Festive feasts fit for a King, a fresh pine tree hand-picked by elves and professionally decorated, the latest in everything all expertly wrapped and looking like a John Lewis advert while images of a perfect family are played to followers on a constant Instagram reel.
If this is not your Christmas then is it even reel or real?
Christmas is for many people a favourite time of year. You get some days off work, see family and friends and can, without question, over indulge in festive fizz and a box of Quality Streets for breakfast is perfectly acceptable right…?
Well, yes maybe so. But at the same time Christmas can be hard work, stressful and put you under a lot of pressure to make everything ‘perfect’.
Who has time to cook like that, most of us have trees that have been passed around the family since the 1980s with decorations older than the grandparents and making sure the kids have the latest gadgets and the same as their mates can be more expensive than we can afford.
And that’s without throwing in that not everybody lives like The Waltons.
Step families, extended families and that feeling of pressure and guilt to be everything to everyone can actually make Christmas time a chore rather than a pleasure.
So if it is all getting a bit much here’s a few things that might help....
Think about the kind of Christmas Day you want.
Ask people to help if you are hosting, let others get involved, find out what other people want and try and find a way of all being involved or included.
Switch off the socials. Of course you want to know what others may have been gifted or what they are up to but don’t compare their decorations, dinners and desserts. We all know that social media is generally only the good bits and not real life.
Set a financial limit. The cost of Christmas is getting more each year it seems but this year more so - especially if you don’t want people to freeze and sit in the dark. The cost of living crisis will be biting so set a limit for what you buy that you know you can afford and won’t be dreading the credit card bill landing in January.
However, this is perhaps the most important.
You don’t have to do everything and be everything to everyone. It is as much your Christmas break as anyone else’s.
Say no if you want, turn things down, try and take time for exercise, a half an hour run or walk with the dog is better than not going at all, disappear off to watch the next series of Emily in Paris and if it is easier to eat chocolates than craft a smoked salmon roulade for Boxing Day breakfast then so be it.
In whatever way Christmas works for you, I hope that you find a way to have a wonderful time.
Have a Merry Christmas.
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