Not meaning to scare you but Christmas is coming! Arghhh! I hear you cry. I always have this marker in my head that approximately 100 days after my birthday is Christmas. As a child that was quite exciting. These days I have mixed reactions going on inside.
Most of my Christmas shopping goes overseas back to my family. I take care of them, with input from my husband, and vice versa here with his family. Now, with the spectre of Covid and the topsy turvy postage times, which are a result, you really do have to do Christmas in October. The positive side of that is that, to a great extent, I miss the Christmas pressie rush that happens from mid-December onwards.
There must be a solution though to calming down Christmas. Maybe changing how we shop, where we shop, and what we shop for?
One thing which we have been doing here for the past couple of years is putting the effort into organising the actual celebration and, when it comes to presents, looking at vouchers. At least with vouchers you don’t have to make the decision for someone else and they can see the promise in a voucher from a place which they love shopping at. The only draw back is that vouchers have their value clearly printed on them so there needs to be a limit set for these. From my end, I would rather have five or ten dollars to spend on something I really want than an object which doesn’t work for me – it’s an automatic discount which can be combined favourably with the Boxing Day or New Years sales.
That works for here and there are some solutions to the overseas part. I have discovered the art of buying online and getting things wrapped and sent directly. I still send cards and often something small that I have made but technology is a wonderful thing when it comes to sending presents. Cuts down on my carbon footprint and timing is way easier to organise. You can even get to the nitty gritty if people give you a bunch of ideas with links to the item online! And if they don’t wrap, I solve the problem by, for instance, sending my sister’s present to my mum and vice versa and they each wrap for me.
So, time to sit back and relax a little. I am currently waiting for suggestions to be sent to me and can get onto the the next step once they are here!