Christmas Expectations

So here it is again. Christmas!! The kids are bouncing off the walls, you've still got a mountain of shopping to do and then there is all that food to cook and decorating to do and on and on it goes. Is it any wonder that some people get very depressed at Christmas.

For some people, the pressures and expectations of Christmas push them beyond what they can cope with and they slide into depression. Christmas sadness is very real.

We all want to have a lovely, loving Christmas with our families but often this doesn't happen. The expense, the extra work, the demands all become too much and all we want to do is curl up in a ball and disappear until it is over. Tensions rise and all too often families who are loving and caring all year round find themselves snapping at each other and getting angry and frustrated.

I think the best way to cope with Christmas is to lower our expectations. We are bombarded with what we should be giving, eating, doing and feeling and we feel inadequate. Then of course there are those feel good, everything turns out wonderful in the end movies that make us feel even more inadequate.

Christmas is about being with your family and friends it is not about how much a gift costs or a feast fit for a king so let us not lose sight of that. Do the things you all enjoy doing together. Lower your expectations and raise your enjoyment but most of all teach your children the true meaning of Christmas so they don't grow up feeling let down at Christmas.

Having said all that I wish everyone a truely happy Christmas filled with love and laughter.