Christmas time should be filled with love and peace and joy. But anyone who's part of a step-family that doesn't get along knows that where and when and with whom Christmas is held can get quite contentious. Here are some tips on great ready for Christmas if you are part of a step-family that just doesn't see eye to eye. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
1. Determine where you are holding Christmas ahead of time. Certain things are decided by a divorce decree, while others are left to the parents to decide. And if both families live close to one another, it may even be possible to split the day with the children. Whatever the situation may be, it is important to decide where Christmas will be held by Labor Day. That way there's no confusion and no hurt feelings. A good swap is to allow one side of the family to have Thanksgiving, while the other has Christmas.
2. Write down everyone in the family and step-family who you'll be buying gifts for during the Christmas season. Because things can get so contentious, it's important not to leave anyone out. Next, create a budget for those family members. While every budget will be slightly different, just make sure that the step-brothers and sisters are receiving an equivalent amount monetarily speaking. Nothing can cause more of a disturbance than if portions of the step-family don't feel as wanted as others.
3. Involve the step-family in Christmas activities. A lot of times children or members of step-family have multiple occurrences. For instance, they might cut down Christmas trees with both sides of the family. This can become repetitive for the kids and competitive for the adults. Try to plan your family activities so that you are doing something new when interacting with your side of the step-family.
4. Purchase gifts throughout the year rather than at crunch time. This is a great piece of advice for every family, as they get ready for Christmas throughout the year. Look for closeout sales or deep discounts. Then snap up the gifts and save them until you are ready to wrap for Christmas.
5. Allow yourself and your step-family members to enjoy the day, no matter what wrinkles occur. When it comes to families clashing, it can make the holidays entirely unpleasant. If something doesn't go according to plan, take a deep breath and be the bigger person. After all, the Christmas season is about peace and love and joy; do your best to keep it that way.
Tags: Christmas season, part step-family, part step-family that, step-family that, throughout year