Holiday Stress Prevention Plan
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Don't let references to Christmas turn you away.
The recommended relaxation and stress relief techniques of this plan help you reduce or even eliminate stress in all situations.
The organizational and time management aspects are a bonus to help you enjoy and have fun at your own dinner parties.
Catchup is easy, so please do start at the beginning - click on the box above.
An important message to CSPP participants:
You Guys Are So Amazing!
Check out your successfully aborted gremlin report
Can you feel the excitement growing? You have totally outdone yourselves!
If a gremlin dares to show its face on Christmas day, you will embrace it joyfully, laugh at its persistence, and simply and easily deal with it.
Holiday stress is just a memory of your past - without power, without emotion.
With your conscious awareness in the present moment, nothing can disturb your peace at Christmas or Thanksgiving.
If that is not your reality yet, it will be if you allow me to help you with whatever is holding you back.
So, let's continue.
Holiday Stress Prevention
You've covered most of the bases already. You have extra time on your hands.
- Check your lists to be sure you haven't forgotten anything.
- Continue picking up those gifts and stashing them away.
- Pour brandy on your fruit cake or plum pudding. Have a little yourself!
- This month is a good time to bake special cookies, tarts and squares that can be frozen. Several pot-luck dishes that can be frozen can be prepared as well.
The Gremlin of Christmas Cards
Christmas Havoc Story
Early in December, Christmas cards begin coming to our house. Some people are way too organized! Imagine sending out cards that early in the month.
I had decided not to send cards that year. I would make a special effort to phone my friends and family and extend a personal greeting. But I would make it really special and wait until the week before Christmas. Bad, idea!
One night I sat down with my telephone list and made the first call. One hour later, after a very interesting and lengthy reunion with my friend, I wished her Happy Christmas, and hung up the phone.
Another look at my list warned me that I would never have enough time to call everyone and I then regretted not sending cards.
The cards kept coming in and each time one came I felt more and more guilty. I did get some more calls in, but not to everyone on my list and certainly not to everyone who had sent me a card.
Holiday Stress Prevention
Email has become acceptable, and definitely easy. Perhaps all your Christmas greetings can be sent via the internet. There are some delightful animated cards to send, if you are somewhat computer savvy. Emails are kind to our environment and save on postage.
If you do decide to make phone calls, this year, you will have more time because you are on the plan. Personal calls are wonderful – just remember to keep them short and sweet.
If your decision is to send cards, make your life easier and attend to those cards this month. Begin to prepare your list. Do a little research for complete addresses now. Addressing a few cards at a time, especially if you enclose notes, while listening to your favorite Christmas music and sipping a little wine, may be just the ticket to enjoying this task.
If you have not already purchased packaging materials for advanced out-of-town Christmas gifts, now is the time to get this out of the way. What about a postal weigh scale to minimize your trips to the post office?
The Gremlin of Kitchen Knives
Christmas Havoc Story
Dull knives in the kitchen at any time of year is just plain dumb. It wasn’t until I sliced my finger instead of a tomato, that I made a very quick and definite decision never to have dull knives in my kitchen again.
The dull knife I was using slipped off the tomato and you know the rest. Funny thing about dull knives, they may not be able to cut through the skin on a tomato, but they don’t have any hesitation when it comes to my skin.
Holiday Stress Prevention
Keep a sharpening stone handy in your kitchen. Either assign someone to keep the knives sharp, or do it yourself. Ask an expert to show you how, and then you are the expert.
The Gremlin of Kitchen Cookware
Christmas Havoc Story
Being a traditional kind of hostess, I wanted to serve a variety of cooked vegetables like one sees on a banquet table. Everything was chopped and already to go. They had to be perfectly cooked, to retain their brilliant colors, so they were left until the last minutes before serving.
It was only then that I realized I needed six cooking pots - I had only four. My stove had only 4 elements to cook on. Duh? (I often learn the hard way – by experience.)
Holiday Stress Prevention
Take inventory of your cooking pots, and lids. Did you have enough last Christmas? To save on cooking space, multi-layered steamers are great.
Was the turkey pan large enough? What do you carve your turkey on?
Do you have enough chopping boards and knives? Food storage containers – did you have enough, in a variety of sizes, to store all the leftovers in the refrigerator?
And, in what condition are your kitchen appliances? Do all the elements on your stove work properly? Does the oven keep the required temperature?
Do you have a second cooking appliance to bring out for extra cooking space? Do you have one or two hot plates for keeping food warm during the serving stage? Now is the time to organize this. Perhaps you could borrow from an invited guest.
The Gremlin of Holiday Season Entertaining
Christmas Havoc Story
Three weeks before Christmas, a great idea is born! It’s our turn to entertain our travel group of friends. Let’s have them over for dinner this weekend. Bad idea!
Only two of them are available. The rest are busy with other holiday season activities. Now we will have to wait until after Christmas, or even next year to see them again.
Holiday Stress Prevention
It seems so obvious now that you are working the plan. People get very busy when it’s so close to Christmas.
Start now to plan your holiday entertaining. November is the time to invite friends to December events. Try not to double book with others who hold annual parties.
Prepare your Christmas dinner menu. Are you serving a brunch as well as dinner?
Prepare a list of tasks to be done during Christmas Day.
Make up your guest list.
Re-read Christmas Day Character Roles and Assigned Tasks
It may seem silly now, but remember, this is a holiday stress prevention plan. To reduce stress, you must change your thinking from negative to positive.
That may require you to step out of the box and be creative. Dare to be different and playful this Christmas.
Adopt a new style of entertaining. Invite your guests to participate. They will love it and you will have the time of your life playing with them.
And not only that, you will have control over who does what and the number of people who are allowed to enter the kitchen - the hotbed of family holiday stress. You see, there is method to this madness.
Keep up the great momentum you have created so far. You are doing great!
Take nothing seriously! You will laugh your way through this Christmas - sans holiday stress.
 Have an embarrassing Christmas Day story? Click here to share it. |
Gremlin Havoc and Stress Prevention: January, February, March-August, September, October, November, December,
Successfully Aborted Gremlin Report
Christmas Day Character Roles and Assigned Tasks From Holiday Stress Prevention Plan October to Last Christmas? What Stress?
