone! It’s so hard to think on your feet when people ask!
I agree 🙂
I love a good list! I do find I get stressed out by others asking me what to get for our kids, I don’t even know what to get them and I want to hoard my ideas!
Oh for sure – you’ve got to keep some of the ideas to yourself!