Frazzle-free holidays
and preparing the meal together is ‘entertaining’. Reframing the food from ‘a chore’ to a collective activity makes all the difference.’’
If meat is on the menu, she recommends taking it outside to the barbecue. It’s instantly more fun than the kitchen. All the family can get involved with meal prep so it’s not just left to one person.
Same goes for chores. As Clifford observes, there’s no reason children can’t hang out their own washing, or gather beach towels from the back of the ute, (with the added advantage that they might then spend a bit less time on their devices).
Keep it real
Stepping back on expectations of how your house and table should look over this festive period is a good piece of sanity-saving advice from Christchurch nutritionist Bronwen King.
Forget those gourmet banquets, she suggests, and instead keep it simple by settling on a single main course and providing nibbles like nuts and cherries.
Supplement what you have with something yummy from a local bakery or deli and throw in strawberries and chocolate for dessert.
Stick to straight-forward summer dishes and platters that require a minimum of prep. A good tip is to roast a large tray of veges to keep in the fridge with salad greens and a little smoked salmon for easy-to-assemble salads.
It is perfectly acceptable to ask guests to bring a plate and she agrees with Clifford that it’s good to farm out chores.
‘‘If people are staying with you, ask them to strip the beds and hand them another set of sheets for the bed. You can give them a cloth to wipe down the bath or shower after they’ve used it. The best way to avoid stress is to take control and recognise that you need to be able to enjoy yourself, too.’’
We’ve all been there. Tearing open that eagerly awaited present and having to paste the smile on our faces once its contents are revealed. Here’s our non definitive list of gifts to avoid to ensure the smile is genuine.
Exercise equipment
Unless the recipient is a fitness fanatic, dumbbells, Fitbits and sports bras all send the same message. And when you’re tucking into your fifth rumball and trying to nab the seat closest to the cheese plate, ‘‘do some exercise, fatty’’ is not the message you want to hear.
Cleaning implements
Vacuum cleaners, irons and cleaning products make truly terrible Christmas gifts. They should be paid for out of the usual household budget, not the Christmas budget. Christmas is a time for showing your loved one how much they mean to you, not how much shiny floors mean to you.
A pod coffee machine
Some people love them but others won’t appreciate podbuying and recycling being added to their to-do list. There’s also the bench space that they take up and their environmental impact. Other space-hogging appliances that should be avoided include juicers, foot spas, massage chairs and popcorn makers.
Anything involving extra work
Call us lazy, but come December 26 we want to relax, not dig holes for gifted shrubs or erect worm farms or blow up the giant inflatable pool you’ve bought our kids who are far too young to swim in it unsupervised
anyway.
Noisy toys
On the subject of kids, drum kits, recorders and anything that plays loud dinky tunes should also be struck off your gift list. For most parents, Christmas marks the start of a long spell of ‘‘quality’’ time with them and it will be noisy enough. Also, don’t buy them anything messy, hard to store or so full of sugar it makes your teeth ache looking at it.
Live animals
Every year there are pleas from the SPCA – don’t buy pets for Christmas. January often sees an influx of unwanted pets being taken in, which is heartbreaking for staff and often the owners. While the squeal of delight at the puppy with the bow around its neck might be a cute moment, there’s 15 long years of responsible dogownership after that.
Novelty mugs
There’s a reason the mugs printed with bad jokes or with fake cockroaches inside get shoved to the back of the cupboard – they’re just never as funny as the gift-giver thinks they are.
Anything inappropriate
This includes the bottle of vodka for the recovering alcoholic, the panettone for the coeliac or the peanut brittle for your cousin with the lifethreatening nut allergy. Do your homework and avoid the awkward moments.
The same thing as last year
Even if last year it was a hit, it won’t cut it twice in a row.