Christmas is tomorrow. And as exciting as it is, it’s very normal to feel a bit stressed about the big event.
A home filled with friends and family is a reason to celebrate. But with children, pets, in-laws, and other guests to consider it can be a challenge to keep everyone entertained, safe, and satisfied all day long.
But now, in the calm before the storm, is the perfect time to plan for a peaceful and stress-free Christmas Day.
4 tips for a stress-free Christmas Day
Following are four simple steps you can take to help the big day go off without a hitch.
1. Avoid food fights:
You’ve already planned your Christmas dinner menu, of course. But with special diets, preferences, and health issues it’s nearly impossible to please every single person that will be gathering around your table Christmas night.
Don’t bother. You’ve already decided what you will be serving, and there’s no reason to change it. But go ahead and get in touch with all the adult guests who will be attending to ask them to bring their favorite dish to contribute to the meal if they’d like to.
This will allow folks with special diets from vegetarian to gluten-free to bring something they know they will be happy eating. And it will take the impossible task of satisfying everyone off YOUR plate.
If the menu is very adult-oriented, be sure to provide a few kid-friendly foods too. Macaroni and cheese, meatballs, chicken nuggets, and easy-to-grab fruits such as grapes and mandarin oranges are all good choices.
2. Make light work:
There’s an old saying, “Many hands make light work.” And it’s true, the more helpers you have to complete a task the easier it is to get it done.
You can make this work for you tomorrow to lighten your load. But the benefits don’t end there. People ENJOY lending a hand. So giving folks things to do not only lightens your load, it makes them feel useful too.
Kids in particular love helping. And giving them some holiday chores can keep them occupied and out of trouble. For example, children can hand out presents, collect wrapping paper trash, walk the dog, and help set the table.
And adults can help with food prep such as peeling vegetables, filling serving dishes, and pouring festive drinks.
3. Organize don’t agonize:
One of the most fun parts of the day, the gift exchange, can turn into one of the most stressful if you’re not careful. If you’ve ever ended up at the other end of a Christmas morning wondering which gifts belong to who, what people got, and even if folks opened your gifts, you know what I mean.
With wrapping paper flying and emotions running high, it can be tough to keep track of everything. But you can tame the chaos and keep things under control with a bit of preplanning.
Before you begin, give each guest their own “Santa bag” to store gifts in so they don’t get lost. These can be simple grocery store shopping bags or even garbage bags in a pinch.
Place a couple of extra trash bags around the room and ask guests to toss their wrapping paper as they unwrap gifts. It will save the headache of cleaning up later.
And try a Round Robin gift exchange. Recruit the kids to pass out all of the gifts before anyone starts opening them. Then have each guest open one at a time going from youngest in the room to oldest. This way nobody misses a gift exchange.
Use your cellphone to keep track of what the children get. Snap a picture of them with each gift they open. Label the pics with the gift giver’s name and you’ll have an easy reference for them to use when they write their thank you notes.
4. Keep calm and relax:
All the hustle and bustle of the last few weeks has finally ended. But blowing off the stress you’ve built up can take longer. And that can make getting to sleep tonight though.
If you find yourself tossing and turning, don’t pop a sleeping pill or pull your hair out. Try something natural instead, starting with your grandmother’s cure for anxiety, chamomile tea.
Chamomile’s reputation for soothing frayed nerves is well earned. The herb contains the bioflavonoid apigenin, a natural anxiety reducer. In a study, chamomile slashed anxiety levels by 50 percent in 57 percent of folks who took it.
Still awake? Valerian root or melatonin could help you slip off to sleep. And unlike drugs, you will wake up feeling well-rested, not groggy and hungover.
In one study, 90 percent of insomnia sufferers slept more soundly after taking valerian. And melatonin, a hormone that your body produces on its own, could help you get your sleep cycle back on track now that the holidays are starting to wind back down.
Give yourself the gift of peace and joy this year. These four simple steps can help your Christmas Day be stress-free.
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