Every year it seems that Christmas rolls around sooner and one minute it is months away and the next I find myself having to organise the family Christmas. This is a relatively easy task when you are the Mum and you have small children and the organisation is pretty much in your hands. The children just have to go with whatever is organised. However, once the children grow up and get boyfriends or girlfriends they also have to be considered in the mix and there is much more negotiation.
My son and daughter-in-law live in Wellington with their three boys and so we have an arrangement that they come to Christchurch every second year, if they can. My daughter-in-law’s family live in Wellington so they spend alternate Christmases with them. However, my daughter and her family live here in Christchurch and there has always been a process of negotiation as we work out how to meet everyone’s needs. Needless to say, this has at times been a stressful conversation as my daughter says, “Everyone has a good reason why Christmas should be at their place!” And she is not far wrong.
Last year and this year there was a change for Christmas as my daughter is no longer with her husband. Last year we had her and her children and my son’s family from Wellington staying with us. It was glorious mayhem.
This year, out of the blue, I suddenly thought that it would be good for my husband and I – well mostly me – to have Christmas without the negotiations and stress and just have a nice Christmas dinner by ourselves. When I rang my daughter, I think I made her Christmas as I told her of our plans. She was delighted and we have agreed to meet up sometime around Christmas so we can give the girls their presents. So, they can have a relaxed Christmas and we can have a lovely meal without the preparation involved.
As we all know, stress is not good for Parkinson’s. So we have removed the Christmas stress and all are so much happier.
Check out the podcast for more thoughts on Christmas.
My journey with Parkinsons 