This month, I have changed my original plans of what to write about.
I was going to start by reminding you that there are only 23 Fridays left until Christmas (at the time of writing) and remind you that while hopefully you have had a chance to follow along with me in my preparations, it is never too late to start putting aside a little money and making lists.
My plan was going to say that now may seem early, but it is actually a really good time to start thinking about who you want to see over the festive period, and who you might want to spend the special day with and start making diary plans with them.
There was so much I was going to do this month…
But then life happened. On Tuesday night I got taken to hospital and told that I have to stay here until our new baby is born, which they have moved forward. She will be a cesarean birth because of the complications, so I’ll have to stay afterwards too. At the same time as we are buying a house…
It hasn’t been an easy week. We have nothing ready for the baby. No clothes in her small size, no room ready, no nappies, nowhere to sleep. It will get it all sorted out, and our family and friends are being wonderful. But the thing is we were organised. And we had time. Right up until mid-August. We were going to get everything ready once we had moved….we had plans.
Make a plan B
Now I most sincerely and certainly hope that nothing as dramatic happens to you, but I am a firm believer in learning from the universe. So this month I am asking, if something happened, either delightful or disastrous, to take up a lot of your time, or render you less mobile….how would Christmas look?
I appreciate that in the scheme of things if Christmas doesn’t happen it isn’t the end of the world. But that doesn’t mean it would be sad. For those of us who love it, for those of us who tend to do the organising for our families, or small children looking to us to create the magic….then it is something we want to be able to do.
Prepare for hiccups
Hopefully. you have a little money put aside now. If you haven’t and you are possibly able to, please do. What if there was a work hiccup? Or your boiler exploding or a car going wrong suddenly reduced your available funds? Would you have enough to cover the things which are important to you? Or you were suddenly unable to get out and do the things you need doing? Do you have a list that you could give to someone else to do for you? Generally, I find that people are so kind and willing to help, but they need to know what it is you want them to do. If your lists are in your head, please get them down onto paper this month.
Lastly, putting aside the big picture of everyone just being here, alive, healthy, what are the handful of things that if nothing else got done at all would make it still feel like Christmas to you?
I have childhood memories of my little brother being taken to hospital Christmas Eve dehydrated and suffering from terrible tonsillitis. Mum left everything for a Christmas dinner. Dad hadn’t the first clue, so we had Heinz tomato soup and those party sausage rolls. Of course, she could never have for seen what happened. And Dad could certainly have been a bit more capable. It has always upset her that we didn’t get our Christmas dinner. Even though eating soup and sausage rolls in front of ET was marvellous for us!
Watch your priorities
Try not to get too many priorities on your list. And try as much as you can to make it about what you need and those who are most important to you, not about what you think ‘should’ be on your list. Don’t be afraid to ask for help if you find yourself in a situation where you need it.
In the best case scenario, you won’t need to implement your emergency plan. In the best case, you are either a bit more organised than you were, are certain of having your essentials happen, and if the worst happens, it won’t derail your plans.
As for me, I’ll be here a while yet. So I am looking for ways to displace worrying about the baby and the surgery which creeps a day closer every day. My approach is to think about Christmas gifts that I would like to give this year. I’ll be browsing the internet for festive make-ahead recipes for my freezer.
Hopefully next month I’ll be writing from home and can get back to the subject I originally had in mind. Until then, why not treat yourself to a gorgeous new pen and notebook, and pin your plan to paper?