Christmas Busyness

I am so thankful for online shopping. The thought of dragging my three little ones out into the frigid tundra we live in to go from store to store is not my idea of a good time. In previous years, mostly because finances were tight, I made as many gifts as I could. I am thinking that this was a more thoughtful way to go, but this year that was not going to happen. I chalk all my shortcomings up to having a new baby, but this excuse is quickly becoming unusable as Ellie is approaching 3 months old. How long does one get? Anyway, I did nearly all of my shopping online which probably took more time, but I could do all my browsing while the kids were sleeping. I think it was a good trade off!

There were so many things I wanted to do this year for Christmas that I didn't get together in time. I wanted to decorate the house, and I know that I still could, but I feel like I didn't get the full month to have the decorations up, so it would be a waste. I wanted to get the kids advent calendars and make paper chains to countdown to Christmas day. I wanted to do daily advent readings about the Savior's birth. I wanted to have Bennett memorize a passage in Luke to recite on Christmas Day (I might still do this one as he is a fast learner and he memorized it last year so might still remember some of it.)

When I look at this list, these things seem so much more important than spending so much time buying the "perfect" presents and wrapping them meticulously. I have such a hard time with priorities. I know that I just need to lay in bed with the kids and snuggle and read books and play on the floor with them, but what about the laundry and cooking and cleaning and bills and blogs!?

I am a person that needs a schedule. Some people aren't that way, but for me to be productive and fit everything into a day that I want to, I need a pretty detailed schedule. I am hoping to get a treadmill soon (hint, hint) and my plan is to start a new daily schedule with the kids. I want to spend some time alone with each of them during the day to work with them on different things, I want them to have time playing together and playing alone. I am going to start rotating their toys so that they play with certain things at certain times on certain days. I know that sounds like baby boot camp or something, but if I don't do this, the kids take out all their toys, scatter them all over the room, don't play with any of them, argue and fight all day, and I stay in my pajamas until 4 pm and get nothing accomplished. Okay, that was too much information, but the truth!

I am looking forward to more structure in our day, and when I get it hammered out, I will post the results more for myself than anyone. I hope this post encourages you to stop and play on the floor a little longer today and worry about that pesky laundry a little less (but what do you do if your husband has no more clean underwear?!) Enjoy this blessed season and stop to think about why we are going to all the work that we are. It is all about HIM, not us.