Christmas Planning Guide: The Practical Stuff
A couple of years back we had a major Christmas fail. MAJOR! The star gift… the gift that Big M had been requesting for months… the trash truck with the arm that carried the trash can up over the truck and actually dumped… didn’t work.
We didn’t realize it was broken of course, not until we were setting everything up Christmas Eve. Late Christmas Eve at that. We had no other option than to get creative. A quick note from the big guy was all we could do. “Yikes! Had too much fun with your new trash truck and I seem to have broken it. I will swap it out for a working one as soon as I can. I’m very sorry. Santa.”
Luckily Big M is one understanding kid and he wasn’t too upset. We made the sneaky switch a couple of days later. Every year since then Big M makes sure to leave a note asking that Santa not play with his toys…
Hmmm… the worst part is that entire mess could have been avoided if only I had stuck some batteries in and tested it out ahead of time.
Today I’ve teamed up with Duracell and Toys“R”Us to help make sure you are completely ready for Christmas morning. A broken last minute surprise will not happen to us again!
Christmas Planning Guide: The Practical Stuff
The month before:
Think about what the perfect Christmas looks like to you and make sure you plan for that.
- Make a list of everyone who you plan to buy for and jot down gift ideas as they come to you.
- Make a budget. Include everyone (especially your kids) and don’t spend more then the amount you’ve decided on. Visit Toys“R”Us and find out the prices for all of your must have items to help keep your budget realistic.
- Plan for downtime. We have a strict “nothing until after 12pm on Christmas day” rule. That means every Christmas we get at least a few hours of relax and enjoy time before rushing to get ready. Christmas Eve and Christmas afternoon are for everyone else. Christmas morning is ours.
- Take all the help you can get. Enter giveaways (like the one below 😉 ). And keep an eye out for coupons like these:
On November 22, look for a $3 OFF coupon when you buy any 2 packages of Duracell batteries
(AA/AAA 16pk, D/C 4pk, 9V 2pk or larger, Quantum AA/AAA 6pk, D/C 3pk or larger). You’ll find
this coupon in most Sunday newspapers.
On December 13, look for a $1 OFF coupon when you buy one package of Duracell Coppertop and
Quantum. This coupon will be available in most Sunday newspapers.
The week before:
Do a dry run. Set everything out and really examine what else needs to be done or added.
- What can be put together before Christmas eve?
- Which presents can be taken out of the packaging ahead of time?
- How many batteries do you need? What size batteries and can they be put in now?
- What needs to be tested. (Make sure EVERYTHING works!)
- Fill the stockings. Do you need any last minute stocking stuffer ideas to finish them up?
- Check camera and phone memory. Do you need to make room?
The night before:
Christmas Eve is always busy. Doing these few extras will be worth it though.
- Charge the camera, video camera and cell phones.
- Put together a Christmas morning basket. Fill it with everything you could possibly need. Screwdriver, scissors, trash bag, extra batteries, the cameras, etc.
- Prep the coffee so all you have to do is turn it on.
- Go to bed as early as possible. No doubt you’ll be up early and getting enough sleep will make this very eventful day much more fun.
The morning of:
- Turn on Christmas music.
- Take pictures.
- Play.
- Relax. This is the fun part. The kids are busy with new toys. You have some time to just be. Enjoy it.
Check out the large assortment of Star Wars toys on Amazon like the Luke Skywalker Light Saber! Power up your new Light Saber and see the brightly glowing blade’s light effects! Swing and slice your toy through the air and you’ll hear motion sensor-controlled sound effects like clashing, battle impact and crackling sounds. But in order to “power up” – you need Duracell batteries!
PS – The kids love that these Light Saber are a part of the Blade Builders collection. They can connect to each other and form many different types of fun Light Sabers.
GIVEAWAY! (This Giveaway has ended)
What could be a better way to prepare for Christmas than a fun giveaway including a $100 Toys“R”Us gift card and 2 packs of Duracell batteries?
- Enter by leaving a comment sharing your best tip for being prepared for Christmas morning.
- One entry per person.
- US residents only.
- Giveaway ends Wednesday 11/25.
- Winner will chosen using random.org and will be contacted within 48 hours.
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Duracell & Toys “R” Us. The opinions and text are all mine.
Our biggest hint is to take it easy and let the kids dictate how fast (or slow) the presents get opened. Not having a tight timeline means that they have time to enjpy the toys as they open them.
We only have one child so it isn’t quite a chaotic but we nuy batteries for any tous that need them at the time we buy the toy and tape them to the toy. I make surw we have tools close by as well….and charge up all cameras etc.
Have something easy to make for breakfast so you can play with the kiddos
All these posts just made me google “breakfast casserole.” 🙂 For the last few years, my family has played “Secret Santa” to cut down on expenses and focus our gift-giving: we draw names out of a hat, and each person gives 1 gift to 1 person. Usually $20 or $30 limit. We then find out on Christmas who our secret Santa was. Your post is also a great reminder / motivator to get organized about batteries; we almost always need batteries for something (usually it sits in “broken” status for weeks or months), and we almost always have old batteries waiting to be recycled. Here’s a fantastic online locator for the nearest battery recycle spots: http://www.call2recycle.org/locator/
Have trash bags ready to go for morning wrapping paper chaos. Our christmas isn’t too bad in the morning…we each open a gift one at a time to prolong it a little…so picking up the wrapping paper isn’t such a hassle. Still trying to decide on a game we can play where my kids have to answer questions correctly in order to open a gift…a fun game though…lol.
I decided years ago to switch our stockings for Santa sacks. We leave our stockings hanging and use them just for decorations. I have a decorated drawstring sack for each family member. I can add stocking stuffers as I purchase them. Just put them on the hearth on Christmas morning. Kids don’t have any trouble getting to them and can sit and open easily.
I decided years ago to switch our stockings for Santa sacks. We leave our stockings hanging and use them just for decorations. I have a decorated sack for each family member. I can add stocking stuffers as I purchase them. Just put them on the hearth on Christmas morning. Kids don’t have any trouble getting to them and can sit and open easily.
Make a breakfast casserole the night before so you can wake up, pop it in the oven and take part in all the fun
We try to buy some gifts throughout the year so that it is not such a huge cost in December. As we get giufts we check to see if they require batteries. We try to pickj up the batteries at black Friday sales. We wrap presents little by little and hiude them in our master bedroom closet (no peeking allowed)! We plan easy, no fuss breakfast four the big day and try to enjoy the magic and each other. ~ Gin K.~
Make sure the cameras are charged and have enough memory. Have outfits all ready for heading out in the afternoon