I am organized and my
siblings are organized. It’s in our DNA.
Our mother used to set her dining room table a week early for a dinner party
and then cover it with a lightweight sheet to keep the dust off. Then she would check it off her list. She makes lists for EVERYTHING. She would start writing a menu/grocery list
for a lake weekend on a Monday and start asking us who would be there for lunch
and dinner. I had teenagers... like I had any clue on MONDAY who would be
eating lunch on Saturday at the lake. Ha!
When I was growing up, every
fall, my mom would tape together two sheets of paper (long-ways) and make a giant
Christmas gift chart. We four children
were the rows. The columns were Nannie,
Mimi, Auntie Margaret, Aunt Catherine, Auntie Rita, Auntie Geraldine, etc. Yes… Geraldine… and that’s what she was
called. Anyway, since they lived far
away, they gave my mom money to buy gifts for the four of us from them. The
giant chart kept her very organized and also served to make sure we all wrote
the proper thank you notes… not e-mails… this was 1975… real notes on paper
that were written with a pen and mailed with a stamp. Torture!
I have a chart, but it is different. The rows are all of the people for whom I buy
a gift. The columns are the Gift, whether
it’s been Purchased, whether it’s been Wrapped, whether it’s been Delivered,
and what Gift they gave to us. I honestly
thought every person in America
had a Christmas gift chart. Years ago,
my friend Samantha saw my gift chart.
She was amazed; she didn’t have a chart like this. (I bet her mother probably didn’t start
packing for a trip about a month in advance either.) I was shocked that she thought this chart was
so clever; I can’t imagine going Christmas shopping without a Gift Chart. The 20-year-olds who are reading this need to
just start out doing their chart/list on their smart phones. I have been using my trusty printed chart
for so many years, I’ll stick with it BUT it would be REALLY bad if I lost
it. Of course, you can lose a smart
phone too BUT if you have backed it up to iCloud then you’re in good shape!
 |
| Headings of gift chart |
Where was I? Oh, yeh.
I encourage you to start out with a chart/list like this and then tweak
it each year to fit your needs.
As you can see from the
following photo, I keep my charts.
Why? 1. I’m a little bit of a
pack rat. 2. I don’t like to have to remember stuff – it’s
too much trouble. 3. I have a gift
shelf. One
year I bought a bunch of really, really nice frames from Belk for a really,
really good price. I can easily check
and see if I’ve already given one to the Thompsons. You are smiling right now because you know
what I’m talking about. I’m not a big
re-gifter. I’m not saying I’ve never done it. If you’re
a big re-gifter, you definitely need to have a chart and keep all of your old
charts. How embarrassing would it be to
give the same frame to the same person two years in a row? Very.
 |
| 15 years of gift charts... |
I have a completely separate
list for my immediate family. Since we
have two children, it used to be VERY important to give each child the same
number of gifts… no matter that one cost $5 and a video game cost $60 – it
was very important to wrap the same number of packages! One year, my younger son needed a punishment
(let’s just say he made my older son’s face bleed one day before Nina’s Family Christmas
Picture Appointment.) As the punishment,
I told him he would get one less Christmas present that year. As all parents should know, you always
have to do what you say you’re going to do. Wow.
When my older son got to open that extra present, you would have thought
we gave him a pony. It had quite an
effect and is now a favorite family story.
In truth, you must know that I actually wrapped up a pair of long johns
that he would have gotten anyway, but since the presents were not opened in any
order, the fact that he received an extra present is what stuck in their
brains.
Note to self: one less Christmas present is a really good
punishment.
Start your Christmas Gift Chart
today!
To print out a blank gift
chart to get you started, click this link:
… and that’s my 2 cents’
worth, Cheryl
PS Sorry to have made fun of
my Auntie Geraldine’s name. She was a
smart, spunky ole spinster who lived until she was 102. She had a total knee replacement when she was
97! That’s not a typo – 97!
PSS I’ve heard rumors that my
sister Layne knew where my mom hid The Chart and would take a peak at it every
few days for weeks leading up to Christmas!!
Not fair!
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I like your chart, but am wondering what the P, W, D stands for.
ReplyDeletePurchased, Wrapped, and Delivered! Glad you like the chart!
Delete