We are all in denial about it, but when we changed our calendar from September to October this past week, we could no long put it off. It’s time to create our checklist for the holidays. People are decorating their homes with Halloween decorations and soon they’ll be stringing their Christmas lights. That means you need to make sure you have your priorities set and Parish Giving on speed dial!

What can I check off now?

So, you are probably thinking that there must be something on your list that you are able to check off right away. How about some online registration forms? You know the dates for your Holiday Bazaar, so why not have vendors sign up online to participate? This way you have everything organized in an Excel spreadsheet and you do not have to scramble around trying to find checks. It’s already taken care of for you.

You can sign up for your holiday inserts for the fall. While Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years are not available yet, you can always schedule your Parish Giving inserts for Halloween and Veterans Day. This way when the email comes around next month for the winter holidays, you’ll be ready!

Schedule some quiet time. Once the holidays are in full swing you will not have much quiet time left. School holiday parties, Halloween costume parades, prepping Thanksgiving dinner and so on. Take some time out of your schedule and give yourself a bit of quiet time. An easy example would be to go food shopping alone. Leave your kids with your husband and just allow yourself to peacefully go through each aisle at your local grocery store. Sure, there will be noise there, but it’s someone else’s bother.

What you can check off in the future

Inserts! Once you receive our Parish Giving email you can then schedule your winter holiday inserts right away! You can pick one or all! It’s completely up to you! We even provide suggested dates you can follow. We want to make life easier for you!

Visiting the holiday bazaar! You allowed us to help organize it for you, so now you can enjoy your success. You can buy little trinkets for colleagues and your family secret Santa. This will allow you to check both Christmas shopping and supporting your local church off you list – or as I like to call it a twofer!

House prep! With the holidays comes family and friends. That means parties, get togethers, dinners, cookie exchange and so much more! While it’s exciting, it can also be stressful. Plan by creating a list of what you can clean now so that in the future you can just spot clean in between visits. Remember, those cookies don’t bake themselves!

As you can see there are some items you can start to check off now, and some items you can prepare for! Don’t allow yourself to become overwhelmed. Just keep calm and enjoy this time of the year. It’ll be over before you know it!