We are IN IT!.....it’s officially the last few days of insanity before Christmas.  And to make the panic even more enjoyable….you should consider yourself extra blessed if you have a person, or several people in your life that are joyfully relaxing in the knowledge they’ve got their Christmas all under control. And the wonderful thing about these people in our lives?  They never, ever…EVER tell us they’re all ready for Christmas. (insert sarcastic voice here). The countdown is on and we can’t push Christmas back a day or 4, so...we’ve got to make it work.  

How to get through?  Don’t even bother with Google or Pinterest...they aren’t going to help you. No...they are going to mock you with checklists and guidelines that start 3 months ahead of December 25th.  Nobody should be preparing for Christmas in October unless you dream about lists at night.  

Here is the procrastinator’s guide to the last week of Christmas.

December 20th

  • According to all the organization lists on pinterest and google you should already have your nonperishable items purchased and your final grocery list ready to go shopping on the 22nd. Ha! Here’s where you start planning what you’re going to eat on the 24th, 25th and 26th.  Grab your pen and paper...and write down “pizza delivery” or loaded nachos or hotdogs for one of those dates to ease up on the pressure.
  •  Make a phone call to your guests and ask them to bring something for Christmas dinner.  This is the time when you ask someone to make those things you either don’t have time for or you just really don’t like making…(that quite possibly means salads and veggies, as much as we’d love to hand off the turkey...the host should take care of that). 
  • Way.too.late to order any gifts online.  Make plans to shop local! Save some time, save some gas money!

December 21st 

  • Now is the perfect time to ask everyone you need to buy gifts for what it is they would like...it’s perfect timing because you weren’t going to purchase anything any earlier anyways!  And if they are not procrastinators, they will be able to pull the list out of their pocket or off their phone and get you started!  
  • According to the Pinterest and Google guides, you should have already planned seating arrangements at your table.  Ha...ya...you do that if you’ve found time to make place cards that you found on Pinterest. Your seating? You might remember now to make sure you’ve actually got enough seats for everyone at dinner...thank goodness for patio chairs! ;-)
  • Race to the post office and mail any Christmas presents and cards that you should have mailed like 3 weeks ago.  This way you can at least say “What? You didn’t get that present in the mail? Weird! I sent it before Christmas!” 

December 22nd

  • If you’re really on the ball, this is the day you set aside to buy Christmas gifts for basically every single person on your list.  Yup...you’ve done it again...you’ve created chaos for yourself by neglecting to shop early. Here is where you remind yourself why shopping for presents 3 days before Christmas is a mistake, but you take solace in the hordes that are just like you! Lace up your sneakers, buy a coffee and get shopping!

December 23rd

  • This is also the day you realize you haven’t vaccuumed or dusted your living in many, many, many days and you’ve got company coming in 36 hours. Ask, compel, okay... basically demand every able body in your home to join you in cleaning the house.  Make sure to leave time for a refresher course in how the vaccuum cleaner works and demonstrate how the bathroom counter should look. Technology helps in these circumstances...feel free to take a photo of what a clean bathroom counter looks like and share it in your family group chat. 

December 24th 

  • This is when you realize you don’t have enough wrapping paper and you have to go to the store to buy some.  Get home and realize that your kids used all the scotch tape to create a large tape ball for an epic mini sticks hockey game.  Jump back in your car and head back to the store to buy a bag of tape.
  • Just a reminder... the mall and most stores close at 4pm on the 24th...if you have to buy anything after that, you are looking at convenience stores for gift ideas...skip giving out air fresheners as gifts and head straight to the gift card rack, candy and magazine aisle to help you out.   
  • Around midnight tonight you’re going to remember that you forgot to buy batteries for your kid’s toys, one more trip in the car to the convenience store to stock up on AA and D batteries.  Kudos to you for checking what kind of batteries you need before you head out to shop.

December 25th 

  • According to Pinterest you should have planned and sorted what you are wearing today earlier in the week.  Seriously? Grab some comfy clothes and get yourself dressed...your coffee is waiting! Eat, drink and be merry with your family and friends.  That happens right after you realize at 10:30pm on Christmas Eve that you forgot to pull the turkey out of the freezer...panic, stop wrapping presents and race to the garage to get that turkey and start thawing it out!

Christmas day arrives and you still get to enjoy it...no matter how you arrived at it, you’re now there, make the most of it!