My family are great on lists - well for one of my nieces, B, it's spreadsheets, but that's just a refined list really, isn't it?
Mine are a mass of crosses and squiggles, but they work for me!
My Mum has always got her notebook on the go - she used to have small pocket sized books, but I've noticed of late how they've grown in size! Dad was a great one for lists too. Before he retired he brought home a stock of tiny notepads that were to be scrapped as they had the wrong contact details for his company and we used them for years. For my wedding day one of them held a list of 'to-dos' which Dad opened up at speech time, referred to the fact that the last thing on the list was 'leave for church' and pretended to sit down - his list being done.. only pretended though - there was a speech....
Anyway I digress. Last time I started on a list of lists to make... Now you can begin to add to them to make them more helpful. You can expand the list of who you're buying for by adding in suggestions. You may have already started, but where there are blanks you could ask some of them what they might like, or list things they enjoy to prompt further ideas or even begin to note how to source them. (This is beginning to sound like one of B's spreadsheets!)
While chatting at this early stage try, if you don't already do so, to set a limit on what's to be spent. We do, although there are some of us in the family who regularly break the rules (you know who you are Mum...). But generally it does create a bit of a sense of balance.
I know it's early, but it's really useful, especially when you can save cash too. My sister and I tend to take photos of things we like and send them back and forth by mobile. My nieces take it one step further by sending links ready to click on and order. It means that there's no mistake or getting the wrong thing for a start. And if you have someone like B who is a whizz with flash sales and bargains you can get what you want quickly and at sale price too. Too close to Christmas and the problem of low stock, higher prices and postage issues intervene.
By casting an eye over the stuff beginning to appear ready for the festive season I've already found these at reduced price. They're fine date-wise for Christmas and just the right size for the crackers I want to make AND I know that keeping them in my storage box for Christmas will discourage me from nibbling away before I've used them for their proper purpose.
I've been chasing down some mini gifts and freebies. There's lots of things you can send off for - although I keep a separate email account for it so my regular inbox doesn't get flooded with later advertising! These sample perfumes will be perfect for one of our traditions. My sister has also begun her stash for it too.
We've always had a little extra at Christmas that we open when we're all together - usually on Christmas Eve or Boxing Day. It used to be a tree present each. There were always rules about them. One year we weren't allowed to spend more that £1 each, another the gifts had to come from a charity shop and yet another they had to be free! It was almost as much fun tracking down the presents as it was getting them.
It sort of grew from there. The year my younger niece, who lives in Italy, got married in England she even took a mini Lucky Dip for her household back with her, as they were having an Italian Christmas and wouldn't be with us.
This year it's a bit different, obviously. She and her family are in Italy and the rest of us can't plan to gather en masse as we don't know what the rules on numbers will be in December. We're going for a Christmas Tombola anyway! The only difference to an ordinary one is that every ticket will win a prize. More about how we'll manage that another time...
Next time it's onto the fun stuff - making things.............
