MUMMY TO THE MAX

Christmas is an event which I think about all year. From January I set about making Christmas perfect. I have plans in place to ensure that December is mainly stress free. I find it important to have December stress free as not only is it Christmas but it is also mine and Maxwell's birthdays.

Present Shopping - Starting in the January sales I hunt for bargains. I shop instore and online and love to find the best deals. This year one of the best deals I have managed to get was for Maxwell and it was a play kitchen that I managed to purchase him. I decided I was going to buy Maxwell a play kitchen way back in August this year, I searched Amazon for one which I liked and I kept a eye on the price. The kitchen was priced at £150 and for day's I saw it being lowered however I did not give in to the lowing price. Eventually the kitchen was reduced to £65 which is below half price and I purchased it. Straight after purchasing it, it shot back up to full price and since buying it at £65 I have not seen the kitchen being sold anywhere else cheaper. When shopping for presents I always search around before buying and I will wait for the best deals. I do not buy things for the sake of buying them because they are a bargain. I often try and team coupons and vouchers with purchases.

Food Shopping - This year I booked my Christmas food shopping in November 2 days after the Christmas delivery slots opened. I did a meal plan of basic items which i needed to buy and stuck to items which we would need over the Christmas period. I bought food for 7 days - not including Christmas as we go to family. Our food shopping is coming on the 22nd December as this is the nearest slot I could get to Christmas, I can imagine by now most of the popular delivery slots will be booked up. I am able to amend my food shopping order up until the 21st December, this gives me plenty of time to think about what I may need to add to my shopping list.

Decorating - This year we moved into a new home and since moving in I have wanted to change things. In July we painted our living room as well as Maxwell's bedroom and more recently we have purchased new furniture for Maxwell meaning he has more storage for new items this Christmas. I do not tend to do any decorating or changes to the house in December. I like to plan ahead and get the house just right before December. If I could have changed one thing this year to the house, the change would have been buying a new sofa for our home. This is on the top of my to do list for the New Year.

Decluttering - I started to declutter in September. I started decluttering from downstairs and worked my way upstairs. Items were sold, sent to the charity shop, sent to Maxwell's preschool or given to family. I got rid of toys, clothes, items in the kitchen and items in our bedrooms. It was great to see it go and it was lovely to have lots of space again. Come December my house is pretty much clutter free and there is space for new toys, new clothes and any other items which we may be given to our family this Christmas. I often tend to do another declutter in January.

Present Wrapping - This is one of the things which I did not manage to complete this year however I have not struggled to complete wrapping Christmas Presents. I normally tend to buy all my Christmas wrapping paper in the January sales as well as Christmas cards. In November I write all my Christmas cards up and I start to wrap presents. I spread present wrapping over a few days, however this year was not the case and instead I have spent a hour a day over 5 days this December present wrapping.