Mark Your Calendar Now

Don't let Christmas stress you out, plan ahead

The Holiday Season is over, it’s time to reflect on both the good and maybe “not so good” of the season.  It brings to mind some of life’s lessons that I learned recently.

Just before Christmas I paid a call on Marlin Travel in Broadmead Village Shopping Centre.  As we were discussing plans for Christmas, Kathryn shared her “Secret to Success”.  After the previous Christmas, she purchased her 2011 calendar, opened it to December 2011 and wrote in big letters “Remember Last Christmas”.  I was fascinated.

She explained that she had totally worn herself out trying to make it a perfect Christmas for her entire family.  While everybody enjoyed and appreciated her efforts, she was left exhausted.  This year, she read the note on the calendar and booked Christmas Dinner at a local hotel, resulting in a stress-free celebration.

Another friend told me just after Christmas that she had stressed out a few times while putting on a big family dinner due to small things that could have had big consequences.  One key component of the meal required vinegar and they were totally out. After a frantic online search for an open grocery store a nearby family member came to the rescue.  For her, the solution was to do a complete post mortem on this year’s celebration and make notes for next year.  The biggest note will be “Make sure we have vinegar”

I also watched TV news stories of people travelling at Christmas.  While most were taking delays and line-ups in their stride there were those who

A nice hotel room can work for you and your Mother in-law

seemed quite confused and stressed by the problems related to travelling at the busiest time of the year.  These people forgot to pack their patience and humour, the real key to successful holiday travel. Remember if you forget a toothbrush, Accent Inns has a complimentary supply of things like that so don’t sweat it.

So as we reflect on the Christmas just past, it might be a good idea to write that note on our 2012 calendars – REMEMBER LAST CHRISTMAS.  Follow this up with a note reminding yourself of what went wrong, what went right and things you have to remember for next year.  Of course you can end your note with “Book out of town guests at Accent Inn”.

This simple process should guarantee a stress free Christmas in 2012, especially if that guest is your Mother In-law (lol).

Happy New Year!