Christmas Countdown Challenge – Week 2

Welcome to the Christmas Countdown Challenge – Week 2! This week we’re going to get into the nitty-gritty of planning and list-making for the holidays.

I want to make sure we get our ducks in a row in these first couple of weeks because there are some great sales already happening, and I want to make sure we’re ready to pull the trigger on purchases intentionally the last couple of weeks of the month!

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If you missed it, here’s the post from week 1, and here’s the prompt card from last week:

Christmas Countdown Challenge – Week 2 Task

This week, we’re making lists and checking things twice. To help keep things in check, we use this simple gifting strategy for our kiddos:

You’ll need a bit of wit to figure out the last item here…hint: read it backwards. 🙂

Simple Christmas Gift Strategy for Kids

Child:_____________

Want:_____________________________

Need:_____________________________

Wear:_____________________________

Read/Watch:________________________

Do:_______________________________

ATNAS:___(Read backwards :)________

Using the Christmas Gift List

If you like the idea of keeping things simple and straightforward, use this list-making card to guide you in your list-making. And if you prefer to go all out for Christmas, just double up or triple up on each of these categories! And if this is too much, go the opposite direction, and take an item or two out! There are no rules. I’m just providing ideas here.

This is also an easy way to share gift ideas with other family members, especially grandparents. Maybe they’d like to help get one of the gifts you’ve listed? Or, if they really enjoy spoiling their grandkids, maybe you fill out a separate card specifically for them based on what the child has said they wanted.

Use the card however you’d like, just make sure to use it (or something like it) so that you can buy with intention and not get bogged down with decision fatigue and/or analysis paralysis! Write it down and get ready to pull the trigger.

Using this card is also a great way to get your spouse/partner involved in the process! If a lot of the work of the holidays falls on your shoulders, use this as a guide for your conversation to get their input and ideas. A lot of times thinking about EVERYTHING out there that could be gifted is daunting and overwhelming, and so it’s hard to discuss without frustration. The card provides the prompts! Use it.

Christmas Countdown Challenge – Spouse/Partner List

If you have a hard-to-buy-for spouse or partner, use the same strategy that you do for the kids (minus atnas)! Better yet, put the ball in their court and have them fill it out for you or provide the gifts they’d like for each category.

Christmas Countdown Challenge – Wife/Mom List

Listen, let’s take the guess work out of knowing if we’ll get any gifts this year or not. As moms, we’re busy getting everyone else’s holiday wishes checked off the list. I get it. I’m in the same boat. Let’s all take a moment to consider ourselves in the midst of all the madness this holiday season. We deserve a little holiday cheer, too!

Don’t wait for them to ask. Don’t expect everyone to read your mind…you are certainly not reading everyone else’s, are you? Aren’t you being inundated with what everyone else wants and needs this time of year? If you want gifts under the tree for yourself, MAKE A LIST, TOO! Set the expectation, provide the list, and move on. This one is for you, Mama!

Christmas Countdown Challenge – Extended/Other List

And finally, this is a general list making card for all of the extended family, random gifts, grab bags, neighbor gifts, mail man, etc. ALL of the other gifts can go on this card (you’ll likely need two or three), so that you have everyone accounted for! And hopefully by writing things down, you won’t forget anything either (fingers crossed). Jot down the respective name before the colon, and then their gift after it. Easy peasy, lemon squeezie!

That’s it for this week. We received our copy of the Amazon gift catalog last week. The kids have been having fun circling things they’d like in it! The real work begins this week, so get ready. I’ll be sharing some of the Prime Early Access Deals this week (Oct. 11-12). You have be a Prime Member to take advantage of the Early Access Holiday Deals, so sign up now!

Let me know if you have questions. I’d love to hear your feedback on using this gift-list-strategy!

And, if you want the first glimpse and exclusive information for the Christmas Countdown Challenge, go ahead and sign up for The Hood – our email club!

Until next week,

-MG