Save Our Xmas Sanity

Shopping for, and Giving, the Perfect Present

Are you a perfectionist, even just a wee bit?

I am a confessed, reformist perfectionist (sounds a bit like one of those weird religions, doesn't it?)

In my last article, Getting the Gift Shopping Sorted, the subject of buying the perfect gift came up - and I promised to talk more about it.

Perfectionism is a blessing and a curse. In the case of Christmas shopping - it's a curse to us buyers-of-gifts who endlessly walk the malls seeking the perfect gift for each friend and loved one. It's a blessing for those on the receiving ends of those gifts. No inappropriate, cheap, insensitive or unwanted presents from us!

Shopping for the 'perfect present' comes in three distinct parts. There is the idea of what to get. There is the actually purchase of the gift. In between those two steps is what I like to call 'perfectionists-shopping-nightmare'.

The nightmare can consist of any, or all, of these:

• finding the ideal gift in the right colour, shape, design and brand
• comparison shopping the best price
• thinking that this would be OK, but we might find better in that other shop down the street
• fearing that we will be thought of as 'cheap' if we don't buy an expensive brand
• wondering whether it may come up on sale next week
• second guessing the appropriateness of the gift as we stand in the queue to buy it
• getting heart palpitations as we hand over our credit card - what if it isn't perfect?
• wrapping the gift and then running out an getting something else to go with it/instead of it just in case we change our minds at the last minute
• delaying the purchase until they have all sold out, and having to find an alternative

It can be a very expensive and VERY time consuming process. And the shopping doesn't get done.

(and I won't go into our state of mind as Christmas creeps closer - you perfectionists will know exactly what that is like, and no-one else needs to know)

I'm here to tell you, as a reformed you-know-what, that once you have a vague idea of the gift and you see something that is 'good enough' in a shop - (even when you still have plenty of shopping days to Christmas) - Buy. It. Immediately.

If at all possible, have it gift wrapped on the spot. Don't forget to label it as soon as you get home so you remember who it is for. And most importantly of all - don't forget to cross that person off your list. They are DONE!!!

I'm willing to guarantee the gift recipient will appreciate the thoughtful gift just as much. After all, they don't KNOW whether you spent 10 minutes or 10 hours shopping for their gift.  And it is highly likely that if they care about you at all, they would prefer the 10 minutes to the 10 hours!!!

After all, which would you prefer?

In the coming weeks, we'll be talking more about sorting the shopping before Christmas. Please subscribe (pop your email address up there in the top left corner) and you'll receive the articles as they are written.

If you really need help in this area - don't forget to snag your copy of Save Our Sanity: The Christmas Calm Manual today (free postage until midnight October 31st - so hurry!)

Getting the Gift Shopping Sorted

We are still in October (yes, I heard your reaction to that title) and there are still two months left to Christmas.

That's right - two whole months. My countdown calendar now says 58 days...

And so, there is plenty of time to write our list and shop for it all, isn't there?

Is there?

Remember what happens as we get closer to December. Go on, think about it.

1.    It gets real hot (or real cold, for our northern friends)
2.    The shops get BUSY!
3.    The kids finish school and all seem to think shopping centres are the best place to hang out (see #1)
4.    Prices go up
5.    Tempers wear thin
6.    Goods sell out, with no more supplies before 2008
7.    You get more and more stressed at the thought of buying the perfect gift for all on your list

HOLD IT!

Did you say 'perfect gift'???

PERFECT? Hmmm... that's fodder for a whole other article.

So, what's stopping YOU from getting a head start on your Christmas shopping? 

Save Our Sanity: The Christmas Calm Manual has many hints and tips for easing the shopping burden - order YOUR copy today!

Frazzled Mom finds Sleep and Bargains

Ahh the Web is a wonderful thing.

As you know we, the Christmas Calm Angels, are ever on the alert for opportunities to help you all avoid insanity and achieve calm in the pre-Christmas chaos.

Those of us in Australia don't often appreciate how difficult it is for US mums (moms) who's Holiday Season is complicated by a massive celebration day in November called Thanksgiving! 

Thanksgiving means family, travelling, and feasts.  It means you really can't get to thinking about Christmas till you've got passed Thanksgiving.

So apparently US retailers encourage their shoppers to get on with it, by having big sales on the day after Thanksgiving!  It's commonly called Black Friday!

Frazzled Mom (now that's a name we could relate to) over at On the Go Mom has recently told the WWW about a new discovery she's made so that this year she doesn't go bargain-hunting at 3am on Black Friday and instead keeps her sanity!

Frazzled Mom is following in the Save Our Sanity philosophy without ever having read our book (I don't think!)  She's acknowledging the insanity of some of her previous activities and how counter-productive they have been for her.  Instead she's sharing a new resource with us all.  Even those of us who are here in Oz may find her discovery useful!

... However (as I know from experience) you will also find huge crowds, long lines and (if you don’t get there early enough) empty shelves.

