Bonus Episode 11: Procrastinator’s Christmas Prep Plan – Day 11 – Christmas Morning Hack to Make You Look Like a Pre-Planning Superstar!

Build Your Christmas Morning Toolkit

Here’s a pre-planning hack that looks impressively put-together and takes almost no time to set up: a Christmas morning toolkit. Assembled ahead of time, it makes the whole morning run smoother and saves a scramble for basic supplies while everyone’s mid-unwrapping.

Pick a container that won’t get lost in the shuffle

Any festive tin, basket, spare stocking, or even a plain bin works, as long as it won’t be confused for one of the actual presents or buried under wrapping paper. A gift box is riskier for that reason, since it can blend right in.

What goes inside

A pair of scissors or a box cutter, kept out of kids’ reach. A very small Phillips head screwdriver, since so many toys lock their battery compartments with a tiny screw. A fresh assortment of batteries, especially AA and AAA, but C and D too if a bigger electronic gift is a possibility, since batteries not included catches everyone off guard eventually. Trash bags for the inevitable mountain of wrapping paper, tucked in the bin if there’s room, or noted on a sticky if not.

A sticky note on the outside for everything else

A sticky note stuck to the outside of the container is the perfect spot to jot reminders that don’t fit inside the bin itself: grab the camera, start breakfast, call or video-chat a specific family member at a set time, and anything else that tends to get forgotten in the flurry of the morning.

A trick for sorting out whose gift is whose

Once the unwrapping frenzy settles down, it’s easy to lose track of who opened what. A pad of sticky notes and a pen solve this neatly, label each person’s pile as they open their things, then once things quiet down, it’s simple to go back through and actually see what everyone received.

Your practical, actionable step

Grab a container, festive or plain, and gather scissors, a small Phillips screwdriver, a few sizes of batteries, and trash bags. Stick a note on the outside listing anything you don’t want to forget that morning, and set it near the tree or mantle now, well ahead of the actual day.

Until next time, continue to choose joy.