A shout-out to my 2013 self

Yesterday I mentioned a gingerbread hack, and today I was surprised by a couple holiday hacks from the Ghost of Caitlin Past. Today I’d like to give a shout-out to my 2013 self! I had forgotten about these simple hacks until I unearthed them from my attic as I prepared to decorate our tree. Caitlin of 2013 had no idea that the Christmas of 2014 would be under construction and so I am especially appreciative of her efforts!

I’d like to give a shout-out to 2013 Caitlin for doing the following:

Every year I say I will do this, and then when it comes time to take Christmas down I no longer care to put forth the effort.

I strung those lights in record time this year! The record-setting could also be due, in part, to the Charlie Brown tree that we ended up with (note to 2015 Caitlin: Do NOT listen to Schizz and buy a picked-over tree from Lowe’s).

I’d also like to thank 2013 Caitlin for this gem:

Fragile ornaments in one container, then one container for each child’s special ornaments, and one last container with non-breakable ornaments.

Last year, decorating the tree was an absolute frenzy! We lost several ornaments, there was an abundance of in-fighting, and tears were shed. I resolved to label each kid’s special ornaments with their name and the year so that, in the future, they would be able to put up their own ornaments without fighting. This also serves a larger purpose: the memory hoarder in me would like to gift each child a bin full of their very own ornaments years from now, when they leave our nest.

There was one other thing that 2013 Caitlin did that 2014 Caitlin is on the fence about right at this moment:

2013 Caitlin printed every known Christmas lyric for Leo.  Rump a pum pum!!!

Here’s hoping these hacks will inspire me to be kind to my 2015 self.

What about you guys? Do you try to make life easier for yourself down the road? Have you ever patted your year-old self on the back? Share here!

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Act as if what you do makes a difference.

It does.

~William James

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Caitlin Fitzpatrick Curley

Cait is a school psychologist, mom to three children, and an unexpected homeschooler. She loves nature, good books, board games, strong coffee, and dancing in her kitchen. Cait believes homeschooling can be *almost* all fun and games!

Cait has created several courses for homeschool parents. Cait co-hosts The Homeschool Sisters Podcast and is co-founder of Kindred Collective. Cait is also founder of the Family Book Club at My Little Poppies, a fantastic community of book-loving parents and the Gameschool Community at My Little Poppies, a vibrant community of gameschoolers.

Cait is a contributing writer for Simple Homeschool. Her work has also appeared on The Huffington Post, The Mighty, Scary Mommy, GeekMom, and many others. You can find her on Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram.

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