Alright, fellow Christmas junkies, we’re heading into the fourth week of HHP!

Due to being really sick for the past week and a half, I’ve not had the opportunity to work on any of Week 3’s tasks, YET. I’m posting so that you can have the checklists for Week #4 somewhat close to its original posting schedule. I’ll debrief Week #3 with Week #4.

Week #4: Close to Home

Week #4 Cleaning Checklist: Kids’ Bedrooms

• Declutter, clean, and organize children’s bedrooms.
  • Particularly with kid stuff, I like to list available items in my church Facebook group so that congregation members can take them if they’d like. No point in driving it to a donation store when my own neighbors might use it themselves.
  • This week is a great week to help children work through the process of decluttering so they can learn how to do it from a young age. The chapter on kids’ room in Decluttering at the Speed of Life: Winning Your Never-Ending Battle with Stuff, by Dana K. White, is such a good read for this sticky area of parenting. I started using her tips with my kids about four years ago and they have slowly built up the ability to do a lot of it on their own now. One of my kids even did their own decluttering session around Labor Day because “it [felt] like the right time of year to do it.” I guess end-of-summer decluttering somehow became a tradition for our family?! #parentingwin
    • FYI: I also do a BIG kids’ room declutter at the end of the school year/beginning of summer break. There’s not enough time to do as thorough a job as I’d like during this one week of HHP, especially against the backdrop of a new school year ramping up. I also like the “chapter closing” feel of doing a big declutter and clean at the end of the school year.
• No children in your household? Use this week to tackle a bonus room or any other area this week, catch up on previous weeks, or take the week off.
  • Next week will be Guest Room week, and I’ve never had a guest room in my home, so I use it as another week for cleaning kids’ rooms. Because trying to clean four kids’ bedrooms in one week is insane. If you don’t have kids or a guest room, it’ll be another bonus week.
• These two weeks are also good yardwork weeks, before the weather starts turning. I try to plant my spring bulbs around the Autumn Equinox (~September 21), which falls in this week.

Week #4 Holiday Prep Checklist

• Seasonal Spruce-Up exercise: I LOVE THIS TASK; it’s something I do every year because it’s so smart. Do a home walkthrough and write down any home improvements, chores, or projects that need doing before the holiday season gets underway.
  • Once I have my entire list written down, I rank and prioritize the projects/tasks so I can tackle the most important ones first. I like to use Karen Lin’s Ranker tool to help me figure out what my true priorities are and then copy/paste the prioritized list into a document.
  • Delegate where you can! When I ask someone in the family to do a task, I write it down on a Post-It and stick to one of my kitchen cabinets so I don’t forget to ask them about their progress. The Post-It stays on the cabinet and I keep “reminding” (also referred to as “nagging” by some members of my family) until the task is done. Then the Post-It note can go in the trash.
• Declutter children’s toys: As our family heads into adult children years, there is more of this than you would expect. Specific areas to declutter include board games, video games/dead controllers, sports equipment that’s too small, winter weather wear, and sheet music that is from their elementary years. Arts and crafts supplies was a big one a few years ago, and also books.
• Begin collecting stocking stuffers.
• Hit the back-to-school clearance sales: Good sources for stocking stuffers, craft supplies, and wrapping and mailing supplies like tape and scissors.
• Consult family and decide on Halloween costumes.
• Start thinking about Advent calendars.
• Start working on Christmas cards or letters.
• Update birthdays and anniversaries in your calendar and/or task lists.
• Continue working on handmade gifts. (Week 3 of 14)
• Keep trying to find daily time to work on HHP. A little bit of time daily can get A LOT done.

The House & Holiday Plan was originally created by Cynthia Townley Ewer, and I use much of her original wording. She shut her Organized Christmas website down, so many people now post their own version. You can also join another Christmas planning enthusiast community at Magical Holiday Home.