Since I have started writing about Christmas the other day, I might as well continue with it. But this time I’ll be sharing about the things I do to get ready for Christmas.
Come September, I already make my list of family and friends whom I should and would want to buy a gift. To make things easy for me, I do it per category. I start with immediate family of course. Next are my closest relatives. After family and relatives I start listing down the names of my and my husband’s godchildren. I should not miss out on these kids, especially that we are considered as their second parents. It is just sad that most of them don’t get to see us anymore because we have lost contact with their parents. So to our godchildren, we may not see you that often anymore but rest assured that you are not forgotten in our Christmas list. After our godchildren, friends are next. Friends is quite general so I still list per category, they are classified as friends from work, from college, or even from high school. After listing everyone, I still double check it because I might have missed someone. And I wouldn’t want to be on that person’s shoes.
After the listing of names, now comes the listing of possible gifts and the budget allotted. Of course, family members get the highest allocation. I need not elaborate why.
Since the bazaar season has started as well, I grab that opportunity to buy some of the gifts. I start buying the gifts of the people whom I will not be able to see because of the Christmas break. So basically that refers to my friends at work. Slowly thru my frequent visits at these bazaars and malls, I get to complete my Christmas shopping. By the first week of December I am already done with my shopping and now ready to wrap them. By the time the calendar hits the second week of December; my focus has already shifted from gifts to the family activities for the Christmas season --the Noche Buena, Media Noche, the Christmas parties, the other events like weddings or birthdays and the dawn masses. This may also include visiting relatives, gift-giving to the less fortunate, or having an out-of-town trip.
These are just some of the things I usually busy myself with during the Christmas season. I find myself lacking sleep at times, but what the heck, everyone is on the same boat as I do! But sometimes I get to think that people, myself included, usually fall into this kind of trap. This is how we prepare for Christmas. Gifts, parties, reunions. We may find all of these activities as the reasons why we love Christmas so much. But I believe that this is a sad fact because we know that there should be more than just buying presents and reunions. Getting ready for Christmas in the truest sense of the word is the harder part...is the hardest part.
