It’s “the most wonderful time of the year” so why does it sometimes end up feeling the opposite?
Money worries, high expectations, more time together and family you haven’t seen all year can put a huge strain on your relationship.
Beat the Christmas Conflict this year in 5 Simple Ways…
- Communicate - communication is key during this time. If you’re feeling stressed, communicate it. If you’re feeling tired, communicate it. If you need help, communicate it! Your partner is not a mind reader and will not know what to do or how to help unless you tell them. Clear communication is vital for reducing conflict over Christmas.
- Co-operate - you are a team so work like one. It can be very easy to slip into competition mode over Christmas as to who is doing more, who is the most tired etc… Work together, help each other out. Sharing the work load will lead to a much calmer Christmas. A great question to ask each other is, “Is there anything you need help with?” The answer may be a no, but at least you’ve offered.
- Commitment - remember the reasons why you are doing what you are doing. Commit every morning to being the best that you can be for yourself and each other. How much are you committing to things outside of your family? It’s ok to say no to events or get togethers that you don’t want to do that may cause a strain on your relationship.
- Connection - Staying connected is a priority over Christmas as for a few days, you may find yourself surrounded by family and friends who can be quite opinionated on what they want you both to be doing. Need to be at both sets of in laws or someone will be upset? Having guests around who like to have things their way? Stay connected to each other and remember that the priority is you and your partner, the others are only passing through.
- Clarity - Decide beforehand how you both want Christmas to be. If you’ve both got different ideas and traditions that you want to do, you may find conflict arises. Have a chat and be clear on what can and can’t be done. Create your own family traditions perhaps? Something brand new that you wish to carry on each year.
Christmas is a time to cherish the ones we love. It’s easy to lose sight of what’s important and get swept along with other people’s ideas of what Christmas is.
Keep it simple.
Make it yours.
Love each other.
Much love
Naomi & Martin ♥️
Your turn...
What else would you add to this list?
Which top tip are you going to start doing?
Leave a comment below and share your thoughts.