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It's the busiest time of the year. There so much to do, people to see, things to buy, homes to decorate. It's a lot. And with kiddos in the house, many of these things take even longer to do.
So, I'm here to help. Here are 5 ways you can save time during the holidays and get more stuff done. It's all about prioritizing what needs to get done by you versus what just needs to get done. Let's keep the season merry and bright and stress free!!
1. Recruit a Teen to Wrap Gifts
You may have to do the gift purchasing, I mean you know your friends and family best, but what about the wrapping? Recruit an older niece or nephew or a teen from the neighborhood. Provide them with the paper, tape and tags and let them do the wrapping for you for a nominal fee.
If you use different paper for the gifts from Santa, you can label those with a sticky note and put them in a separate bag with the Santa wrapping paper. One perk is that Santa won't have your handwriting when he writes out the tags. For about $20, you can get all of your wrapping done with little effort.
2. Shop Online
Speaking of presents, in order to wrap them, we need to buy them first. This one might be obvious, but I thought I'd include it anyway. Definitely shop online as much as you can for gifts. No need to bundle up the kids, head out to the stores, wait on line, or spend extra money on the things your kids see in the store and absolutely need right now.
Try to group things by store so that you can get free shipping. Shopping on Amazon is my favorite. The options are endless and prime shipping is the best. Even if you shop at the last minute, you still have time to get things to arrive in time for Christmas.
3. Bake with Cookie Mix
With time, baking cookies from scratch with the kiddos can be a blast. It can also be super stressful with spilled ingredients, grabby hands, and extra time spent cleaning it all up. In all honesty, what the kids really get out of it is the fun of doing something together, the pride of making something themselves, and the enjoyment of eating fresh baked cookies.
By using a mix, you can still enjoy all of those things. You still have a few ingredients you need to add in and you can still take turns mixing. You still spend time together in the kitchen and you still get fresh cookies. But it's generally a lot less cleanup for a delicious result. Santa will enjoy the cookies either way.
4. Label Your Serverware
If you are hosting a holiday get together, you may want everything to be just so. But that doesn't mean you have to do it all yourself. When prepping for guests, get out the dishes you plan on using ahead of time and label them with sticky notes saying what should go inside the dish and where on the table you want it.
You can label which bowl is for dip, which is for gravy, and what tray is for hors d'oeuvres. Any assistant who is old enough to read can help fill the dishes and set the table. That takes one more thing off your list of to dos.
5. Assemble, Don't Cook
Speaking of holiday get-togethers, assemble, don't cook as much as you can. Plan a menu of hors d'oevres and desserts that can be put together instead of cooked like puddings and no-bake pies or caprese on a stick and spinach dip in a bread bowl with an assortment of crackers and a cheese tray.
By choosing simple to put together hors d'oeuvres and desserts, you only have to spend time cooking the main meal. You can use your little assistants to help where they can! This can be a real time saver and stress reducer.
Bonus: Start Early
We still have a little bit of time before the real holiday rush. Use this time to plan ahead. Start your Christmas shopping and planning now. Some cleaning might not be worth it this early in the game especially if you have littles. But you can start with less used rooms or areas.
You can also create your grocery shopping lists, prep cookie dough that you can freeze and bake later, and assign tasks to family members for the coming weeks. Start ordering your Christmas cards or holiday party invitations now so you have plenty of time to address them and mail them out.
Pick out which holiday events/activities you know you want to participate in and get them on the calendar. Every little bit of planning and task completed now, will save you time and stress later.
I hope these ideas help as Christmas approaches. You don't really have to do it all. You just have to do what is important to you!
Do you have any time saving tips for the holidays? Share them in the comments!
Cheers,
Emily
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