It seems like I blinked this year and Christmas is here. It’s such a magical time of the year, but seems to go by much too quickly. Hi, Susan here from Organized 31. I’ve always been one to plan and organize anything and everything. Organization makes life run more smoothly and that makes it more enjoyable and less stressful. With three children, I’ve had quite some experience organizing Christmas mornings and today I’m sharing six easy tips to organize your Christmas morning so you can thoroughly enjoy it with your family.
Before you start organizing, stop for a moment and ask yourself, “What is my goal for this Christmas morning?” Focusing on your family’s goal will help you keep what’s most important to you in the forefront of your day. Once you have your focus set, then you can begin planning and organizing to support your goal.
Set a Wake Up Time – Pick a wake-up time that you all agree on. Make sure everyone will get enough sleep to be able to enjoy the excitement of Christmas morning and the entire day. Depending on your family members, you may need to set a going-downstairs (or where your tree is) time. My daughters were teens and wanted to brush hair and straighten up a bit when my son was 8 years old and just wanted to rush straight to the tree. We set a going downstairs time and then they each got as early as they needed to be ready.
Prepare the Night Before – Set coffee and breakfast supplies out. Set the video camera up. Set the camera out. Make sure your phone is charged.
Have Supplies Ready – Set scissors and a screw driver out to open toy packaging. Opening toy packages is like cracking a safe, but much more stressful because you have an excited child anxiously waiting. Also, set out all the batteries you might need so you don’t miss anything while you go to get batteries.
Open gifts in turns – We open gifts one at a time. It’s a great way for everyone to enjoy and share the excitement together. It also spreads out the excitement rather than having competing chaos for a few manic minutes. It’s also a wonderful teaching time to teach patience, self-control and being happy for others.
Open Some Gifts Then Take a Break – We open stockings and Santa gifts then we take a break to eat breakfast. After breakfast, we return to the tree to open family gifts. This allows us to spread the enjoyment out for several hours and makes sure everyone remains in a jolly mood (no hungry grumpiness).
Have Bags for Wrapping Paper and Bows – I prepare three bags; trash, recycle, keep. The keep bag is for gift bags, ribbons or boxes that can be reused. Having these bags ready keeps the room neater so we can all see what’s going on and feel a bit calmer. It also helps keep small items from getting lost (and thus prevents a “crisis”).
With a bit of planning and organization you can enjoy a peaceful, beautiful morning together with your family. These tips to organize your Christmas morning will allow your family to enjoy every second of the most wonderful time of the year. And, isn’t that really what we want for our families?
Susan
For more Christmas Organizing ideas from Susan, be sure to visit her blog.
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