Last year I was standing outside Target at 3:00 AM waiting for the doors to open. It was cold and dark and after a big Thanksgiving dinner the night before I wasn’t feeling the joy of saving a few dollars. Instead I stood their with my sister-in-law questioning our sanity. I mean we could have been in our warm beds sleeping.  [more]

Hey Frazzled Mom/any reader, why not get our free Tips for (further) Christmas Calm by taking our Christmas Stress Test.  And thanks for sharing your resources and illustrating our philosophy that Christmas is meant to be enjoyed and can be done while Saving Our Sanity!

What SOS Users Say ...

We know when we're googling for ideas, and products, we can be a bit cynical about whether a product's value matches its price.  (We hope our guarantee will help with that but still we know you want to know more.)

So we thought that if you could get a sense of how our readers/now-sane Christmas Converts have found their purchase and new experiences of Christmas, you might feel more reassured. 

Most of our readers don't want their name on the internet.   (They're private citizens! You probably relate!)  If you would like to have an email conversation with them, then email us and we'll forward your question and ask them to contact you!  That's the way they'd like their privacy protected, as we suspect you might too!

Many of our readers have told us about difficult Christmases that they felt fearful of facing.  Here one tells us of a particularly daunting Christmas with the decline of both her parent's health.

...as Christmas approached I started to panic.  BUT the SOS plan helped me to think clearly as I followed the steps and although it was a sad Christmas, everyone was amazed that I still did Christmas the way we all like it.  I will be pulling out my SOS again on the 1st of October.  I love it.  Thank you Karen and Chris

But things don't have to be that daunting for our readers to have had problems with Christmas.  They tell us that these kinds of things can also present difficulties for them.

...breaking from tradition to streamline means disappointing some people

... The relatives!

... the memories it brings up every year

... Dealing with Family

... accepting I don't need to be superwoman

... dealing with my sister-in-law

Some people assume that only those who have a Bah-Humbug attitude to Christmas would be interested in SOS.  But you know you can love Christmas, but still find the pressures and stresses difficult to manage!

I love Christmas.  But there is a lot of hoopla, stress, family hassle, and bad childhood memories that go along with it. 

The build-up starts way too early.

Our readers also tell us that they have saved anywhere from $50 to $350 just by changing their attitudes and following all the steps to get through Christmas.

Here are some of their comments:

I have to say SOS more than met my expectations.  My expectation was for a list of useful tips on how to cut down the workload etc.  Knowing Chris, I really should have known better.  I thought the exercises throughout the book really spoke to me, in fact MUST have been written specifically for me.  And the solutions, likewise, really worked for me.  They were easy to understand and implement.

I purchased SOS because I was looking for the answer to my problem  and I found it. I will be recommending it to everyone.

Great section on imagining your perfect Christmas. 
Unfortunately, my perfect Christmas is not terribly realistic as I want to fly off to Fiji on Dec 22 and come back on Jan 3. My family, however, are not into my plan.
So, your booklet ... has helped me to get organized and face-the-music rather than run for the airport check-in.

I really found the whole thing so helpful ... to see what was most important to me, and it kept me calm because I knew everything was under control by following the planning.  And yes I loved the lists!

This book is a gift to the world.

Thanks to all our readers for their enthusiastic responses.

So if our readers' words have reassured you and you're interested in Save Our Sanity: The Christmas Calm Manual then don't forget you can find out more, as well as buy, by clicking on the relevant "Buy Here" button:

  a tuck-in-your-handbag book

or as a straight-to-your-computer download.

And if you find Christmas to be especially difficult you may even want your own
  Personal Christmas Coach!

Sanity & Champagne at Our Place - Come On, Let's Party!

With the Christmas cards and tinsel appearing on the supermarket shelves, you might have guessed that the Christmas Calm Angels in Melbourne and Queensland would have been very busy in the last few weeks gearing up for the busy season!

Our very first step was to change! 

No! Not our clothes, though we're both always happy to accept a new outfit!  No we mean the title of our Christmas Sanity book.  You know!  The one for FRAZZLED WOMEN around the world!

It’s not very different, but Save Our Xmas Sanity has become:

        Save Our Sanity: The Christmas Calm Manual.

See! Even our web page looks different, to match a fresh, cool, banner image to a fresh new title!

Go on, scroll up and have a look!

But we didn't change our domain.  We’re still www.SaveOurChristmasSanity.com or www.SaveOurXmasSanity.com.

As 2007 has passed, both Karen and Chris have developed our businesses further. 

Jointly, we’ve been talking to women about self-sabotage quite a lot!  We love helping women improve their ability to juggle all the tricky parts of their lives. 

Individually  we’ve both focused more carefully on particular aspects of our businesses.

Karen has launched The Calm Space - an online magazine that is like a virtual day-spa for the senses.

Chris has focused more of her writing and work on Sharing the Secrets of Successful Relationships.

