A DIFFICULT TIME FOR SOME
For many of us, Christmas is a time of celebration, fun and togetherness but – for all sorts of different reasons – there are plenty who dread it. As soon as those cheesy adverts start hitting the telly, it’s easy to believe that everyone is sitting around an enormous, expertly decorated table, surrounded by their entire loving family, eating a perfectly cooked turkey before someone plays the piano and everyone launches into a game of charades.
So let’s remind ourselves that, very often, this is not the reality.
Lots of people have far smaller Christmases, without all the fuss and fanfare, and still manage to have a jolly nice time.
And perhaps, for some, it’s what they’d really like to do – if they only had the guts to stand up to great aunty Nora and admit it.
Christmas can be celebrated and enjoyed in many different ways and the important thing to remember is to make your own rules. Yes, we want to meet up with our loved ones and spread a bit of festive cheer. But that doesn’t necessarily mean having to do the same huge thing every year because that’s the way it’s always been done. Take the pressure off!
When it comes to keeping everyone happy, we need to remember to include ourselves.
The truth is, kids tend to have a great time at Christmas because most of the hard work is done for them and loads of effort goes into making them happy. Which is rewarding in itself.
But along the way, it’s a ridiculously busy time for parents who are often trying to juggle hectic work schedules with all the organising and present ordering, shopping and wrapping, not to mention the posting. And the decorating. Plus the cooking…
This year there’s also the added worry of wondering how we’ll make our pay cheques stretch far enough to cover everything – while also keeping the lights on.
It can easily get a bit overwhelming (which does rather suck all the fun out of it).
So let’s all agree to just chill out. Christmas should be whatever you want it to be – even if it’s just eating a nice mince pie in front of the telly.