How to handle the Christmas season

Christmas is less than a week away. Oh, how the festive season creeps up on you!

2022 is slowly coming to an end and if you're anything like me, this festive season has been rather chaotic.

Every year we always know Christmas is coming. We know when it's happening, and what needs to happen. But for some reason, it always creeps up on me.

It doesn't help that my birthday is at the end of October and my mum's is in November because our focus is on them. Especially when it was my 21st, like this year.

So, in the weeks building up to Christmas, I had millions of things to do to prepare as well as finishing my uni studies for the year and working as well. With all of this, things got quite hectic and stressful.

However, being me, I decided to plan everything out and use as many post-it notes as I can for lists. I wanted to share some of the things I've learnt and some tips about to handle Christmas with you, which could hopefully help us all prepare for Christmas and have a relaxing December in 2023.

Lists of gifts throughout the year

Do you ever get asked what you want for Christmas, but fail to think of an answer? That happens a lot to me and the people I know.

To combat this problem and to make sure you're not rushing to buy everything when shops are busy or when there are postal strikes (they are rather disruptive in delivery of presents), have a list of what to buy in advance.

A way to have a list in advance is to think of presents throughout the year. If you're with someone and they mention something they'd like or want to buy but can't justify it, note it down.

If you think of ideas for people, note it down. If you see anything you would like for yourself, note it down and then when it comes to Christmas, you will have a list of some ideas.

Food lists

One big aspect of Christmas that everybody enjoys and that Christmas is famous for is the food. Food glorious food!

The turkey, the gammon, the stuffing...everything about Christmas dinner!

There is so much food to buy, and drink as well, at Christmas for Christmas dinner and just generally throughout the day, that it can be hard to keep track of it all.

I've definitely found this year a struggle because there's so much food in our freezers that I didn't know about.

In order to manage the food and shopping lists, my sister and I created an inventory of all the food we need for Christmas. We noted everything included in our Christmas dinners: the meats, the veg, the potatoes, the sauces, the starters, the desserts, everything.

Going through our stocks, we ticked off everything we have and don't need more off. Then we made a list of what we need to buy and when we need to buy it - dates on some foods like salmon and cauliflower cheese can be a bit tricky to buy them in advance.

Once you have a list of everything you need, and then everything you already have and still need to get, it becomes easier to navigate Christmas food shopping.

Plan your meals for the week

Once you've got a list of all the food you need for Christmas, it can be helpful to plan your meals for the week leading up to Christmas.

That way you don't accidentally cook a turkey or eat the potatoes!

Having a list of your meals for the week also helps keep on top of things and plan things around when you need to cook and eat dinner.

Get the house ready

Christmas is a time to spend with loved ones and that means cleaning and tidying the house.

For my family, for Christmas, we always spend a whole day cleaning to make sure everything is spick and span and practically perfect. In addition to the usual housework, we also have to build a table and sort out bedroom arrangements for family that stay over.

To keep on top of all the washing and cleaning and building and Christmas tasks, I made a list.

I wrote down everything that needs to happen in the build up over Christmas and when the tasks need to happen. I also made a note of all the scheduled events such as haircuts, uni deadlines, final days of work etc. This meant I could work out when people had free time and when things could be completed.

Now it's only Tuesday and we've got five sleeps till Christmas Day - that's when Christmas starts in our house!

So far, we've ticked off seven tasks out of however many are on the list (there's quite a lot!).

We have more to do but having a list of all the tasks helps focus the mind and reduce stress. Plus, if there's something you do that isn't on the list, add it on and then you can tick it off and you'll feel even more accomplished!

If you're a natural at dealing with Christmas and being ready on time, then this blog post isn't for you - in fact you should probably write your own!

But if you're a bit behind and found you have lots of things still to do, I hope this post has helped you in some way.

Until next time...