Next christmas, I am going to ....

[janaus]

Next christmas, I am going to ...

Not do marking exams as well as working full time right up until Christmas.

Be finished buying presents by November.
Save money for food up for food shop so we don't need to use December money
so we can have more money for treats etc.
Less stuff in the stocking. I always over do the stocking.

Next year I am going to....

• reduce my Christmas card list again. All those who didn't send one this year get bumped off! I'll send them a Christmassy email instead.
• buy less. Every year I say I'll stop buying loads of thoughtful and carefully-sourced presents as my family don't really appreciate them, and every year I do it again. Next year is definitely the year that everyone gets a £20 voucher in a card. Maybe then they will appreciate the effort I usually put in!
• spend Christmas at home with DH and DD, instead of trailing up and down the country to see relatives (who then spend Christmas arguing and having family rows).
• worry less about presents and so on, and more about having nice Christmassy experiences with DD and relaxing a bit more.
• watch more Christmas TV.
• write cards and do presents early, before December!
• buy DD less stuff. It's not even expensive stuff, we don't spend a lot, but she still gets more than she can really appreciate! I need to remember that over a certain amount it just all blurs into one. Also that DD doesn't think about how carefully Father Christmas appears to have wrapped her presents in colour-co-ordinated paper with matching tags
• not overdo the stocking, which I also do.
• not buy any more cards, wrap, gift bags, extra tree ornaments etc. - I've stocked up on loads in sales and now have enough wrap and cards to get through the next 3 Christmasses! Every year I still get the "gift wrap twitch' though - must RESIST next year
• generally next year I am going to try to take it down a notch and make Christmas a bit more low-key.

Stay at home for lunch
Not cater for 14 on Boxing Day
Go to a panto

Book a holiday just for me, very far away on a desert island.

Do fajitas on Boxing Day with some of the leftover bird (special request from DD1 this year).

I have a Christmas list with all the Christmas jobs on it and update it every year with the latest decision to improve Christmas, by the time I'm 60 it will be perfect! I have general stuff for October/November/December then specific jobs for Christmas Eve/Day/NYE etc. It includes my timings for Christmas Day cooking which is great so I don't need to work it out every year. Last year we made the decision to always have Christmas Dinner at teatime (rather than a late lunch) which works much better with small kids who are more interested in their toys than the meal and means the cooking is less stressful. We had a chicken this year as well which was cheaper and took less time to cook and more appreciated by the kids (I do love a goose or duck though).

I'm going to update the Christmas Activity list, the DC are growing out of some of the activities we have always done but are growing into others.

Take more time off before Christmas, I wasn't very organised this year and then was working on 21/22 because I was also busy at work so 23/24 was manic.

Not bother - it's a waste of time and you always end up not pleasing anyone no matter how hard you try m

Keep a closer eye on the cat. She escaped out of the front door late on Christmas Eve and no one noticed until she was missing on Xmas day, ruined it! The vet rang in the middle of our miserable starter, a kind neighbour had found her mewing and huddling round their bins and taken her in. Thank god she's chipped but it made Xmas day itself rather flat. The rest of Xmas has been great, lots of outings, panto, pub, spa day treat finishing with a NYE trip to Dublin to visit family.
Buy less cheese too!

I bought less this year compared to the previous but still think I can do better next year. I will try and track potential gifts via CCC throughout the year. Only started doing this in Oct/Nov this year.

This year I managed to keep up with exercising throughout the holiday which meant that I can still fit into my clothes.

Go away on holiday

Shop later for presents - I always get stressed, worrying about where I've put things.
Buy less - It's all just one big comercial swizz. I also feel what I have bought others in Dh's family hasn't been really reciprocated. I feel like we've got the raw end of the deal, gift-wise this year.

Enjoy being in Arizona.

Hopefully spending it with family overseas (hot place), while I do love our quiet Christmas's with just the four of us, I don't want to do three years in a row of me being in charge of all the presents, food, entertainment, wrapping, etc, etc.

Looking forward to a sunny holiday and a bit of a break from winter/normal Christmas!

Not have a kidney infection for 10 days!

I can't think of anything. This Christmas was nearly perfect for me. Can't wait for the next one

This.

Except maybe the cheese thing. Anyone have any use for half a wheel of Stilton and a slightly sorry looking whole brie?!

Host! Visiting is exhausting and I like the cooking.

A few years ago we divided our decorations boxes into advent and Christmas so we don't end up searching for advent crown and calendars in amongst the tree stuff (and have the children begging to put tree up in November)

• Buy less crap food.
• Meal plan for the full Christmas week.
• Buy less alcohol.
• Cut down on family presents. I'm going to suggest to db/dsis that we don't buy for each others dc anymore. We don't see them very often and have to ask what their interests are to buy an aporopriate present. I'm fairly confident that they'll be happy with this as db gave my dc money this year.
• Make more effort with the outside of the house. I looked like the Grinch compared with the dazzling displays of my neighbours.

Will this thread be here as a reminder for next Christmas?

You might be able to find it again if you search hard.

It would be easier if you write a comprehensive list and store it with your Christmas planning lists or somewhere you know it won't get lost. I've got an A5 notebook that I use for planning Christmas meals and shopping lists. Tend to keep present lists from previous years, to prevent same gift two years running as well.

I find the older I get the more I rely on lists, and particularly for food and meal planning, it really helps me to not overspend and overbuy, especially for fresh foods. We finish up non perishables slowly over January.

Remember that sugared almonds are not a good gift for denture-wearers

ha ah ah .

Also that DD doesn't think about how carefully Father Christmas appears to have wrapped her presents in colour-co-ordinated paper with matching tags

same here ! .

Great thread.

I adore Christmas, and Christmas 2014 was fantastic, unfortunately Christmas 2015 wasn't...

Some changes I need to make are -

LOWER MY EXPECTATIONS! I don't need to have 100 members of extended family around to have a "perfect" Christmas - Focus on my own little family and put them first.

Do much more in between Christmas and new year - lots of winter walks/bike rides, a couple of meals out, a trip to panto etc.

Decorate outside the house more. The inside is like a grotto, outside looks like the Grinch is in residence.

Make more time to watch Christmas 24 - it's my guiltiest pleasure.

Take more time off work in the build up to Christmas.

Do a little bit more festive stuff in the build up to Christmas with my extended family (cousin and her kids)

On Christmas eve don't go to the local soft play centre for their Christmas party. It meant we didn't get home until 6.30pm. I like to be home earlier than this, watch carols from Kings, light the Christmas candles, potter round making a little buffet etc.

Stay at home, every year we visit relatives and my dc get sick due to colds, bugs etc so next year we can be ill at home watching Dr. Who together. People are more than welcome to visit and make their own & but I doubt they will.

Go on holiday, we were supposed to this year and it got cancelled

Give homemade presents only! I really should have already started :)