Ah, Christmas morning! That wonderful time of year when we spend it with our loved ones, carefully unwrapping gifts, exchanging thanks, laughing, and taking pictures of the cutest kids giggling and posing for the camera. That’s the vision, at least, right?
However, the reality is frequently more like a blur of exhaustion as you scramble to find batteries and battle with wrapping that is as difficult to open as Fort Knox while trying to prevent your eager child(ren) from tearing through the gifts in 3.6 minutes!
These tips for a more organized, stress-free Christmas morning are exactly what you need if the second scenario is more familiar to you. While I can’t promise the lovely scenario imagined above, I can guarantee that the use of any or all of these organization tips will make your Christmas morning more pleasurable and much closer to stress-free.
Make a Christmas Morning Playlist in Advance
Make a playlist in advance if you enjoy listening to festive music while unwrapping presents. The excitement of your child or children waking you up early on Christmas morning is likely.
They are anxiously anticipating the opportunity to begin unwrapping presents, so you don’t want to be fumbling about trying to pick the proper playlist while they chomp at the bit to do so. Prepare your holiday tines in advance so that all you have to do on Christmas morning is press play.
Bette still? Make use of a precurated one. Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon Music all offer them, and choosing one of those will save even more time.
Assemble Things Ahead of Time
If you will be gifting toys – or in fact anything – that requires assembly, do so before the big day. There’s little worse than trying to muddle through vague instructions and fins the right tools to assemble something while an impatient child looms over you desperate for their gift to be ready already!
You can always wrap the assembled product (kids could care less about the box) and you’ll find it saves a lot of stress and arguments on he big day itself.
If You’ll Be Traveling, Get Organized on Christmas Eve
On Christmas Eve, place your non-perishable belongings, including any gifts, at the door. Any perishable products you need to bring should be listed someplace and then put where they will be easy to grab. Make sure to fill up your gas tank as well, especially as there are often not too many gas stations open on Christmas Day! Once that is done, you can enjoy Christmas morning without worrying about what you need to remember to bring or running around gathering everything and almost certainly forgetting something too!
On Christmas Eve, Establish Expectations for Christmas Morning.
The commotion on Christmas morning is significantly reduced when everyone knows what to expect! Can the kids go look at the tree when they wake up, or do they have to stay in their rooms until a particular time? Can they open the gifts in their stockings ahead of those under the tree? Is there an ‘elf’ that distributes gifts? Who is it this year, if so?
Is it a free-for-all when it comes to gift opening or does everyone take turns? Can kids indulge in the sweets in their stockings on Christmas morning? Can toys be taken out of the packaging before the present is fully opened? Do people need to pick up any paper or other wrapping as they go? If so, where should it be placed? Organizing some ground rules and guidelines around these kinds of questions will lead to a calmer, happier time for everyone.
Have a Package Opening Kit on Hand
It can be ridiculous to try to open some packaging! It will save you time – and potential injury – on Christmas morning to have wire cutters, a utility knife, and/or scissors on hand. Include a variety of screwdrivers as well, such as flathead, Phillips, and a few extra-small ones for the teeny-tiny battery covers.
Put batteries of various sizes in the package-opening basket while we’re on the subject of batteries (AAA, AA, C and D). If the necessary batteries aren’t available, excitement over a dream gift might rapidly turn to disappointment (and tears.)
Clean Up As You Go
Prepare a trash bag and recycling container/box for the discarded gift wrapping and packaging. Cleaning up as you go reduces the amount of mess, lowers the possibility of “losing” any gifts or gift cards in the wrapping paper, and eliminates a big clean-up at the end of the morning when you just want to unwind.
Plan to take pictures during the big unwrapping session? Wrap a few cardboard boxes in festive wrapping paper to serve as “trash” boxes to prevent ugly plastic boxes and garbage bags from appearing in the background of those seasonal photographs and ruining that Insta ready festive look.
Offer Cups With Lids
Use travel mugs and lidded paper drinking cups on Christmas morning. There is a lot of excitement and commotion on Christmas morning and its easy for cups to get knocked over both by kids and adults. Lidded beverages will help ensure that a cherished gift does not get ruined just moments after it’s received!
Don’t Chase Perfection
The most crucial thing to do is to stop striving for perfection. It’s easy to get caught up in wanting Christmas morning to be “perfect” after all the preparation and hard work we put into making the holiday wonderful for our families.
But in practice, there will undoubtedly be a few—or a lot—less-than-ideal situations. Focusing on the perfect morning that isn’t taking place will prevent us from appreciating the gloriously imperfect morning that IS taking place. Whatever happens, have a seat and enjoy it. Keep in mind that the key is togetherness and family fun, not chasing after some Hallmark Movie ideal.
As with most things in life, when it comes to Christmas morning a little advanced organization and preparation makes all the difference. Follow these easy tips and enjoy a relaxed, less stressful Christmas morning. And if you can’t get them all done, don’t worry! Even following just a few will make a difference!
Working with Taya and her team is easy. You can book an appointment easily on her website, or contact her directly at 832-271-7608
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