Making Christmas Stress Free
Christmas can be a time of great pressure for many parents, with stress negatively impacting enjoyment of the season. You can change this, by taking time to reduce stress, expenses and over-the-top traditions.
Ways to reduce Christmas stress
- Encourage children to write their letter to Santa in early November and to ask for one special gift and a surprise. It’s not helpful to children to allow them to think they can have everything they want. Remember they must share all of the gifts Santa has with other children.
- Once you know what your child wants, try to seek out the best price you can, as early as you can (to help Santa). Use Black Friday deals, online offers, vouchers or coupons from big supermarkets shopping and the many websites that list classified ads (such as Adverts.ie) where you can find toys at lower prices.
- It’s essential to spend what you can afford. Do not put yourself into debt for Christmas. All parents know that children often don’t play with half of what they get or value the extra things they didn’t ask for.
- Children remember more about what you do as a family at Christmas than the gifts they receive. You can focus on activities to do together that don’t cost money, such as a trip to a local park or playground or availing of seasonal activities in a local library that are usually free-of-charge, that can provide family fun without a cost.
- Agree with extended family members to only buy gifts for children or not at all. Children will usually get more than enough from Santa. Maybe plan a day out instead with friends and family.
- Alternatively, suggest a Kris Kindle so that everyone gets a gift without the costs getting so high, or agree on getting birthday presents instead throughout the year. Most people struggle with the cost of Christmas and your family will probably be delighted to hear such suggestions.
- Encourage family, especially grand-parents, to ask you for ideas so your child gets a gift they want. This takes the pressure off Santa.
- We all buy too much food at Christmas. Plan Christmas dinner and a few treats. Often the left overs do perfectly well the next day (or days!). Be realistic. Remember that the shops re-open on the 26th; there’s no need to stock up for two weeks as we often try to.
- Try to enjoy the build up to Christmas. Children usually love this time of year. It’s about family and fun together, try to keep it that way. Shop as little as you can. Enjoy the atmosphere and the cosy evenings at home.
Next you might like to read our post on How To Successfully Share Parenting Over Christmas
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