WOMAN 2 WOMAN: Planning for the festive Season

A few days into December is actually the time to begin planning for your holiday season this year. Obviously as the festive season kicks-off children and parents will have to endure strained relationships during the holiday season. But you can do a lot to minimize them, and you can begin today. Here are just a few ideas. Buy a cheap, small notebook for your planning. Take notes on the actual things you intend to do as well as the gifts you want to purchase. Along with the gift list it is also proper if you developed a guest list if you intended to invite people to your house for a get -together. Any information that will help you boost your holiday plans should be in the Note Book. Always have the book on the ready as reference during the process of undertaking the purchases. Plan for the holiday with your spouse and discuss what makes the entire family happy during the holidays. Incorporate your spouse’s inputs into the planning to generate consensus. Prioritize your families’ holiday activities based on this consensus reached. If you both love going to holiday parties out of your dwelling areas, then by all means go! Do not be afraid to turn down some invitations for such parties if you do not feel like attending them. As an alternative have a dress-up evening for your family - go to dinner at a special restaurant, then attend a play or holiday musical performance. It is important to plan for the children’s time during the festive season. You could decide to send them to the village to spend the festive season with their grand parents or relatives. If you decide to do this, make sure you buy some groceries like rice, sugar, maize flour and other necessities like bathing and washing detergents to defray the financial costs of hosting your children. If you decide to keep the children at home, you can throw a Christmas party for your kid’s friends at home. Budget It is also very important to draw up a Christmas budget well ahead of the big day. You must be sensible and realistic. Some families occasionally host others; if it is your turn to host others make sure you avoid blowing your budget by expensive last minute shopping. Take advantage of supermarket saving schemes to ‘buy more for less’. Getting organized early will mean you are more likely to keep within your budget. It is better to start shopping the children’s clothing early enough as prices are bound to go upwards, as the day comes closer. Shopping in advance will help you to spend less and save more. After tussling it out for the whole year with loads of work and busy schedules throughout the year, the holiday season is the time when every body needs to get some rest with family and friends. It is a perfect time for families and friends to get together and enjoy each other’s company. To have a successful holiday season all you need is just prior budgeting and planning. Contact: ubernie@gmail.com