Dec 22, 2021
2 min read
Getting Ready for the Holidays
With the Christmas season approaching fast, now is the time to ensure all the planning is coming to fruition. Getting organized early on is one of the best antidotes for a crazy-stressful Christmas. In this article we take a look at some of the simplest ways to go from chaos to calm and make Christmas a great holiday.
- Make a list of priorities: When doing this it is important to first appreciate what Christmas is all about: love, giving, sharing, compassion. Be those things to yourself before embracing others with the Christmas spirit. So do not go overboard with a huge list of tasks; rather do what needs to be done and leave the rest. Factor into this, break-time. There is nothing as ineffective as people working on getting things done when they are tired, cranky and completely depleted. At the end of the day what is most important to families over Christmas — and indeed any time of year — is the atmosphere in the home, not the color coordinated napkins.
- Make your own traditions: While of course it is important to maintain the traditions of years gone by and this is a good way to keep memories alive and bring in the legacy that was created in your own childhood, blending traditions from your life partner’s and creating new ones with your current family, make for a mellow, happy Christmas too.
- Plan a party that speaks to you: parties do not have to be extravagant events. Nor do they have to follow a conventional style. Think about what makes your nuclear family happy; this could be playing darts, or pin the tail on the donkey or even going on a scavenger hunt. Just make the party something that works for you and don’t worry about what everyone else does.
- Make tree decorating a family event: everyone can get involved in this — from the toddlers to the seniors in the family, there really is a task for all. Some people can come up with the ideas and others can implement them.
Ultimately Christmas has to work for you. And the way to do that is to take the stress away by establishing plans, tweaking traditions and above all, scheduling those much-needed breaks!
