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SeaStar
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| Posted: Dec 28 2013 at 1:20pm | IP Logged
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Had a near miss here on Christmas morning...
I had hidden all the presents from Santa in a suitcase in our hall closet on Christmas Eve along with another box of presents from various relatives. As soon as the kids went upstairs for baths and bed, I pulled out the box and suitcase and left them in the hallway for dh put out later on when the coast was clear for the night. He checked in with me later to say that he'd taken care of the stuff in the hall.
So imagine my surprise on Christmas morning when the box was gone but the suitcase was still in the hallway! Yep- no Santa presents under the tree. At 5:30 AM there I was- frantically shooing kids back up the stairs so I could "put out some presents I forgot about".  
The kids never clued in, but dh and i had a good laugh about it later. Whew- that was a close one.
Then yesterday I received a beautiful Christmas card in the mail from a friend. It included a picture of her family- mom, dad, all the kids, even the two dogs. And everyone, including the dogs, was listed by name in elegant script... everyone except the youngest child! oops...
I had to laugh, knowing that my friend probably also laughed as she mailed them out. What else can you do? Christmas snafus happen, don't they? They might even be one of the best parts (looking back, of course).
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SallyT
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| Posted: Dec 28 2013 at 4:51pm | IP Logged
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OK, I'm really laughing about the dogs making the card, but not the youngest child. Years of therapy in that one, yeeeeeaaaaaarrrrrrs of therapy.
I can't really remember any obvious snafus here this year, except that one child (really old enough not to believe in Santa any more, but nevertheless) had figured out from shaking a box that came in the mail that he was getting the Lego set he'd asked for, which I had planned for a "Santa" gift . . . fortunately we'd already had long had talks about Santa and everyone else just basically being servants of God, who's the real Giver, so who cares who sets the presents out, or where they come from? And the person in question is 11, so it was all sort of a charade anyway, but everyone loves the charade, so we do it. It has the quality of a domestic liturgy. I would certainly have preferred for this Lego set to appear to materialize miraculously out of the ether, but the recipient liked it regardless.
We do this thing on Christmas morning where I have to go in to "check everything out" before anyone is allowed in the living room with the tree and stockings. Mostly this is so I can light candles and make everything magical before they come in, because I am totally Type-A about atmosphere. But more than once this ritual has saved our skins, when we've forgotten to put something out.
I did leave one gift I'd gotten for my brother in the closet by mistake, but I had something else out for him, so that was okay. This is his first Christmas post-divorce, and he was spending it with us for the first time, so I was going right over the top to try to make him feel welcome and make it fun for him (If I'm ever tempted to complain about children in any way, please remind me how much easier and more rewarding they are to jolly along than 46-year-old depressed men . . . ). I didn't think about the second, stashed gift until much later, and I wanted to kick myself. But then I just thought, "Oh, well, now I know what to give him for his birthday."
Merry Christmas, everyone!
Sally
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JodieLyn
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| Posted: Dec 28 2013 at 7:58pm | IP Logged
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Well it wasn't too bad. But I got to the end of stuffing the stockings and realized I hadn't put the swords in  It was probably a good thing though because they slid in real nicely and I didn't have to fight with them while putting in the other things. 
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Jodie, wife to Dave
G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
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4 lads mom
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| Posted: Dec 30 2013 at 8:37am | IP Logged
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I am horribly embarrassed to admit this, but here it goes....after having kids for TWENTY years...you would have thought that I would have my act together, that I would not, under any circumstance, leave the wrapping until the very last minute.....but I did.  My dh and I were up until the wee hours of the morning wrapping gifts. How could I have such a huge logistical fail like that???? Oh brother. Everything else went off without a hitch, and thank goodness everyone slept in veeeeery late...we didn’t start wrapping until after Midnight Mass, I kid you not. Wow. NEVER AGAIN!!! I have gone back to a paper planner, to augment planning for this year...and front and center under Christmas planning is to wrap the presents by the 3rd Sunday of Advent.
