Christmas is a time for joy, love, and family, but unfortunately, the pressure of the season can make it stressful, expensive, and annoying. Check out these tips on how to keep the focus on having a good time together with your loved ones, rather than trying to pull off the most impressive feast of all time.
Get Guests to Help Out
If you’re hosting and family and friends are coming to you, it’s completely acceptable to ask everyone to lend a hand. Whether this means everyone brings a bottle, some chocolates, or a cake, or it means you’ve assigned everyone a specific role such as prepping the vegetables or making the gravy, it will remove some of the pressure from you and help the meal to feel more communal.
Stick to Bedtimes
It may seem Grinch-like, but it does pay to insist that your kids stick to a reasonable bedtime around Christmas. Letting it go completely will only set you up for battles come the new year, and tired and grouchy kids do not make for festive fun.
Manage Expectations
Whilst it can be lovely to see children excited at this time of year, it will help everyone if you manage expectations and resist the temptation to up the hype too much. You could even pre-announce a set number of presents for everyone, as sometimes young children expect the pile of gifts to keep coming, and get upset when they don’t. Opening presents earlier in the day can also take the pressure off of the gift expectations, and help everyone to focus on other elements including the fun family games and shared meal.