Yes! It’s just 70 days till Christmas! Let’s continue this 101 Days till Christmas countdown with today’s Holiday Checkup Checklist! It’s designed to help you go into the season better prepared!
- Before you know it, we’ll celebrate Halloween, Thanksgiving and whatever else we get to celebrate between now and New Year’s Eve! So how you doin’? Yesterday’s blog focused on having a little “heart to heart” conversation to see how are things BEFORE we head into this busy holiday season. Today, we’re going over a simple holiday checklist. Let’s find out if we’re headed into the season prepared, or if we need to tweak a few areas in order to have an awesome season!
Holiday Checkup Checklist
We’re going to break down this checklist by month, to help you see at a glance the things you can start working on now, to give you a headstart into the holiday season!
OCTOBER
Two weeks left this month! Let’s enjoy them!
- Confirm Halloween and “Trunk or Treat” plans
- Get costumes for the kids (and you, too, why not?!)
- Buy candy to donate at school, your community or church event
- Buy MORE candy to give at home!
- Pick a pumpkin patch!
- One of my favorite family traditions is to visit a pumpkin patch or corn maze. It’s so much fun! If it’s not on the calendar yet, let’s add it this week! (Note to self — do this! Lol! The season will fly by and we could miss it if we don’t plan for it!)
- Plan ahead for November and December
- Grab your calendar (paper, digital or both) and pencil in ALL the events coming up. Sports for the kids, school parties, church events, Thanksgiving dinner, Christmas concerts, etc! I shared more on this post about planning ahead for the holidays!
- Family Photo Time
- If you’re planning to send out Christmas cards or Holiday cards, now is the time to schedule that photo shoot! Or you can take fun photos from this past year and create a card online. I love Walgreens Photo for quick turnarounds on Christmas cards!
NOVEMBER
It’s here! We’re just weeks away from Thanksgiving, Black Friday and all that other fun stuff!
- Confirm Thanksgiving plans
- This is the time to confirm the details if you haven’t yet. Who’s going to which relatives’ house? Are you visiting the in-laws or are they coming to your place? Are you cooking turkey or bringing sides? Or is this the year you take a cruise and actually ENJOY a vacation?! Whatever it is, it’s happening this month! So let’s make sure we’re ready to go! 🙂
- Check your holiday budget
- (Ugh, do I have to?!) Yes, we have to! If you haven’t yet, check out ALL the options out there for holiday budget inspiration. These will help us set up a budget, track expenses and make sure we both have enough and also don’t go overboard!
- Double check your Master Christmas Wish List (include extended family, teachers, etc.!)
- This month is a great time to shop around for the best deals (or wait for Black Friday!)
- Get ready to blast your Christmas Playlist!
- I need to start working on mine (or check out my sister’s!) We’re both into Christmas music, but I think she’s been staying on top of all the new releases (I see you, Idina Menzel and Pentatonix!)
DECEMBER
AAAAHHHHH!!! It’s finally the MOST wonderful time of the year!
- Enjoy it!
- In the midst of the “hustle and bustle,” make sure you grab at least one peppermint mocha (or your favorite holiday drink of choice) and sip it slowly. Savor it. Hug the kids. Snuggle with your husband. Look at Christmas lights. Let’s not let the potential stress of the season steal these moments away from us. This year, we are going to stop and ENJOY CHRISTMAS!
- Don’t stress
- Speaking of stress, check out these ideas to help you minimize and reduce stress this month. Scheduling self-care is so important. Even if it’s 10 minutes or 30 minutes, take them! Your family will LOVE you for being a happier mom (and a less “grinchy” one!) lol!
- Confirm Christmas family plans
- Similar to Thanksgiving, this can get sticky with in-laws and relative expectations. Let’s try to communicate early to avoid drama. Who is going where? How can we accommodate everyone’s plans the best we can? Of course we can’t please everyone and that can be stressful. At this point, we’ll refer back to point #2, try to stress less, and communicate as much love as we can. <3
- Find a Christmas Eve Candlelight Service
- This is one of my FAVORITE traditions! Our church in Houston had one of the BEST Christmas Candlelight services you’ve ever seen! We moved to Florida earlier this year, so now we just need to find a new one! I have a feeling the Candlelight Processional at EPCOT will be on our list for sure!
- Plan to finish shopping early (if possible!)
- This is my Christmas Challenge. Technically, the challenge has me finishing Christmas shopping by Black Friday which I have NEVER done. Hence the challenge! Haha! But even if I end up having fewer to do items on my list in December, I’ll call that a success!
Anything you would add to this holiday checklist? Share in the comments!
Laughing thru life,
Coppelia
