The Relationship People, Jinglewood, Landford, Wiltshire Tel: 0800 298 5938 Email: help@therelationshipeople.co.uk
Tips for Christmas
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What’s important about Christmas?
What would change if you decided to do Christmas differently this year?
Read on...
Who is coming for Christmas?
Are you spending time with the people you love this Christmas?
Read on...
Who is coming for Christmas?
One of the major ‘stressors’ at Christmas is spending time with people it’s not easy
to be with.
Read on...
The cost of Christmas
We can all acknowledge that Christmas has become commercialised - and seems to start
earlier every year!
Read on...
Sharing the load
Leaving one person to pick up the lion’s share of the work is a recipe for exhaustion,
resentment and short tempers.
Read on...
Coping with the day
The best laid plans of mice and men do not allow for things going wrong at emotionally
charged times like Christmas.
Read on...
What do you want to spend on Christmas?
We can all acknowledge that Christmas has become commercialised and seems to start earlier every year! Whether you think this is a good thing or a bad thing depends on what’s important to you about Christmas. Once you know that it’s easier to decide what you want to spend.
Are you choosing what you spend?
Much of our frenetic seasonal activity is programmed into us by our upbringing, our culture - and the retail sector!
We’re all susceptible to the canny adverts that have us loading the trolley with copious amounts of food and drink, which we then spend the rest of the year working off our waistline. Is Christmas really about feeling uncomfortably full and hoping guests will leave so you can loosen your waistband, or have a good f**t?
Watching the TV ads the other day I noticed some suggestions for electrical presents are reduced to a mere £349.00! This hit strongly at my values and beliefs about Christmas. How many presents like that am I supposed to buy? Am I supposed to feel guilty or less of a parent if I choose to spend less? (A lot less in my case!)
Our children are exposed to an even greater bombardment of advertising, suggesting Christmas just won’t be complete without this year’s must have toy. When you finally give in to the tears, tantrums and other emotional blackmail to take yourself off to the shops, it’s the last straw to find it’s out of stock due to high demand. With no new stock expected before Christmas, not only do you have to rack your brain for a replacement, you will also be faced with your child’s abject disappointment, when he or she unwraps the ‘wrong’ present. Will you find yourself back in the toyshop in the New Year, when supplies miraculously reappear? This is no accident, it’s called marketing.
Can we work to a budget?
Money is an issue that often causes heated discussions between couples. Some avoid it by never talking about money or delegating all authority to one or the other. This is potentially storing up trouble for the future when lack of information about what money you have to spend or different priorities about how to spend it emerge. Bite the bullet and set a budget for Christmas. You’ll find a handy list of items to consider in the FREE resource pack that accompanies this article.
Let’s think about presents
This is an important area for Christmas spending, yet we often start without considering any of the questions which might help us be clear what we want our present giving to achieve.
- Do you like to know that everyone is getting what they asked for or do you prefer to give surprises?
- How many presents are you buying for the children? What influences your choice of presents?
- Who pays for the presents they want to give?
- Do you ask your partner to get their own present, wrap it and be grateful it’s exactly what they want?
- Do you know what your partner would like as a gift or do you have to ask?
- Do you give each other a stocking filled with little surprises?
- Do you agree on a joint present together?
Cracker joke
Man to wife - “Darling what would you like for Christmas?”
Wife - “I want a divorce!”
Man - “Oh! I wasn’t thinking of spending quite that much!”
Talking money!
Once you have downloaded the handy FREE resource pack to get your budget sorted,
make sure you set up this meeting carefully. Money is often a very sensitive issue
- so pick a good time to talk and take those few moments to get into a calm state
of mind. Keep linking your discussions back to what’s important for you about Christmas.
It
will help you make the best choices for your spending too.
Getting to the Heart of the Issue
1 or 2 day intensives for couples
If the usual pattern of relationship counselling or coaching isn’t for you, swap the 6 - 10 sessions of an hour per week for a one or two day intensive.
Replace the slow but sure progress
With a focus on reaching a breakthrough and coming away with a clear plan of action you can begin to work on straight away.
Click here to find out more.
Contact us now and book the intensive that’s right for you.
Make it your New Year Resolution to break through to the life you want with the person you want to spend it with.
Fill in your details to claim your FREE downloadable resource pack and exercises: