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While your TV might be filled with families enjoying a harmonious and joyful Christmas dinner around the table, it couldn’t be any more different for those of us who find personalities clashing and tempers fraying come Christmas.
According to research from Travelodge, the average British family will have around five arguments on Christmas Day, with the first one taking place as early as 10.13am.
One of the most common arguments comes first thing in the morning. Christmas morning is especially exciting for kids and chances are they will be up at the crack of dawn eager to open their presents. However, conflict can arise when other members of the family are slightly less enthusiastic about getting out of bed. Try and find a compromise and encourage bed dwellers downstairs with the smell of coffee and breakfast.
Once presents are out the way, the next big arguments tend to come from the kitchen where, oblivious to the rest of the family, the person designated to cook for the day is on the edge of madness and just a curious inspection from one of the in laws about how the turkey is looking could send them over the edge. The best way to avoid a meltdown is to ask in advance if the chef would like some help and if not then avoid the kitchen like the plague. If you’re unlucky enough to be the chef then make sure you do as much cooking prior to the day as possible and make it clear to your guests as to whether you would like their help or not.
You might think that food could quash further arguments but disagreements during meal time are just as likely to happen. With a long morning before your Christmas dinner and plenty of time sat around with not much else on your mind but food, it’s very easy for everyone to get a bit greedy when certain dishes get passed around. To avoid arguments over who ate all the stuffing, you should plate up meals in advance and leave the leftovers in the kitchen for everyone to pick through once their main meal has gone.
Once all the food has been gobbled away and the washing up taken care of it’s time to relax and this usually involves some Christmas themed TV. Unfortunately, not everyone can always agree on what to watch and you might find that many of the requested programmes clash. You can solve this problem in a few ways; first of all, many channels now have a +1 version where their shows are broadcast an hour later. You could also record it, watch it on an “On Demand” player like BBC iPlayer or simply opt to ditch the TV all together and play some party games.
Christmas is all about making the most of the time you have with your family but if you are feeling anxious about making it all go to plan then have a read of our free guide on taking the stress out of your Christmas.
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