My strategy is a lot of the same. Both of my kids and my only niece have birthdays in between the end of September and the middle of Dec., so I start shopping in the beginning of Sept. for all three of their double gifts, as well as the few others I need. That way it stays fun to look for gift ideas without wasting my time and energy getting frustrated in crowded stores and busy parking lots and my secret pet peeve....I HATE when it gets cold out and the whole family has to wear jackets to walk in the parking lot, only to have those same jackets fill the cart as soon as you get in the door. September shopping totally solves my dilemma!
As for decorating, it's a Thanksgiving weekend tradition, and we're all psyched to listen to the carols etc. while we're till not tired of them. I like to appreciate the lights and decorations for long enough to be wothwhile putting them up. One of my favorite things is the lights filling the dark house during December.
Spreading things out is the name of the game for family too. I don't try to make it to everyone's house at the same time. We do Christmas eve with one side, christmas day with the other, and the kids are happy to have separate fun days instead of one over-tiring day. It was hard the first few years of marriage. We fought from Thanksgiving clear through Christmas with the parents and each other over how we could arrange the schedule to not disappoint anyone, until one year we just announced how things were going to be from now on to be in the best interest of happiness for our kids. Surprisingly the next year it was fine...(okay maybe one snarky comment or two.)
Lastly, we keep things kind of simple. Not a ton of presents for the kids, because we can't afford to go totally crazy and because there will be gifts from all the grandparents and family. That probably helps to de-stress us financially.
The anticipation of Christmas is the best for me, so I try to prepare early so I can just coast and pretend I'm going to have that movie-perfect Christmas!
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