Good grief.
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stacykay
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| Posted: Dec 30 2013 at 10:44am | IP Logged
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I did the exact same thing! And I have even less of an excuse, since my oldest is now 25! I finished up around 1:30am. Dh had to sleep on the couch until I finished, since they were spread all over the bed! He finally came up, took five presents, and went back down to wrap them, so I could finish faster and he could sleep in bed!
One of my resolutions for this year is to wrap the presents as I buy them! I can dream! 
In Christ,
Stacy in MI
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Kristie 4
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| Posted: Dec 30 2013 at 11:57am | IP Logged
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We always seem to be wrapping late- but our Christmas service goes until 2 am so we do get them done before we go.
However, I am always making gifts right to the last minute- I ended up giving pj bottoms to the boys and still have the tops cut up and ready to sew I even fantasized at the last minute to go buy them gifts and finish this years gifts for next year!
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JodieLyn
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| Posted: Dec 30 2013 at 12:55pm | IP Logged
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Oh been there and done that.. the kids had all had a track record of sleeping somewhat later after going to Midnight Mass.. I had way to little done ahead.. we were up until 4am.. went to bed expecting about 3 hrs sleep.. first year we had a child that was up and waking others at 5am.
We hit that one from both ends, kids have a time they may not get out of bed until.. and I don't procrastinate until Christmas Eve (I may procrastinate earlier.. though part of that is wrapped gifts take up more space.. in my room! but it's done by the 23.) That include seperating out the stocking stuff into plastic bags so they're fast to stuff in stockings.
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Jodie, wife to Dave
G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
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roomintheheart
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We had influenza here, so had sick kids on Christmas Eve & Christmas Day. Our sick daughter on the couch watched us fill stockings & put out presents. Luckily, she is 14 so it wasn't like we spoiled the magic or anything.
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SallyT
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Oh, I do that divvying up of stocking stuff, too. It's a lifesaver! It helps me sort of balance things out, too, so no one person winds up accidentally getting noticeably more or less than the others. I can sort it all out while I'm thinking a little more clearly, which helps me on Christmas Eve, when I am NOT thinking clearly at all!
And -- gift bags. Say no more. Wrapping paper and tape are anathema to me. (one more good reason why I don't put out gifts ahead of time!). We've had those awful 4 a.m.-to-bed Christmases . . . never again, I hope.
Funny story about a good friend of mine here. Last year she and her husband had one of those late-night/early morning Christmases -- I'm not sure they even went to bed at all. They went to Mass in the morning, then came home and passed out. She had planned to make this slow-cook-all-day salt-encrusted roast, had it all ready to go, but fell asleep before putting it in the oven and didn't wake up until 6 pm. Oh no! No Christmas dinner! In a panic she went out and got in the car and starting driving around, just for some space to think about what to do, how to feed nine or ten people (I forget how many of her kids were home) when her plan was shot. And then she saw that Panda Buffet was open . . .
As she said later, it was actually a great Christmas dinner, everyone loved it, and they had the delicious roast the next night. "But boy, did I suffer there for a little while!" she said.
Sally
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Betsy
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Thanks for the laughs everyone! It's good to know I am not alone!
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JodieLyn
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| Posted: Dec 30 2013 at 2:48pm | IP Logged
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My older kids want to participate these days..so you bet.. I let them set out the presents while I stuff the stockings (I still don't let them know what they're getting )
Oh but wrapped boxes will stack in my room.. bags not so well
Oh and I highly recommend an excel chart for gifts.
No more having to see stuff laid out to know what's there and if things are "even". I can even jot down location if it's been hidden other than my central gift location.
You probably dont' even need excel but it's so easy to use the graph already there.. kids names going across and then the particular event going down the side.. like "advent" if I'm getting something for advent.. now that's likely to be a couple of books for everyone not individual.
And there's space for stockings and Christmas, and there's space to list things that are supposed to be from Grandma and Grandpa because they sent a check and let me shop.
