There’s still a week left of school, work and while you may have Christmas under control, there’s sometimes a few afterthoughts which put extra stress on your plans.
We’ve brainstormed those niggly little tasks and compiled into a handy (albeit random) downloadable list. You’re welcome!
Charge your camera batteries, and the spares. This gets us every major holiday or event (you’d think we’d learn). The fact we always seem to leave this to the last minute inspired us to write this list.
Check your phone/ tablet charging cables. One of our brand new cables died at an event recently. Thankfully we always carry a spare but if you will be relying on your phone for family video and photos over Christmas, it’s a good idea to check charging cables are up to scratch.
Sticky tape. Think you have enough of the stuff? Sure? Just check again, it’s always almost never enough.
Stock up on dishwasher tablets and/ or washing up liquid. We know that commerce doesn’t end on 24th December although shops full of crazy consumers on the run up to the big holiday appear paint a contradictory picture. We’d rather make the effort to pop out for chocolate or gin on Boxing Day rather than drab dishwasher tablets.
And bleach (or whatever you use as an alternative) - Same for cleaning the toilet, essential, yet drearily domestic, worth just getting out of the way. Better still, have some white distilled vinegar, lemons, soda crystals and make your own cleaning products for some non-abrasive action.
Make sure you have plenty of nail polish remover and cotton wool or buds. For those who fancy a bit of Christmas nail glam, have a smudge-free correction kit ready.
Tissues. We don’t want to jinx the Bank Holiday but there are colds doing the rounds. Always good to have packs dotted about in bags, drawers and glove compartments.
Clean shoes. It’s somewhat deflating to be rushing out the door for your Christmas celebrations and finding that yours and the kids’ shoes are absolutely filthy. But seriously, who has time to sit and clean shoes (apart from my Dad)? This year, we fancy having clean shoes, so will be popping a tacky Christmas movie on Netflix while we get to work.
Batteries not included? Eliminate festive stress by checking the batteries in any gifts or other preferred toy and your household gadgets. Check the device instructions for safety advice but if you’re able to pre-load batteries or charge before wrapping, gifts are ready to use after tearing them open.
Bin liners or bags for recycling wrapping. Perhaps an obvious one but we’ve been caught out before, so it made the list.We like using the strong carrier bags for recycling, keeps things tidy in the kitchen (as they are less likely to topple over). Or use a large box which is bound for the recycling anyway.
Cornflour. Save your gravy or sauces! Not always found in your local convenience shop and it corrects a multitude of cooking sins.
Spare gifts. Forgetting a gift for someone can put a dampener on your day. And I’m sure we don’t all have piles of cash laying around to buy extra presents but it’s worth noting the supermarkets are already cutting prices of gift items, which means you can pick up gorgeous boxes of biscuits for less than a fiver.
Download the full list Annoying Christmas Task List.