So, as WE'VE evolved into new variations on our selves and our work, so has the old SOXS evolved into the new SOS!

And who knows what other Save Our Sanity manuals will flow from our pens (alright keyboards) in the future!  (Feel free to send us your suggestions!)

Then, the next step was to publish Save Our Sanity: The Christmas Calm Manual.  Before 2007, we'd always offered it as a folder, or a download, or CD, from which the book could be printed!

But then we realised, if we were trying to help women make it as easy as possible to get through Christmas, they wouldn’t necessarily want to print up our download or read our wisdom on screen! 

So we are currently having the book published in a spiral-bound A5 size book – just perfect for shoving into your handbag and taking with you wherever you go for the next few weeks!

But of course not everybody finds Christmas a chore.  And not everybody has large/complete responsibility for the success of their family Christmas.

So, we realise that not everybody is likely to be interested in Save Our Sanity: The Christmas Calm Manual.

But we also know from many sources, including reports from previous users, that Christmas Stress is a FACT.

To help people manage their Christmas Stress, we’ve developed our Tips for Christmas Calm.  They’re simple tips to make your Christmas/Holiday Season experience a little easier, whatever your level of Christmas Stress.

To get the Tips, all you’ll need to do is take our Quick Christmas Stress Test.  The Test is just a series of short statements that you tick if you agree with, and ignore if you don’t agree.  It takes about 1-2 minutes to complete – MAX!

Anyone taking the test receives the Tips Sheet after finishing.  The Test helps identify just how high or low on the Richter scale your stress stands at Christmas time, and makes some suggestions to help you manage according to your Stress levels.

PLEASE encourage all your friends and relatives, workmates and neighbours to take our Stress Test and get those Tips!

They’re totally FREE and have no obligations attached at all!

So, that’s our LAUNCH!

We hereby name this ship Save Our Sanity: The Christmas Calm Manual and bless all who sail in her!

Hip Hip Hurrah!

Now!  Where's that champers bottle ...?

Oh No!  Don't smash it against th ...

Sigh!  I guess we need another bottle!

Lists for people who aren't into lists!

Why would you use a list?
SweetP (Chris' beloved husband) is always rolling his eyes as Chris writes another list, or crosses something off from one! 

Karen's hubby G does much the same thing, and each is in sympathy with the other!

Both of us (Karen and Chris) gain enormous satisfaction from preparing, using, and crossing items off our lists!  It keeps our brains in some manageable shape!  It stops that feeling of worry about forgetting something.  (The perfectionist's lament!)

But thanks to our "boys", we get it! 

Not everyone is "into" lists!!

But as we say in our Tips For Christmas Calm

... when stress levels are high enough, making other choices can include breaking the massive task down to more manageable parts. 

So, the list, that you would normally avoid using, may just be the way to feel more in control and less overwhelmed. 

If it reduces the rising stress and allows you to take action, and possibly even delegate, then maybe a list at this time of year could prove VERY useful.

Don't forget the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different outcome.

And we guess you are reading this because Christmas can cause you SOME stress!  From that we guess you've had some ugly STRESS during other Christmas/Holiday Seasons!  So, we assume you'd like a calmer, less-stressed Christmas this year!

So if you don't "do" lists at Christmas when you've got a massive task on your plate, and that task sends you"round the twist", then why would you keep avoiding "doing lists"? 

We've Got a Little List or Two!

In Save Our Sanity: The Christmas Calm Manual, we provide a variety of lists to  help get you through the  stress.

We help you create a:

• Carry-With-You Calendar for October, November, December
• Shopping Budget that’s realistic
• Christmas Card List to plan who you REALLY need to send greetings to this year
  (and next and next …)
• Gift Shopping List for ‘Who, What, Where, & How Much’ Ideas,
  to minimise shopping expeditions for maximum effect
• To-Do List for all the extra bits and pieces (copy as often as you like)
• Entertainment Plan to have you meeting up with the people you really want to see this season
• Menu Plan for the ‘Big Day’

So have a think about that definition of insanity, and how wanting a different outcome means you need to choose a different action!

The lists are all available in Save Our Sanity: The Christmas Calm Manual. 

The Chapter Index to Save Our Sanity

We don't know about you but when we go into our favourite (or any) bookshop, half the fun is browsing. 

If you're not sure about how useful a book might be, you flick through and then you look at the Chapter Titles.

So for those of you who are like us, here are the Chapter headings for Save Our Sanity: The Christmas Calm Manual

• Let Us Play
• The Mess Behind The Curtain
• Get That Wand A-Waving
• Let The Magic Begin
• And Now For How
• What About Shopping?
• The Christmas Angel's Shopping Tips
• Oh No! Not the Cleaning!
• The Christmas Angel Cleans and Decorates With You
• It's About People
• Christmas Relationship Tips
• Extreme Self-Care
• Our To-Dos