Free Christmas Shopping List Printable

We just created a free Christmas Shopping List printable to help you get better organized for Christmas.  You can use it in conjunction with 8 Weeks to a Frazzle Free Christmas or with your own system.  Simply check off the items you need and use the blank spaces to add your own items.  Enjoy!

2008 Edition of 8 Weeks to a Frazzle Free Christmas

Make your Christmas preparations easy this year with the 2008 edition of 8 Weeks to a Frazzle Free Christmas, a completely free e-book walking busy parents through the holiday rush and preparations one week at a time.  The e-book is completely free and also offers a sign-up for optional daily and weekly reminders.  The new 8 week session begins October 20th and ends on December 14th.

A Parenting Tip – Create a Sane Holiday Season Now

By: Colleen Langenfeld

Could you benefit from a useful parenting tip with practical applications? Most parents
can. As a mother and a business owner who has worked with hundreds of moms over the past few years, I often hear the same thing.

“This year, it will be different,” these overwhelmed moms sigh as the holiday season draws near. “I won’t let my family do so many activities. It won’t be such a blur! We’re going to have a sane holiday this year.”

Starting to sound like a New Year’s Resolution, isn’t it? Great idea…if only you could pull it off.

Well, this year you can.

I have been parenting for over 26 years. As a mom, I know how crazy the end of the year has become for our whole culture. Not only is there an abundance of activities for adults, but our children have been pulled into the madness as well, with nearly unlimited opportunities of their own. To top it off, most of these activities are good, even excellent.

Feeling a little overwhelmed just thinking about it? Me, too.

So here’s a parenting tip with long term consequences: let’s get on top of this situation now, while the season is still in front of us and we actually have time to plan. Pull out a calendar and ask yourself how you really want your holiday season to be this year.

For example…

• Do you enjoy having an activity every evening?

• Do you enjoy activities away from home or at home? Or a mix?

• Do you want your kids to primarily do activities with their friends or with their family? (I really hope you’re choosing family!)

• What traditions are most important to you? Baking cookies? Sending cards? Caroling? Helping in your community? Serving in your house of worship?

• Do your children even understand “why” this time of year is so precious? Do they understand the religious and historical backgrounds of the holidays you celebrate?

So what’s the bottom line here? Stop trying to do everything and concentrate on one or
two activities that are truly meaningful to your family. YOU decide the important messages you want to impress upon your children this holiday season. You can choose from the long-established traditions to teach those messages or create brand new traditions that your family will love embracing.

Making family memories is what will stay with your family, year after year. It’s what your
children will take with them into adulthood. It is what they will form their own family traditions on.

They won’t remember all the hectic activities. But they will remember things like this: that every year, on the weekend after Thanksgiving, we get the Christmas decorations out of storage, snuggle up with hot chocolate, and fondly reminisce over the history of each ornament. It’s the story of our family, remembered and added to each year.

That’s one of my children’s favorite holiday traditions. Pretty simple, huh? But my grown sons speak fondly of this tradition so I know it has been important to them. And I continue it now with my daughters.

Do you see what else is going on here? Besides the warm fuzzies, I am now much more aware of the powerful influence I have as my children’s parent. And it makes it easier for me to intentionally use making memories to teach them what I believe is most important for them to know.

So what is my most excellent parenting tip for you this holiday season? Stop going with the flow. Instead think, plan and create your family’s holiday memories this season. Be intentional with your family’s limited time (and energy), and encourage peace, laughter and thoughtfulness during this blessed and holy time of the year.

About the Author
Colleen Langenfeld has been parenting for over 26 years and helps other moms enjoy mothering more at http://www.paintedgold.com. Visit her website to get the parenting tip you need today.

8 Weeks to a Frazzle Free Christmas

Join me as I set out this year to take control of our holiday preparations and strive to complete them an entire two weeks before Christmas. Beginning on October 16th and ending on December 9th, my 8 Week Plan to a Frazzle Free Christmas will guide me along with any willing and able participants through all of the holiday preparations and craziness that comes along with getting ready for the holiday. Download the free ebook, subscribe to receive daily and weekly reminders, tips, and hints, and follow along in my blog as I set out to conquer the craziness and actually enjoy the holiday rather than fear it. I will be ready by December 9th even if it kills me!