On the Eighth Day of Christmas, Richie @ Bound and Determined Talks About Christmas

On the Eighth Day of Christmas, Richie @ Bound and Determined Talks About Christmas.

So, most people think we’re a little crazy.  But you have to realize, we’re busy.  And, after all, the early bird gets the worm.  Naturally, we start Christmas preparations early.  Just ask anyone who knows us.

We start thinking about sending out our Christmas cards in June.  We have a family picture taken, which has gotten increasingly difficult to do with each additional child we created.  We have three kids.  Most people I graduated college with are married, maybe with one kid, but three??  But, I digress.  Ok, so back to Christmas… Until this year, our family photos have been on the staircase at my parent’s house.  The hilarity of taking them is boundless.  We’ve had sick kids still in their pajamas, kids looking the wrong way, making funny faces…you name, our kids have done it in the course of taking our Christmas card photo.  This year, we opted to have a friend of ours who is a professional photographer do them this year (when we did our summer trip to my parents, it was too hectic to get the picture done!) which seemed to work better (the kids weren’t distraught by having to leave their Grandma’s house!).

By the end of July we have had the prints done, and begin addressing, signing and stuffing the Christmas cards (that we usually buy during the after Christmas sales for 90% off!) by the first of August.  We hand-made them this year.  Mistake.  There was not enough time to perfect them, so, they were mediocre.  Not quite a fail, but not the best ever.

As August draws, to an end, the envelopes are stamped and deposited at our nearest post office drop box.  In case you didn’t catch that, we mail our Christmas cards in August. 

Though completely unrelated to Christmas prep, but completely relevant to this post, we decorate the house for fall/Halloween at the beginning of October or end of September.  Which is fun and the kids love all the spooky decorations and candy.  Then, only a few days into November, we take the fall/Halloween decorations down and start trimming the house for Christmas.

By the end of the first weekend in November, we have decorated the house, put the tree up, and even hung the wreaths on the doors.  Christmas music plays quietly and softly in the background during this and Christmasy-scented candles burn.

Why do we start so early?  We’re busy.  There’s so much traveling and parties and such that if we didn’t start Christmas early, we wouldn’t be home enough to enjoy it properly!  And, my wife refuses to help if we don’t decorate early.  I need all the help I can get, there’s only so much daylight, and there are so many books to read!

Now…

Get to reading Christmasing,

Richard

About the Author:

Richard is a full-time husband, father, and part-time book blogger and all round bookish nerd.  Or geek.  Either way, he’s one cool daddy-o (at least his kids think so!).   Check out his blog at http://boundanddeterminedtofindagoodread.blogspot.com

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