Whew – the preparation for Christmas has NOTHING on the aftermath of Christmas!
This is the pile of boxes remaining from our Christmas extravaganza!
My dad always had a “system” for opening gifts on Christmas morning. After one of us kids was selected to play Santa, one gift was passed out at a time and opened individually so that everybody enjoyed each other’s Christmas gifts. As each gift was open the wrapping paper, boxes, and other packaging materials were collected IMMEDIATELY into a garbage bag, or broken down as needed. The only aftermath I ever saw was a stuffed-to-the-brim garbage bag.
We all used to laugh about it – but truthfully, he made sense! It wasn’t just because he’d been a drill instructor in the Marine Corps! It was logical and neat and there was NO PILE of boxes needing to be moved to the garage with the other trash.
So – to make my home sing – I’m going to get the remnants of our Christmas Extravaganza OUT of our house. It makes me crazy to see it sitting there – especially in my KITCHEN of all places. If I could fashion it into some sort of new countertop work space I’d do it – but it’s not feasible, so the boxes will be broken down and removed and new toys will be put into their place. Old cookies are going to be thrown out, wrapping paper will be stored for next year, and I will be able to walk from one room to another without stubbing my toe on something!
Granted, each of us dealt with a bout of the stomach flu through the week – Roy’s and mine peaking Saturday and Sunday – so the aftermath lasted much longer than it might have otherwise. And maybe next year, we’ll implement a “system” for unwrapping gifts and taking care of the wrap & packaging as we go…
For today – it’s on to laundry and straightening and trash removal – and back to the semi-chaos that is the normal everyday life here! And while I’m at it, I’ll just sing along to Michael Bublé’s CD “Crazy Love” – which I recently won on Blogher.com!!! It’s much easier to ba-ba-ba-Broom my way through the kitchen with a smooth crooner like Bublé!
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Welcome to my blog. Grab a latte and settle in for a good read! I'm Debbie - aka The Queen Mommy. I'm really just a Right-Brained woman who loves God, her husband, and her three children. I This means I'd rather write than clean... I enjoy writing about family & home, faith & life, marriage & parenting, food & addiction. I do participate in affiliate programs and use affiliate links and graphics throughout my blog. If you follow a link and make a purchase, I may make a small commission to help support my family at home. Click here for my Disclosure Policy.
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We usually open up one gift at a time so everyone can enjoy each other’s too. From the time they were babies we have had a garbage sack out there, so the wrapping and ribbon goes directly into the sack so no mess. That’s what they are used to and I prefer it. Some people love the mess though but not me, lol!
However, we do always have the shirt boxes and stuff that have to be put back in storage to be reused next year!
Thank you for linking up today!
I still have a little after Christmas clean-up too. I hope to get that done soon.