Christmas as usual?
Are you facing another Christmas like the last one? Does this idea fill you with despair? Don’t blame you, the so called festive season sucks so badly for so many people.
It is amazing to hear people complain about doing the Santa Season every year. I think it’s because it’s all they know to do, and it’s what everyone else is doing. It all seems so normal if everyone is suffering too.
Time has come to make some changes, to swap out that painful normal for a new shiny way of doing Christmas.
By applying the opposite statement to the usual Christmas complaints, let’s see what we can do to change it.
I have plenty of cash for Christmas.
Please note this line said CASH. Don’t use credit for Christmas.
This will take some planning. In January, put $20 every week away into a bank account. Don’t touch it till December. Come December 1 make up the list of people you want to give a gift to, and spend an equal amount on each of them.
For example: On December 1 you have $1,040 in your bank account and a list of 10 people. Spend $104 on each of them – and no more.
Or, pay off that $1,040 off your outstanding credit card debt from last Christmas and give each of those 10 people on your list a big hug instead.
I just love being with the in-laws at Christmas time.
Yes, you love being with them, but what a shame you are all booked out! The solution to this one is to decide to volunteer your Christmas day to be working at a homeless shelter, dog’s home, nursing home or soup-kitchen. No one in your family will ever have a go at you about this. This will impress the in-laws no end, and they will look more kindly on you.
I’m really looking forward to getting fatter this Christmas.
The time to start this project is in July. Go on a strict diet, get yourself to the gym and really work harder than you ever have before to shed 10kg. Then when Christmas comes along, with all the festive drinks and eats, you can happily take part knowing that you are in good shape to start with.
I don’t care that the kids have bought me a vacuum cleaner for Christmas.
Another plan-in-advance project. Teach your loved ones to be sure to keep the receipts of all purchases, purely for insurance reasons. Then after they have given you that vacuum cleaner, take it back to the store with the receipt, get a refund and spend the money on something you really want. As the kids probably never use a vacuum they’ll never notice that you’ve exchanged it for a lovely set of diamond earrings.
It is normal and human to feel disappointed in the gifts received. Everyone has set gift expectations and normally those expectations go unmet. The only way to avoid this is to have household rules about gifts, and being sure to have a gift list with a range of prices on the fridge door. Everyone can see it and there will no longer be any of those scenes where you pretend to be thrilled about something that sucks.
It may not be nice or fair to set expectations of what we think others should give us, but it is human and normal.
I really love having the tree and lights up well into March.
Get used to the festive season being around for 3 months more if you’re not prepared to take the decorations down before New Year’s Eve.
I’m happy to organise the Christmas party
Make sure that you say this line with great enthusiasm, and then gaily announce that the party will be a BYO picnic. All you will have to do is find a spot and tell the others. Everyone understands that BYO picnics mean exactly that – they will all bring their own food, drinks and chairs. You don’t have to do any food preparations, apart from what you want to eat. You don’t have to clean the house or fix the garden or anything.
If you felt inspired, you could take along a cricket bat and ball for a quick game after lunch, but really, that’s not essential.
Best of all, you can go home when you’ve had enough, and leave them all to clean up their own mess. Perfect!