Hestia's Tips for Surviving Christmas

The Goddess of Hearth and Home, Hestia, and I wish you a Merry Christmas and want to share some helpful tips for a great festival season without too much drama. 

Everything in moderation

Christmas seems to be all about excess thanks traditions and the media – but there is not much enjoyment in feeling the size of a padded Santa suit or as stuffed as the festive turkey! The best advice is moderation – apply it to everything you eat and drink. Drink moderate amounts of alcohol and try to alternate soft drinks or water with alcoholic ones. As for food, have a bit of what you fancy but try not to stuff your face if you can helped it!

Don’t over-inflate your expectations

Don’t expect to create the ‘perfect’ Christmas as it’s near likely to fall short of your expectations. The most important thing is for you and your family to have fun. That does not mean landing yourself in debt from credit cards and/or store credits for the next 12 months by buying expensive gifts – just spending a bit of time together can be the best present. Remember, if something does not go quite to plan, it really is not the end of the world.

Rehydrate

If you have overdone it on the alcohol, then it is important to get yourself back on an even keel. Even if you have been good, taking our advice consuming non-alcoholic drinks in between – the chances are you could still be feeling pretty rough. Don’t just sit there feeling ill – get up and drink plenty of water and diluted fruit juice to help your liver recover and eventually remove the hangover.

Get active the morning after

As soon as you are feeling remotely human, and your chances of throwing up have lessened, then think about doing some exercise. A brisk walk, light jog or swim will help work off those extra roast potatoes, holiday treats and all those second helpings you may have had. Getting active will also help you feel normal again, dispel any festive cabin fever and help repair some of the damage you have done to yourself.

Sleep

Sleeping is the time when our bodies recover from the excesses of life. Drinking and eating too much can severely affect on sleep patterns, as can the frequent late nights that are a regular occurrence during the festive period. Over Christmas and New Year, many people are sleep-derived leaving them not fit for much after a few late nights, let alone being the life and soul of the party. Therefore, make sure you get some quality sleep – even if it is just a few hours.

Time off

If possible, plan your holidays so that you are not forced into going into work over the festive period. Many people try burning the candle at both ends, combining parties and work, and end up completely knackered. Time off in the run up to Christmas will prevent you from being overworked and overstressed by the time it arrives, so you will be in a better position to enjoy the whole experience.

Santa Claus/Father Christmas

He is just annoying. Yes, a bearded weird guy takes the credit for all the work of oppressed people like you! So every year I personally enjoy the bad Santa stories that feature rioting and drunkenness – although other nation can rarely compete with the Americans for examples: Santa publicly having a handjob in a shop window, fat shaming Santa and classic drunk Santa. He was very brusque with the children and their parents and would interrupt children saying: 'I'm talking now.'" Respect!

Budget for Christmas

Christmas does not have to be a financial headache if you plan ahead. Work out a rough budget as early in the year as possible and plan to save a certain amount each week. Discuss the day’s budget with children, and don’t promise overly expensive gifts.

Presents

If you have a large family or lots of friends to buy for change the way that you give presents. Ideas include only buying presents for children, doing Secret Santa (where each person draws the name out of a hat and buys a single present for that person), and setting a limit on the costs of presents.

Christmas Day Activities 

Think about previous years and what you learned, and come up with constructive changes for this year. Talk to children and teens about what they would like to do and try to keep things simple. Create a timetable for the day’s activities

Relationships

Encourage all family members to be tolerant of others on Christmas Day. If there are unresolved conflicts in the family, make an agreement with all concerned to put the conflict on hold for the day, however don’t expect miracles – if two family members always bicker, it is not likely to be different just because it’s Christmas. Try to organize family activities to reduce the opportunity for arguments. Limit the availability, timing and amount of alcohol if you know it creates conflict, and avoid triggers – for example, if you know politics is a touchy subject in your household, don’t talk about it and steer conversations away from it.

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