Be ready for Christmas

Christmas is fast approaching. I’ve already started hearing Christmas carols on the radio. Malls are starting to sell Christmas decorations. There are Christmas bazaars left and right.

I love preparing for the Christmas holidays. How about you? Are you one who likes to beat the Christmas rush? Or are you a last-minute shopper? Do you buy new Christmas decor every year?

I, for one, like to prepare early. I do not like rushing. I don’t like being stressed. So let me share with you some ways I believe can help you in your preparations.

As early as you can (I do mine sometime October), make a shopping list. I separate my friends’ list from that of my family. I also separate the list of people I’ll be giving food to from the people I will buy gifts for.

For friends, I usually give food. Christmas is a time when everybody likes to eat, and so for me, it’s best to give food. If the people you give food to don’t end up eating them, they will always give it to someone else. So, they still don’t go to waste.

I’ve given rhum cakes, cookies of all kinds, dried fruits, peanuts, puto, atsara at kung anu-ano pa.

When you go to malls or bazaars, check out the goodies they sell and try and see what you want. I check out bazaars which usually have such yummy things to eat. I also check the newspapers and magazines. They always feature a bakeshop or someone who offers Christmas packages or goodies you might not have given before. When you’ve come across something you like, ask how much they are if you give it in sixes or dozens. Ask if you can be given a discount if you order many and early.

Now if you want a personal touch, then you can bake your own goodies. I’ve made my own cookies before. I even made my own boxes. Got cardboards and stapled them together to form a box and then painted them. In some boxes I put some cookies. In others, a dozen. It feels nicer when you've poured heart and soul into a project, right?

When I make my list for the family, I already write down what I think I will buy for them, what I think they will like. That makes it easier for me when I go and shop. If I see something that’s on my list and I’m convinced it’s what I want, then I get it right away.

Sometimes I end up seeing something nicer. I just make sure I feel good about what I buy. It's the feeling I get when I’m certain the recipient will like my gift. I always go with how I feel.

To avoid the Christmas rush, I start doing my Christmas shopping little by little. Whenever I am in a mall, I start buying two or three things. Every week, I accomplish something in my Christmas list. Before I know it, I’m done. I avoid the long lines. I avoid the traffic and I’m able to take my time choosing.

I like to enjoy the Christmas season. I like taking my time choosing each gift, looking through each shop and deciding which item will bring a smile to the person I’m going to give it to.

I enjoy choosing the Christmas wrappers and ribbons, and most of all I enjoy wrapping each gift. For me, it’s not just giving the gift but giving a little of yourself, too. That’s what makes each present special. It should come from your heart.

Shifting now to Christmas trees, are you the one who changes trees every year, who buys a whole new set? What do you do with your old ones?

I have a different motif every year but that doesn’t mean I have to buy a whole new set.

At the end of October or after Halloween I already start looking through my Christmas tree ornaments. I sort them out, lay them on the floor and check what I feel I want to use for my tree.

There was a year I had angels, another year I had all bears and ribbons. Last year I decided I wanted just Christmas balls, blue and silver.

It’s expensive buying new ones all the time. Use what you have. Just clean them well before you hang them. If you want to add new ones, you can buy a few and just mix them with what you have. Be creative, you can even make your own.

Enjoy every opportunity you have to make the holidays extra special. It is one of the most wonderful times of the year. Let us make it so. Let’s enjoy every moment. Let’s all have a happy and magical Christmas.

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The Single Mothers Camp activity I wrote about some time ago (from Nov. 1 to 3) has been postponed to summer because of current erratic weather conditions. For more details, please call tel. no. 721-0801.

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E-mail me at babyjakster@yahoo.com