Keep Christmas worries at bay - Part II
(For part I, please read here)
If you spend the Christmas season worrying instead of enjoying, here are some worries and ways to combat them.
Worry: You can only afford to spend about half of what you normally spend on your gift recipients, or only a few dollars, and you’re afraid they’ll be disappointed.
Antidote: Let people who might be expecting a gift of a certain price range from you know that you cannot afford to spend a lot this year. If it would lighten the load of stress that this situation can bring, you can ask if people would mind not exchanging gifts this year. Alternatively, why not suggest a gift exchange of hand made (by them) things (if you need ideas for Christmas gifts that can be made, visit the Creative Mom Cafe)? A suggestion that will either be loved or hated is to suggest re-gifting something that you received previously, but think someone else would enjoy far more.
Worry: It’s one week before Christmas and you haven’t mailed out Christmas cards yet
Antidote: I have personal experience with this one and there are a number of ways that you can takcle this. You can decide to give yourself a break this year and not mail cards at all. You can mail them anyway, with the premise of “better late than never”. Some creative alternatives are:
- mail them a Happy New Year card instead
- call them on Christmas day or a few days before to deliver a personal greeting
- send them a centrepiece flower arrangement for Christmas dinner (make sure to get a guarantee that the flowers will arrive before Christmas!)
- send an e-card expressing your wishes for a merry Christmas
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