From Amanda's very early writing (1990s to early 2000s), shared as it was originally written.
CHRISTMAS 3
Christmas can be a stressful time! By now, we will have resolved the dilemma of with whose family do we spend Christmas this year. Or we will have been brave a said 'that's it! We're staying home this year - they can come to us'. (So of course you are now running frantically around trying to buy enough turkey, roast potatoes and make Christmas pudding - so everyone can feel bloated at your house!)
But what if you're alone, an 'orphan' at Christmas, away from family? Well, find all the other orphans you know and organize a big party - it's usually much more fun than most family do's! Arrange for each person to bring a dish so the strain is not too great on the organizing orphan; bring the mobiles so you can all phone home and start early! What about a breakfast at the beach, then you can all move on to someone's house for lunch, nap at another and then attend a recovery dinner just to finsih the day on a high!
Sounds good to me! We might as well be exhausted from a day like that than exhausted from paying attention to everyone else and how they feel; or eating until we're are ready to explode (to be polite) ; or trying to keep the peace; or keeping warring siblings apart; or having millions of excited children around when we are not used to it!
If you are divorced and don't have custody of the children, Christmas can be horribly stressful and lonely. So prepare now to make it a good time. If you have the children for a while but have to give them back, make sure you ring friends and ask them around or if you can join them. Even if you don't feel like being social, it's often better just to have some good friends to hang out and relax with. People don't mind if you ask them to include you in their festivities - it's often a relief to have a non family person there to stabilise the atmosphere!
Food. A perpetual problem with Christmas. By now, we will all be sick of turkey, ham, roast potatos, christmas pudding, and possibly, grog! We groan at the table on Christmas day and vow we are never going to eat again! But we do , after we have left her parents house, where we had Christmas lunch, and we go to his parents house for Christmas dinner.
Why not think about salad? Most people have had a gutful of ham as well as turkey by now, so think of alternatives. Have a barbe with snags and steak; put the turkey in the webber (it's wonderful); create yummy and exotic salads that are filling; what about fresh prawns or seafood; lots of fresh fruit - we are blessed in Australia with our choices. Find something that is not so time consuming and doesn't force you to be in a hot kitchen in the middle of the day. Tradition is good , but make it easy for yourself!
And use thick paper plates if there are millions of people coming to your house. Why spend three hours washing up when everyone has gone? And find good quality plastic (recyclable of course) cups. Make a punch - non alchoholic as well as a 'merrymaker'.
Most people by Christmas night are feeling tired, bloated and trying to clean up the mess! We also think how quickly this year has gone by and miss our absent friends and relatives. Nostalgia attacks us especially when we are feeling tired and bloated!
I sound pessimistic but it seems so many people have the same story after Christmas - I thought it would be wise to talk about it before, so we can prepare to make this Christmas our best. Perhaps we could spread Christmas out over a few days - see one lot of rels one day, another the next day and everyone else on another; or take thousands of kids to the park instead of letting them destroy your home; arrange for each person to contribute to the food and share the load; put ourselves in a forgiving mode before we meet the family; make a committment to be patient and loving; enjoy idiosyncrancies instead of letting them annoy us - we know they're coming! Arrange to be with friends so we are not lonely; starve for a few days so you can eat all day.
Anyway, life's short - have a great time no matter what happens; who cares if you eat so much Christmas pudding that you throw up! You've got 364 days to recover!
