Tova's Tips for a Stress-free Christmas

Today is Remembrance Day and I really wish I had a poppy to wear. It is an important day for Canadians (the British too). It is a day to honour our soldiers and to remember all the personal sacrifices our armed forces have made. I may be a pacifist but I am firm supporter of our troops. I cannot even imagine what the men and women who serve go through daily and what their family must endure. My thoughts are with them all and I truly wish we lived in a world where parents and kids and spouses did not have to be separated due to conflict. I take it for granted that I can spend every day with the people I love. That I enjoy rights and freedoms and that I can be a Jewess living in Vienna. And so, I say, please honour our troops on this day and remember the incredible sacrifices they have made. Their bravery inspires me. Lest We Forget...

And on an entirely different note, today I am going to talk about how to make your Christmas so stress-free you will wish you could keep the holly up all damn year (Jew says what? To clarify, even though I am a "Jew", we grew up celebrating Christmas. We always had a tree and we opened presents on Christmas Eve and then on Christmas Day we went out for Chinese to pay homage to our Jewish roots)! You have probably seen dozens of magazines telling you to just chill the eff out but for the most part, that really isn't possible. I am in charge of ensuring that this damn holiday goes smoothly (I love it so much. I didn't mean it, Christmas) and so I have to be on top of things. I have to buy presents for: my husband, my kid, my parents, my sister, her husband, my nieces, my nephew, my brother, my mother in law, my father in law, my sister in law, friends, our nanny, our daycare providers. And on top of that, I take care of the Christmas cards, the shopping list for when the shops are closed, the annual Boxing Day dunch and to make sure that we are all so very damn JOLLY!!! ARE WE HAVING FUN YET?!?!

Sure, I could tell the Husband to take care of his family but I fear he'd buy them all a bottle of vodka and condoms and call it a night. Note to self: buy the Husband vodka and condoms. Anyway, I don't mind because the more stressed out I am (healthy stress, not stress induced by a possible diagnosis of aspergers), the more productive I am. But I don't want to get too overwhelmed and if I don't have a plan, I plan to fail. Thank you Dr. Phil. Also, by not planning, I will end up spending too much money. SO....

Tip #1

Make a list of everybody you want to buy gifts for. Write down what you want to get them. Try not to deviate from the list. If you need to get gifts for people you don't really know, but you feel like you should give them a little somethin somethin, bake some cookies, buy a large mug, fill with cookies, wrap in cellophane and a ribbon and you are done. I always have some extra on hand just in case a friend of my mother in law drops by with a Ralph Lauren shirt for our toddler. "Thank you for this lovely designer shirt. Here, have a mug with a reindeer on it. You're welcome." I make my task of shopping so stupid because I like to buy lots of little gifts because more gifts mean more love. Right? Right?

Christmas is about spending time with the ones you love, so...

Tip #2

It can be so easy to get carried away and not stop and smell the eggnog. I've implemented a list of family fun time I want to accomplish this year; list of movies that need to be watched, cookies to bake with the Kid (this can only end well) and Christmas markets to visit. I want to try and get most of my shopping and crafts done the next couple of weeks so that weekends in December can be chill and can be family time. Tree decorating will happen in the last of week of November and I cannot wait for the Kid to wake up in the morning and go "wow!". Or, he could wake up, walk over to the tree and pull it down because new stuff pisses him off. We shall have to wait and see! So make sure to allow time with the ones you love and get all the stressiness out of the way as soon as possible.

Tip #3

Multitask. Wrap presents while watching Christmas films. Make cookies while yelling at your husband for buying the toilet paper that feels like a cheese grater. Make a list of presents to purchase and where to buy them and try to come up with a plan to get it all done in the fastest time possible, i.e. have to visit three shops on one street? Buy all the gifts then and work out your biceps as well. Then move on to the next region. Have to mail stuff? Bring all your packages and Christmas cards at the same time. Piss the people off behind you as you send cards to various countries around the world.

Tip #4

Take care of yourself. Book a facial or a massage or a binge drinking night close to the holidays. That little bit of you-time will make the world of difference and you will be less likely to cut someone, with a knife, in the back because they took the last baguette.

Tip #5

Give to charity. I know how blessed I am and what is currently happening in the The Philippines is heartbreaking. So this year, we are giving money to a fund to help the victims there. Giving to charity is important and actually kind of self-serving; I feel better afterwards and not so guilty and well, someone hopefully can benefit from it. Give a little something if you can and I guarantee your spiked eggnog will taste that much richer.

Tip #6

Eat really really really clean for the next few weeks before the actual holiday. This year I am low carbing up until Christmas (save for my trip to Berlin and a night here and there for celebrating). I want to lose a couple of pounds and feel a little better about myself before the actual holiday. That way I feel I will truly enjoy my few days off and not end up on my closet floor sobbing "nothing fits me... I'm soooo fat"

And the most important thing... enjoy yourself. Nobody expects perfection from you. Well, maybe me... but I like to judge. So get started now and you too will have an awesome Christmas!

Just like this guy... oh wait.