The Christmas season is really busy for most people. It’s a time to celebrate, give, and receive, but if a lot of responsibilities fall over your shoulders, it can get very stressful. Let’s prevent that from happening so that you can enjoy Christmas too!
Hosting Christmas dinner can be very fun and rewarding, but it’s a loooot of things to take care of. Homeowners all over the world manage to do it every year and most other fellow human beings scratch their heads in disarray. How can they do it?
Well, the truth is that they also get really stressed out, it just doesn’t show. If you’re one of these wonderful people or if this is your first time hosting the holiday, I hope that these tips will help you find some peace in the chaos.
“Christmas is, of course, the time to be home - in heart as well as body. – Garry Moore
Keep it nice and easy
There’s a common misconception that easy equals lazy. That’s far from the truth.
Whenever you can make something easy for yourself, you should probably do so! This can mean taking a few shortcuts, asking for help, or simply not trying to do everything by yourself.
For example, not everything needs to be homemade. If you don’t have time to make dessert, buy some cake. If you don’t have time to season the turkey, get one pre-made and just take it to the oven. Especially in the kitchen, everything you decide to make yourself is a huge load of work. Take it easy on yourself!
Learn how to get your kitchen ready for the holidays!
Order your gifts early
Christmas shopping is super fun, especially when you can browse online and find exactly what you want. However, it’s wise to try and order your gifts as early as possible.
First, because they might get delayed in the chaos that is Christmas delivery time, so you want them to get here sooner rather than later.
Second, because you can take advantage of the great sales happening right now – you can even fish for special discounts by leaving stuff in your cart and coming back later.
Don’t try to one-up yourself
I don’t know who needs to hear this, but there’s absolutely no need to one-up yourself. I’ve had someone in my family who always tried to make this year’s party better than last year’s, and though the celebrations were always great, it was very tiring for her. It’s like she was competing with herself – but for no reason at all!
Trust me, you can relax. Your party will be awesome!
Plan a few things ahead
You don’t have to micromanage everything, but there are a few things you might want to plan ahead – perhaps even to the point of having a plan B.
For example, if you need someone to be picked up at an airport. You need to know the exact time, who will be driving, if there will be lots of traffic, if there is enough gas in the car… if your designated driver can’t go or will be late, can someone else get the ride? Maybe you’ll have to call an Uber!
But also, you might want to plan for certain dishes that need to be ready at specific times. Some you can make ahead, but the main dish may need to stay in the oven for a few hours. If your cake idea doesn’t work, do you have a backup dessert?
It might be annoying to outline these things at first, but the idea is to give you peace of mind. You can always improvise when things go wrong, but with so much to worry about already, it’s nice to have a game plan ahead of time for the most important stuff.
Hire some help
It’s incredible how much weight you can get off your shoulders by simply hiring help. One of the main tasks before Christmas night – cleaning the entire house – is enough work that may take a few days depending on the size of your home.
Well, you can get rid of this chore by hiring local house cleaners. Not only will it free you of the task entirely, but it gives you time to work on all the other stuff we’ve been talking about. Save your energy for Christmas day!
Another good idea is to hire a chimney sweep. You’ll probably be using the fireplace if you have one, so it’s wise to get it checked ahead of time.
The cold weather is slowly creeping in and forcing us to grab the heavy blankets. Are you sure your home is properly insulated? Keep it comfortable by getting free quotes from local insulation pros!
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