Listening to the conversation two of my friends were having over coffee last week, I realized that they looked a lot like overworked A Level students about to take their exams…
“I’ll be glad when it’s all over… I just don’t have a minute to myself… I don’t see how I could do it all.”
I’m sure you’ve guessed from the title of this post that they weren’t taking any exams. No, they were talking about Christmas; the time of joy and goodwill for all men… and apparently stress, pressure and hard work for all moms!
I began to wonder: how did we manage to take all the fun out of Christmas?
But then the memories of last year flooded back. All that organization; write all the letters; buy and wrap gifts; buying food; cook for hundreds; act like the perfect hostess; order family policy; keep Aunt Mabel away from the cooking sherry (note that her name was changed to protect the guilty)…
I suddenly felt the same as my friends. But I’m so determined to enjoy Christmas this year that I came up with “6 Christmas Stress Management Tips” which is designed for me and my friends to have our Christmas cake and eat it.
So if any of the above sounds like you, read on to see how you can make sure you’re rested and stress-free when Santa finally comes down the chimney.
1- Go back to basics
Have reasonable expectations: The chances of a perfect fairy tale Christmas are unrealistic and difficult to plan for. Christmas Day is a time to enjoy being with family and friends. It doesn’t matter if lunch is late, the presents aren’t perfectly wrapped, or Grandma has too many sherries! Keep it simple and remember that Christmas is about everyone, including you, having a good time.
2- Ask for help
Even Santa has an army of little helpers, so he’s allowed to help out at Christmas too. If she’s throwing a Christmas party for a lot of people, she doesn’t try to be Superwoman. She asks others to help with food preparation or decorating.
Perhaps a sister or friend could bring the Christmas cake and another family member could help decorate the tree. Assign everyone a task – a team effort is often much more fun and rewarding!
3- Not everything has to be done from scratch
In an ideal world, we’d all be there in our red and white checked aprons, happily baking Christmas cakes, Christmas puddings, mince pies, heating homemade mulled wine, and milking our own cow to make sure the cheese is fresh.
That might be fine if you have a lot of time, are super organized, or both (and have a cow in your backyard). But let’s be real. Most moms these days are trying to juggle work with school Christmas plays, shopping, wrapping and hiding presents and the million and one other things that need to be done before Christmas.
So my advice is to be smart, take advantage of the convenience that today’s modern world offers (sounds much better than saying ‘cheat’).
Ready-made Christmas cakes and desserts are often just as delicious (sometimes more, knowing my past disasters) and will lighten your workload. Similarly, artificial trees are mess-free (less cleanup), and store-bought mince pies can turn out to be cheaper than baking them yourself.
You can even take it a step further. Supermarkets have a large and tasty variety of fresh prepared vegetables and frozen baked potatoes. Or if you really want to make your own, why not make stuffed and par-roasted potatoes a couple of weeks ahead and store them in the freezer? Saves a ton of time on Christmas Day, as long as you remember to defrost them on time!
4 – Resolve family policy
This can often be the most difficult part of Christmas, especially for those with extended stepfamilies or long-lasting family feuds. From experience, Christmas has also been known to cause some disputes!
My advice is to arrange the arrangements well in advance. If you have family members who don’t mix, invite one group at Christmas this year and the other at New Years, and explain that next year the invitations will be reversed.
It also helps if you or your partner have siblings who could take some of the heat off you by extending an invitation to family members. Get together with brothers and sisters in the fall to decide among yourselves who invites whom, so no one is left out and everyone is happy.
This won’t solve every problem, but at least you’re taking some steps to address them before Christmas Day.
5- Plan a late Christmas dinner
Don’t start cooking at dawn – enjoy Christmas morning! If you have a hearty breakfast, there’s no need to sit down for your main Christmas meal until mid-afternoon or early evening.
That gives you plenty of time to sit and watch the kids open their Christmas presents and play with their new toys.
6 – Boxing Day is putting your feet up!
If you were in charge on Christmas Day, don’t even think about doing it all over again the next day.
Let someone else take your turn and you become guest du jour or even have a lazy day putting leftover turkey to good use and eating sandwiches!
I hope it works out for you and I wish you a merry stress free Christmas!
