The Christmas holidays can be a stressful and difficult time and these stressful moments make what should be a fun and amazing time feel rather rubbish. The holidays become hectic for some people and yet there are so many ways that you can slow down during the Christmas period and make it work better for you.
You should be able to enjoy the holidays in a way that matters most for you. Whether that means not going to the huge family celebration this year or it means only buying Christmas gifts for baseball players in your kid’s team and not the ones in the whole school, you have to make Christmas as easy as possible. With this in mind, we’ve got some helpful hints to ensure that you can slow down and appreciate the holiday rather than feel like you’ve been swept up in all things Christmas.
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- Start some new traditions. If you want to find a way to relax and enjoy the holiday, why not start some new traditions for your own family? The magic of Christmas isn’t just in the gifting, but the traditions and decorations, fun and games – oh and the food! Simple traditions can make a really big difference to your Christmas, and you can look forward to doing them every year, creating memories for the kids, too.
- Do what you can to give back. It’s important that you do more at Christmas time, and while you can give gifts and cook a delicious meal for everyone, the real Christmas spirit can be felt when you donate old toys and clothes, volunteer and give your time, or even create hampers and boxes to donate to the food banks. You don’t have to donate everything you have, but there are plenty of things out there that you can do to make others feel that Christmas spirit.
- Get in the spirit with movies. One of the best things that you can do around the holidays is to cozy up with the best Christmas movies around. Not only are you going to slow right down and relax, you’re going to be able to immerse yourself in things that will give you that holiday feeling. It’s a great way to relax and enjoy your evening and you can breathe in Christmas and take time to enjoy it!
- Bake! Is there any better way to slow down at Christmas than to bake?! Cookies, brownies, mince pies, cakes – you name it, you can bake it. Christmas cookies are so popular through the season and sugar cookies are especially a hit in the season and you can even use these as sweet and popular gifts! Your whole house will smell of Christmas smells and if you want to truly add to that, why not try out slow cooker hot chocolate? Or mulled wine recipes!
- Make your own Christmas cards. You can buy boxes of cards from the stores, but there’s something fun in making your own crafts. You can create cards that are more personal, and these are especially great if you’re making for your parents or your best friends. This is a good way to get the kids busy over the holidays if you want to have five minutes of peace, too.
- Enlist a decorator. If you want to sit down and relax, get someone else to put up the tree and all of the other decorations in the house for Christmas. You can actually hire people to do this for you and you won’t believe the color coordination and the theming involved in the homes of some people. You can choose the color scheme and you’ll feel so much more in tune with your home at Christmas, all because you can sit back and let someone else take over. This gives you the chance to really relax!
- Put those classic songs on. Picture the scene: it’s pouring rain and cold outside, there’s snow everywhere and you’re inside in the warmth. The heating is on, the cookies are baking and you are sitting on your sofa with a glass of something delicious, and in the background you can hear your favorite Christmas tunes. It’s a good way to get into that Christmas spirit and makes you feel wonderful and jolly on the inside.
- Let someone else do the wrapping. Wrapping gifts can take a lot of time, and you can bet that the best thing that you can do is ask someone else to do it for you. If you are lucky enough to have stacks of gifts to hand out, then you also have stacks of wrapping to do. If you ask someone else to do it for you, you’re going to really have nothing much to do for the season and you remove the worry from the season. You can also let someone else deliver the gifts if possible!
- Try out some new Christmas recipes. It’s the season for fun and you can really enjoy yourself while you are creating new holiday recipes. Whether it’s for stuffing or baking, recipes at Christmas can be as traditional as you like. Or you can learn to bake and make recipes that are from different countries. This is a good way to have fun this Christmas and you can get stuck into using the kitchen. It’s especially fun to create recipes when you are feeding a vegan in the bunch, too!
- Get outside! If you want to slow down a little this Christmas, go for a lovely, snowy walk! Bring everyone out for a walk after Christmas lunch and enjoy the feeling of the cool air on your skin. You can guarantee that you will be able to relax for the night after that as the walk will help to exhaust you a little more!
There is so much about Christmas that you have to choose to enjoy. Don’t allow family and crowds to keep you stressed and busy this year, not when there is so much you can do to relax.
