I love hearing your feedback about how the Project is helping you make this holiday (and next). Look at how Renee is using the binder to prepare for next year (and BTW – we will be doing the Project again next year, so get a head start now!):
“I’m already thanking you, Kathi! I love the Christmas notebook idea. I even wrote out everything I needed for Thanksgiving dinner, including my grocery list, location of all the relevant recipes, and time schedule to get everything in and out of my single oven by dinner time. Last night after all the guests went home and the dishes were in the dishwasher, I made notes on what recipes need to be doubled next year, which tweaks to the recipes should stay and which can go, (and, okay, I’ll make fewer sweet potatoes, but you can’t make me skip them altogether!). I printed off a copy and added it to the front of my notebook and I’ll know right where to find it next year!” Renee
And now for Today’s Project: Write out all your gift ideas/what you’ve already bought for your gifts. You can print out lists to keep in your 
holiday binder over at my author page. (See link below.)
Wouldn’t it be great if the gift giving part of Christmas was the least stressful? Here are a couple ideas to help you take the stress off:
- Limit the List For several years, we limited the number of gifts we bought for each kid: One spiritual gift, one box of clothes, and one fun gift. You may think that it sounds very Little House on the Prarie-ish, but with all the grandparents, aunts and uncles and friends, the kids weren’t hurting for gifts. Trust me.
- Extended Family Swap We’re doing this with my family this year. Every time I start to panic about not having a gift for my brother, I stop, take a deep breath, and remember – “He’s not on my list.” Huzzah. If this is something you want to try, talk about it with your family now, not the week of Christmas.
- Ask Ask people what they would like. I know it’s fun to surprise people with something perfect, but really, why stress yourself out?
- Keep Your Ears Open – Print out the Christmas List over at my Author Page and start to take notes for each person you’re buying for. Maybe your son mentioned a book he’s interested in, or your husband received a renewal notice for his favorite magazine, make a quick note to get it (or jot it down for next year.)
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