While young children see Christmas as the best time of year, some adults may see otherwise. It is easy to see why Scrooge hates Christmas so much when you weigh up all the stresses of the festive period, especially as a parent.
Here are 5 very relatable stresses of Christmas time, for any parent here in the UK – and some ideas of how you can avoid them:
1. Frantic Last-Minute Gift Buying
There is nothing worse than heading into the town centre on Christmas Eve trying to find your teenager the latest pair of shoes they want or finding the perfect fragrance for your wife. I mean, leaving it this last minute will most likely result in low stock and of course, added stress.
Doing your Christmas shopping either online, or a couple of weeks in advance will certainly lower down the stress levels. We are mahoosive fans of Amazon (UK affiliate link) – so why not sit back with a glass of wine, and shop that way?!!?
2. Wide-Awake Children on Christmas Eve
There is nothing more typical for a family than a child that cannot sleep on Christmas Eve. There are loads of reasons why children can’t sleep before the big day. These include being too excited, waiting up to witness Santa, and because they want to check if he has eaten the goodies that had been left out for him. Why not help make Christmas Eve all the more fun with one printables for that special Santa plate?
It’s tough to know how to help kids get to sleep; but we’ve always said that Snta won’t come unless you’re asleep and it works like a dream *bad parents*
3. Christmas Parties – What to Wear? How Much Did I Drink? Did I Do Anything Embarrassing?
The Christmas party should be time to socialise with your colleagues outside of the office and enjoy yourselves away from family life. However, there is nothing worse than having nothing to wear, or not completely understanding the theme of attire – jeans and a nice top, bow-tie, glitter dresses? AH! We love a good Christmas party dress guide to help give us a bit of inspiration. There is also nothing quite like a bit of honest criticism from your 13 year old as well….
Then there is the morning after the night before – the baby is crying in another room, you’re too hungover to go and check on them, and there is a half-eaten McDonalds’ burger next to your bed that you’re tempted to chow on. What exactly happened last night?
The worries of what you might’ve said to your boss, or what you might’ve done, start to hit, and you start to question whether you’re still going to have a job Monday morning.
Best way to avoid the Monday morning worry; know when to stop. You might even find that you have an even better time if you’ve just had a few. Alternate between an alcoholic drink and a soft drink to help you cut down. You could even volunteer to drive, and then you won’t be able to drink and so that Monday morning embarrassment is gone.
4. Financial Pressures
Not only do the price of presents add up, for your little ones and friends/family, but the price of food, alcohol and Christmas activities certainly hike up the bill.
The best thing for helping out with your financial troubles over Christmas would be to set a budget at the beginning of December and ensure that you don’t go over the number you’ve set. If you see someone post on Facebook the 100 presents they’ve bought their daughter, then remember it isn’t a competition and your children would rather their parents be happy and stable than have an extra colouring book.
Another way to keep things lower cost; have a handmade Christmas. Sometimes people prefer something that was made for them after all.
5. Spending Time with the In-Laws
Let’s be honest, while your in-laws are probably great, there is nothing better than being with your own family. Also, you are convinced that they still, despite being with their son/daughter for the past decade, don’t think you’re good enough for them.
Just remember that you can’t help but be yourself, and as long as your partner loves you, then they should love you too! In otherwords, try not to over think it, and if they are rude to you, remember its only for a short period and soon you will be back in your own space.
We hope that this was a helpful article at this stressful time of year. If you like what you see on the site, do sign up for our newsletter for more of the same. We’d love to see you here regularly.
It is always a pleasure to have you, and new readers pop by to see us, until next time.
Helen
This is a collaborative post.
Helen
Helen is a mum to two, social media consultant, and website editor; and this site is (we think) the only Social Enterprise parenting magazine! Since giving up being a business analyst when juggling travel, work and kids proved too complicated, she founded KiddyCharts so she could be with her kids, and use those grey cells at the same time. KiddyCharts has reach of over 1.1million across social and the site. The blog works with big family brands (including travel) to help promote their services, as well as offering free resources to parents of kids under 10. It gives 51%+ profits to Reverence for Life, who fund a number of important initiatives in Africa, including bringing running water and basic equipment to a school in Tanzania. Helen has worked as a digital marketing consultant (IDM qualified) with various organisations, including Channel Mum, Truprint, Talk to Mums, and Micro Scooters. She loves to be creative in the brand campaigns she works on. Get in touch TODAY!