Solved Those Tricky Christmas Dilemmas

Writer Rachel Halliwell, who is married and has daughters aged 22, 19 and 11, shares her wisdom.

To-ing and fro-ing

The beginning of September was my cue to get this year’s festive plans in place. Why so soon? Because last year, my sister and sister-in-law bagged both sets of parents for the big day, meaning I spent half of it travelling so the kids could see their grandparents.

With festive arrangements, it’s every woman for herself. It’s impossible to keep everyone happy, so the sooner you organise a plan that suits you, the merrier your Christmas will be.

My strategy was to phone the people on my guest list (SMS or e-mail gives them too long to think) on the same evening, allowing no chance for conferring. By making “You haven’t made plans for Christmas yet have you?” my opening gambit, I caught them off guard. I then quickly implied the rest of the family was coming to ours and that everyone would be thrilled they could join us. They’d agreed with my plans before they’d had a chance to think.

If you have missed the boat on hosting Christmas this year, do as a friend’s family has and instigate a rolling three-year plan where everyone takes turns hosting.

Santa’s little helper

Remember when November’s greatest thrill was marking up catalogues with your Christmas wish list? My eldest girl is 22 now and her first letter to Santa featured pictures of toys – a Barbie and a pink scooter – cut from such hallowed pages. Sadly, those days have now been replaced with online wish lists – something my loved ones embrace with gusto. By mid-November, my husband has sent out a group e-mail with links to the objects of his desire. Even my 11-year-old creates a Word document, complete with web links, on my desktop.