mommyoffive Posted December 4, 2016 Share Posted December 4, 2016 I struggled with this last year. How are you doing your shopping? I drove myself nuts last year ordering a huge jungle gym online and then having it sent to the house. The kids are here all day. I was frantically waiting for the truck everyday. When it came I had to send the kids to the basement, hid the thing on the porch the whole day, couldn't send the kids outside. It was crazy and so much stress. I need to order some big items again this year, but man home schooling is making this hard. So how do you do it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maize Posted December 4, 2016 Share Posted December 4, 2016 Could you arrange with a neighbor to have packages delivered to their house? 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LucyStoner Posted December 4, 2016 Share Posted December 4, 2016 When I worked FT and had a big item to order, I would have it sent to my office. I don't do that anymore because my husband's works at a large facility where it all goes through a mail room and that would be extra work for people who work there. Now, I have things like that shipped to a friend or neighbor. Most people love to help Santa. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnnE-girl Posted December 4, 2016 Share Posted December 4, 2016 We have stuff delivered to DH's office. But it's very small and everyone understands. Last year he had the kids' Christmas bikes sitting in his office for a couple of days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happypamama Posted December 4, 2016 Share Posted December 4, 2016 Last year we ordered a big item, and I was pretty sure the box would say what it was. So I requested that FedEx leave it down by our barn, and then I taped a note to our front door for FedEx, requesting that they put it by the barn and to cover it with the blanket I left there. No problem! We've also stalked the post office a few times so we could squirrel stuff away unnoticed. I get a lot from Amazon, so I just tell the kids not to open anything. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StephanieZ Posted December 4, 2016 Share Posted December 4, 2016 When the kids were little and believed in Santa, we had gifts shipped to work, so dh could hide them there in a closet until we got them right before Christmas. Other times, we've hidden things in the trunk of cars. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmmetler Posted December 4, 2016 Share Posted December 4, 2016 Mostly online-since DD is usually with me, it's easier to take cardboard boxes to my bedroom to open them (and hide the contents if they are a gift as opposed to, say, prescription food for the cat with Kidney disease) than it is to buy stuff in stores around her. Unfortunately, she moved from the gymnastics gym right in a major shopping area to a cheer gym that is not close to anything good. Hopefully, next year her CC classes will allow some freedom to run errands. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monica_in_Switzerland Posted December 4, 2016 Share Posted December 4, 2016 I agree with others- check with a neighbor or a nearby relative and see if you can deliver there. I just went out and bought everything last Friday because DH took a day off. I brought it home and took it straight to our basement storage area. No probs! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purplejackmama Posted December 4, 2016 Share Posted December 4, 2016 100% online and sent to a friend's house. I haven't Christmas shopped with a bra on, in years! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustEm Posted December 4, 2016 Share Posted December 4, 2016 They get hidden in our garage or closet. I generally have a good idea of when online packages are coming so I just tell them they aren't allowed near the door if someone knocks that day. They listen. They also know where we keep their gifts and know that the only one they're hurting is themselves if they go snooping and ruin their surprise. I dad one kid who peaked this year so far. She didn't see her gifts though. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pippen Posted December 4, 2016 Share Posted December 4, 2016 You can request that UPS or FedEx hold deliveries for pick-up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HollyDay Posted December 4, 2016 Share Posted December 4, 2016 I bought quite a bit at our local craft fairs this years. I also ordered online mostly. Youngest and I went to Bass Pro shortly before Thanksgiving and did some shopping for dh and oldest dd. I actually picked up a couple things today unexpectantly. I was shopping downtown (stand alone stores, not mall) and saw some really cute things at a good price for stocking stuffers. Amazon is easy and their boxes all say amazon, so it could be household stuff (paper towels, etc) or Christmas..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baseball mom Posted December 5, 2016 Share Posted December 5, 2016 I bought quite a bit at our local craft fairs this years. I also ordered online mostly. Youngest and I went to Bass Pro shortly before Thanksgiving and did some shopping for dh and oldest dd. I actually picked up a couple things today unexpectantly. I was shopping downtown (stand alone stores, not mall) and saw some really cute things at a good price for stocking stuffers. Amazon is easy and their boxes all say amazon, so it could be household stuff (paper towels, etc) or Christmas..... I too thought all Amazon came in their boxes but be make sure to read on big items. Some come in the regular box. But generally amazon give you the option for one of their boxes. Didn't see that option 1 time. Learned and looked the next time. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baseball mom Posted December 5, 2016 Share Posted December 5, 2016 I have stuff sent to friends or now to dh's work (he now works at a small place and can do that) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baseball mom Posted December 5, 2016 Share Posted December 5, 2016 BTW when I 1st read the title I read it as "How are you doing WITH your holiday shopping?". My response to that was :lol: :lol: :smilielol5: :smilielol5: :rofl: :rofl: Yeah less than 3 weeks and I have bought nearly nothing. Thinking about buying everyone groceries (regular items not specialty) or household items (washing detergent, dish soap, shampoo, toilet paper etc. ) 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amy in NH Posted December 5, 2016 Share Posted December 5, 2016 (edited) I'm really not. I am really not into it this year. I don't have a solid shopping list. I've missed the black friday and cyber Monday sales. I'm behind on a big school work deadline. Nutcracker is in less than a week. It's past 1am and I have 4-H here tomorrow. Maybe after next weekend? There's only Wal-Mart for local shopping. It won't be too late to order online next week, will it? Oh yeah, and dh changed jobs this year, so likely no Christmas bonus for the first time in 15 years. Edited December 5, 2016 by Amy in NH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heartlikealion Posted December 5, 2016 Share Posted December 5, 2016 We usually don't have very large objects. Most of my shopping was done online. The boxes didn't reveal the contents but I had an idea of what was what and opened it away from everyone if there were gifts the kids couldn't see. Many items were mailed to our family members' homes because that is where we will open them. I wrapped gifts during Thanksgiving when we were in town visiting. This is the second year I have done early shopping. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bettyandbob Posted December 5, 2016 Share Posted December 5, 2016 My kids never peaked when they were little. It was weird to me because I was always trying to peak. I have friends who stored presents with neighbors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mschickie Posted December 5, 2016 Share Posted December 5, 2016 I only order a few things on line. What we do is one big shopping day. When dd was younger my in laws used to come over and watch her and sd so we could shop. Once dd got old enough to stay at Grandma and Grandpa's we just arrange for her to go over there for a couple of days, dh takes one of his vacation days and then we go shopping. It has worked out really nice and dh and I treat ourselves to a nice lunch and usually dinner out. It gets the majority of the shopping done and then I just normally have a few small things that we order on line. Those I either just grab and stash in the house or if it is too big I make her go to her room while I stash it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
medawyn Posted December 5, 2016 Share Posted December 5, 2016 It's easy this year, bc my oldest is not quite 4, so no one is reading the boxes. And both FedEx and UPS seem to always deliver during nap time, which drives me batty all year except at the holidays. I foresee next year being a bit more challenging, but we have awesome neighbors with college age kids who would probably love to help out Santa. And he works for UPS, so he has seen it all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommyoffive Posted December 5, 2016 Author Share Posted December 5, 2016 I'm really not. I am really not into it this year. I don't have a solid shopping list. I've missed the black friday and cyber Monday sales. I'm behind on a big school work deadline. Nutcracker is in less than a week. It's past 1am and I have 4-H here tomorrow. Maybe after next weekend? There's only Wal-Mart for local shopping. It won't be too late to order online next week, will it? Oh yeah, and dh changed jobs this year, so likely no Christmas bonus for the first time in 15 years. It is not to late to order, even next week. I like to do it as late as possible because then I don't have to hide things. I have no hiding spots in the house. I think the free shipping day is the 18th or something. I haven't bought a thing yet. We don't have family in the state. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creekland Posted December 5, 2016 Share Posted December 5, 2016 Hubby and I usually go out for a day of shopping. It's usually "today" actually (Dec 5th). This year? I anticipate many getting cash or gift cards... there's simply too much going on changing all of our plans last minute, so when we're home we're catching up on other things. My kids are adults now. Cash or gift cards come in handy. Santa has already sent his gifts to our house (easy when the kids aren't actually home) and he'll fill their stockings too (going shopping in person for that sometime - not sure when). We might find a day to get out to stores for other relatives - or it might all be gift cards. Ideally I want gifts for my mom though. Hubby and I already got an advanced gift of a new dishwasher for ourselves. Why wait until Christmas when our other one broke??? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlsdMama Posted December 5, 2016 Share Posted December 5, 2016 I struggled with this last year. How are you doing your shopping? I drove myself nuts last year ordering a huge jungle gym online and then having it sent to the house. The kids are here all day. I was frantically waiting for the truck everyday. When it came I had to send the kids to the basement, hid the thing on the porch the whole day, couldn't send the kids outside. It was crazy and so much stress. I need to order some big items again this year, but man home schooling is making this hard. So how do you do it? I have a color coded Excel spreadsheet. We do three gifts and swaddling clothes. :) So, the spreadsheet is made, it is color coded, the budget has been determined. We do all of our shopping, online & IRL on two days - this Friday online and the next day, Saturday IRL. Then we are done. Done, done. Boxes will show up all next week (Amazon) and the kid will go in my bedroom while the UPS fella delivers so they don't see any pictures on boxes. All boxes will be tucked away in our hiding space until wrapping - due to a 2 year old, probably like two days before Christmas, lol. That's it! :) It's an art form and takes like 15 years to sort through, lol. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommyoffive Posted December 5, 2016 Author Share Posted December 5, 2016 I have a color coded Excel spreadsheet. We do three gifts and swaddling clothes. :) So, the spreadsheet is made, it is color coded, the budget has been determined. We do all of our shopping, online & IRL on two days - this Friday online and the next day, Saturday IRL. Then we are done. Done, done. Boxes will show up all next week (Amazon) and the kid will go in my bedroom while the UPS fella delivers so they don't see any pictures on boxes. All boxes will be tucked away in our hiding space until wrapping - due to a 2 year old, probably like two days before Christmas, lol. That's it! :) It's an art form and takes like 15 years to sort through, lol. So smart and organized. See that is what I need, info on how moms with many do it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SKL Posted December 5, 2016 Share Posted December 5, 2016 I would tell them the box contained something boring (like a basement shelving unit) that you would be opening at some future time. Then I would lock it up in the shed or basement. I do most of my shopping online, and we get lots of boxes. If my kids see that a box is full of kid stuff, I tell them it is for their cousins' Christmas presents (as most of it is). Last week I received a box that said what it was on the outside. I don't know if my kids saw it or not. I am hoping it will still be a surprise. :/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SKL Posted December 5, 2016 Share Posted December 5, 2016 This year my kids' gifts are pretty small in size, so they are all hidden in my closet. In the past I probably put some of the bigger gifts in the basement. I don't remember. :P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamaraby Posted December 5, 2016 Share Posted December 5, 2016 I have a color coded Excel spreadsheet. We do three gifts and swaddling clothes. :) So, the spreadsheet is made, it is color coded, the budget has been determined. We do all of our shopping, online & IRL on two days - this Friday online and the next day, Saturday IRL. Then we are done. Done, done. Boxes will show up all next week (Amazon) and the kid will go in my bedroom while the UPS fella delivers so they don't see any pictures on boxes. All boxes will be tucked away in our hiding space until wrapping - due to a 2 year old, probably like two days before Christmas, lol. That's it! :) It's an art form and takes like 15 years to sort through, lol. Spreadsheet lovers unite! Dh's usual statement to me for anything is "Don't you have a spreadsheet for that?" I have a new one for every year. There's a summary sheet that has this year's budget on it and pulls totals from all the other sheets so that I can see if we're under/over budget and where. Each child has their own sheet where I track Yule gifts and birthday gifts (because their birthdays are nearish to the holidays and I find it easier to do that way). I have another sheet for our general holdiday spending that we typically do (tree, decorating supplies, etc). Because my spreadsheet is in Numbers, I could stick the file on the iCloud and access my spreadsheet on my phone or iPad. I didn't do that this year and then was juggling all the budgets while I was shopping at Target and ended up pretty frustrated - duh. I thought of the iCloud thing after the fact. When I'm planning things out in advance, I enter them on the spreadsheet so I can run through my options. Once I purchae items, I check the box next to them because I like checkboxes even if an x would suffice. Since we have family all over and they want lists, we use Giftster. It's online and people mark off what they got so there aren't duplicates. I did all my shopping at Target, Amazon, and Lands End. Some years we've also ordered gifts from Rainbow Resource's holiday catalog. On the day I was shopping at Target, it was crazy busy and some of the prices online were cheaper so I ordered on the Target website while in Target. Sure beat standing in line at Guest Services. In one instance the only option was pick up in store. I ordered online and it was ready to pick up before I left. My children know not to open packages this time of year and not to go in my closet. We don't do Santa so that helps. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heartlikealion Posted December 5, 2016 Share Posted December 5, 2016 I did a spreadsheet this year, too. I'm more afraid of someone reading the spreadsheet (like if I didn't close it) than looking through closets LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluegoat Posted December 5, 2016 Share Posted December 5, 2016 I've never had anything really giant. The only things I ordered this year were a few books and CDs, so I just picked them up from the mailbox when the kids were busy with something else. (Although, one CD hasn't arrived yet, I should check that out.) Other than that, I've bought my gifts from some shops downtown, the farmer's market, and a markers market last weekend. I'm having a hell of a time figuring out what to get for my mom though, she's really tricky to buy for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlsdMama Posted December 6, 2016 Share Posted December 6, 2016 I did a spreadsheet this year, too. I'm more afraid of someone reading the spreadsheet (like if I didn't close it) than looking through closets LOL I save it under weird names they'd never want to look under like School Supplies or Chore Lists. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.