Christmas is coming. Are you feeling calm or frazzled? We are here to help!
Our range of Kids magazines are written entirely by mothers. Our writing team comprises busy working mums with kids aged zero to 15. We work while our kids are at school, kinder, daycare or with family. We work when they can often when the kids are in bed and sometimes late into the night. We know what it’s like to juggle. Christmas is no exception.
So, as we round the corner into the silly season, we called upon our mum-writers to share their tips for a calm Christmas. We also turned to Amy Revell, Melbourne mum, professional organiser and podcaster for expert calm home advice. Amy runs an online de-cluttering course called, “Head, Heart & Home” which inspired us for this article.
HOME
Let’s start at home, for if your home is a mess your mind will be too. Our home expert, Amy Revell shared some ideas of how to give our homes a quick calming make-over before school breaks up.
1. Declutter toys
“If you have time before Christmas, sit with your kids and go through their toy collection. Anything they no longer used can be given away to make space for new gifts”, suggests Amy.
“This is a great activity to do with your children in December is to do a thorough declutter of their toys. Use the opportunity when you know they’re likely to receive new toys for Christmas to work with them to donate and declutter toys they no longer love and play with. Clear out space so that after Christmas when it’s time to put new toys away you actually have space to fit them and find a home for everything”.
2. Clear out hard rubbish
Amy: Go around the main living and entertaining areas in your home and declutter the obvious un-wanted, un-needed and broken items in your house. Anything that cannot be donated can be discarded. Tip: do it right away; don’t leave bags of rubbish at your front door or clogging up your car.
“Whether your council picks up from your house or you need to visit the tip, I recommend you plan to do a hard rubbish removal at the beginning of December. This is a great chance to get rid of any big items that have broken throughout the year. Have a look in the house and outside in the garden and you might be surprised how much you can clear out. Go into the Christmas season feeling good knowing all your hard rubbish has been taken care of,” suggests Amy.
3. Donate to others
Consider not selling your gently loved toys and usable household goods and donating instead. Drop these off to a charity organisation near you and they could have a second life with another family this Christmas. Important: remember to actually drop donations off as soon as possible and do not leave them in the back of your car until New Year!
4. Make stations
Rachel: Set up a “wrapping station” before Christmas every year. Other than paper, ribbon and labels, ensure to include scissors and sticky tape and remind other family members to keep everything together. The wrapping station could just be a big plastic tub in the corner of your living room or a designated shelf in a cupboard. “Teach your family where the station to ensure anyone can find the materials they need”, suggests Rachel.
Eliza: I have a separate set of cutlery, plates and glasses that I have ready to go for entertaining. “This saves madly clawing through the dishwasher at the last minute, looking for extra forks or knives”. I also scan or print out my go-to recipes and have them in a file so I can get straight into cooking”.
HEAD
Get your mental load organised. Crack out your calendar and face the reality of your time.
If you haven’t started filling your diaries in detail, now is the time to get organised.
1. Make friends with your calendar
Rachel: At this time of the year, you can almost start treating your calendar like another family member. Give it lots of attention by checking in every couple of days. You can plan some things weeks in advance, but make sure the little things like gifts, food platters and Christmas clothes are organised at least a day in advance from an event. Try and make it a goal to avoid the last-minute dash to the shops or frantically searching for a santa hat.
2. Be realistic
There is no room for perfectionism at Christmas, or any time of the year in fact. Saying no and “sorry, but we already have enough on our calendar this week”, is not only OK, but healthy for you and your family.
Our home expert, Amy says “Kids are particularly tired during December with all the additional childcare and school activities so it’s OK to pop into an event rather than be the first to arrive and the last to leave. It’s even OK to pass on an event that you know will have a negative flow on effect to your family routine and capacity”.
Eliza: To-do lists are my favourite things for juggling work, home and parenting. I break things down into a “daily” list and a “running” list – of things I need to get done less urgently.
“When things are hectic, I try to set aside an afternoon where I’ll batch cook a whole lot of healthy meals and freeze them in individual portion sizes (including extra-small ones for the baby!). At the moment our freezer is full of green minestrone, vegetable lasagne and dahl”, says Eliza.
HEART
Gives should come from the heart, not just from your head and purse. If you can set aside to give your gift giving some extra thought, you will find the joy of giving that is so easily lost in all the haze of frantic shopping.
1. Create a gift list
Amy: Before you buy any more gifts this year, take a moment to write down who you intend to buy for and if you’ve already bought items, write these down too. “It’s easy to overspend at Christmas when you forget you bought something and buy another gift for the same person. Keeping a list will keep you on budget and help you feel organised”, explains Amy.
2. Go Christmas List Shopping
Rachel: Take your kids to two or three shops that sell things that you know they like and get them to wander around and look at everything. We call this “Christmas List Shopping”. Once they show you what they like, you can take a photo and make a note of the price. Use this time to help your kids to understand how many gifts is appropriate to ask Santa for and if you think what they have chosen fits with Santa’s budget. When you get home, help them to write a letter to Santa, take a photo of it and post it. You can post it directly into any Australia Post box. “They may even get a reply, not from Santa himself, but from the friendly elves at the post office”, says Rachel.
3. Buy experiences
Amy: This year get creative in your gift giving and think about moving away from physical gifts to giving experiences. We often do this for adults, but it’s fantastic for kids too. Think movie tickets, play centre passes, local theatre group ticket, theme park voucher, lessons for a hobby (craft, music, theatre, sport), there are so many great experiences for kids that will get them active, creative and learning new things. See our article in this magazine on Giving the Gift of Experiences.
4. Make a gift stash
Eliza: Why not cook up a batch of marmalade, lemon butter, jam or applesauce with your kids? Or maybe a fruitcake, shortbread or a gingerbread house? This won’t do for “big” presents, but for smaller gifts, a little hamper of homemade deliciousness is perfect.
I also have an emergency stash of generic presents (such as chocolate, tea and wine) that I can pull out to avoid that awkward someone-has-given-you-something-but-you-don’t-have-anything-for-them moments.
Contributors:
Amy Revell, mum of 2, Professional Organiser and owner of The Art of Decluttering course and podcasts: www.artofdecluttering.com.au
Rachel Hickingbotham, mum of 3, writer – Casey Cardinia Kids & Knox Monash Kids.
Eliza Henry-Jones, mum of 1, writer – Yarra Ranges Kids & Geelong Coast Kids.