Oh and birthdays.. I can add birthdays in.. especially for those that are nearer to Christmas, so that I can do my planning on what to give for a birthday or for christmas etc.
And I have space to list family items like movies or games.
And I have a box for the kids gift exchange. Who drew who's name and what was purchased.
And I have spaces for gifts we're giving to extended family..
It's so nice that I can sit down at the computer and see what's there rather than having to pull stuff out. 
And since a lot of my shopping is done online, it's easy to add things onto my list.
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Jodie, wife to Dave
G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
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SeaStar
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| Posted: Dec 30 2013 at 3:18pm | IP Logged
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I am the worst about wrapping and hiding presents- then forgetting where I put them . And I get so frustrated when I know I have something (neatly written down in my Christmas planner), but I can't find the item. This usually happens because I had to find a quick hiding place for a gift.
But, as Sally said, a forgotten gift or one that turns up later can always be rolled over into a birthday gift. Yeah- must think bright side....
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Melinda, mom to ds ('02) and dd ('04)
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monica4patience
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| Posted: Dec 30 2013 at 3:36pm | IP Logged
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We have 3 birthdays between Jan 3 and Feb 2, so lots of forgotten (or bought on purpose) gifts get saved.
As far as wrapping gifts...several years ago I purchased Christmas fabric on sale and made gift bags. I have all different sizes. After DH and I do our big shopping day, we divy up the remaining gifts needed; whether store-bought or on-line. Within a day or two of the shopping, I slip things into the fabric bags and tie them off. All the gifts for a person go into a larger bag and are tied off. As other gifts come in I add them to the big bag. Then i only have a few gifts to bag at the end. This year we even pre-stuffed the stockings? Very simple!
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Erica Sanchez
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Love your ideas, Jodie. I do the same Excel sheets but for clothing. :) It didn't occur to me to me to do it for Christmas. I have a little notebook that I pretty much do the same things in, but I can see how it would be easier to do the charts.
We thought we were going to have an early-to-bed Christmas Eve having no choir commitments this year combined with a pretty humble amount of gifts, but nothing times nine adds up to early. I vowed to do the wrapping not on Christmas Eve next year, but I find Advent gets away from me always.
My favorite Christmas memory as far as gifts was the year we gave the kids a trampoline. Cash had to set it up by himself on Christmas Eve. It was cold for here and I was doing laundry. The exhaust from the dryer was filling the backyard with fog. It was a sight. The next year we gave a basketball hoop. There is just no setting up these things before Christmas Eve. We haven't done anything like it since. :)
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Have a beautiful and fun day!
Erica in San Diego
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jawgee
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| Posted: Dec 30 2013 at 7:50pm | IP Logged
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JodieLyn wrote:
| Oh and I highly recommend an excel chart for gifts. |
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I keep an Excel spreadsheet, too. I have for years! I do all my shopping online, so it's very easy to keep it updated.
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JodieLyn
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| Posted: Dec 30 2013 at 8:06pm | IP Logged
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Erica - that reminds me of the line in the original Yours, Mine and Ours.. where the dad is hiding in the closet trying to finish the last bike.. and gives a list of how many items he had to put together and says "General Motors couldn't keep up" LOL
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Jodie, wife to Dave
G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
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CrunchyMom
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I had presents wrapped in advance with only a few to do on Christmas Eve Eve, but the trees never got decorated
We usually do a local 10:00 "midnight" mass, but instead, we went to the St. John Neuman shrine in Philly with an orchestra and the Archdiocesan Boy Choir. It was AMAZING, but since we had to leave the house at 3:00 and didn't get home until 8:30, it took a serious chunk out of what had always been our tree trimming time. Oh well. Lights are pretty
We had a lot of finger foods out for brunch and snacking throughout the day, and we decided that we were content to do that and didn't have our "dinner" we'd planned until Friday night! It was actually really, really nice since we rarely ever just "veg," and we decided that we would make it a tradition! I imagine a lot of traditions came about from snafus.
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Topic: Christmas snafus
