To ask your best tips to make Christmas easy and stres free?

Well now im going to have to Google dragon butter!

That's the traditional time. Advent is the period from 1st December to Christmas Eve. The twelve days of Christmas start on Christmas Day and end on Twelfth Night, i.e. 5th January. Epiphany is 6th January.

Few people stick to this now, hence the strange modern phenomenon of starting Christmas festivities not long after Halloween and regarding Christmas as over on Boxing Day.

I don’t run around from house to house with young kids. My kids stay at their home enjoying the day with their gifts and people pop by if they want. We don’t run around trying to please anyone.

also if we host, everyone brings something. I’m not up at the crack of dawn cooking for a house full of people, I want to spend time with my family.

Most importantly, set boundaries for yourself. Don’t be a martyr and forget that you are important as well.

It is a pat of butter carved into a shape of Santa clause.

This is why we just leave my mum to it 😁
I believe you can now buy them in Morrisons so it's not just a thing my mum does.

This.

I don't bother with Christmas cards any more so that's one big task gone.

Presents are down to something for my Mum. We give our adult children some money and they buy us token gifts.

One Christmas thing I enjoy a lot and think is worth the bother is the food. I always make traditional British Christmas foods, including Christmas pudding, mince pies (I make the mincemeat as well as the pastry) and the main dinner of roast turkey stuffed with pork, sage and onion stuffing, giblet gravy, roast potatoes, bread sauce, sprouts, roast parsnips etc etc. We also have a rum cake which doesn't usually get broached until the New Year.

Other than that, I like having a Christmas tree to brighten up this dark time of year and I like having a break from the normal routine. You get a few decent TV and radio programmes at that time of year, so that's nice too.

Don’t know…hopefully not like dragon butter!

Make lists for everything
Wrap as you buy
Prepare and freeze food ahead of time
Add one thing for Christmas each week to your food shop

I never understand people who put Christmas trees up on the 24th December. Couldn't be bothered at that point and takeaways aren't open Christmas day

Go on holiday 😁.
Keep expectations to a minimum.
Only do the things we really want and see the people we want to.
I am organised wrt gift buying and shopping but don't go overboard.
We have a posh roast dinner with a few fancier bits and a very relaxed day in general.
It doesn't have to be perfect.

Less is more for us. I love Christmas but it’s been gradually pared right down over the years. Just 2 of us for Christmas lunch ( 3 if DD16 isn’t with her GF). A short present list, shorter cards list now that the postage is so ridiculously pricy, fewer food extras as we used to end up wasting stuff every year & we don’t go mad with decorations. DD did the tree last year & it was absolutely stunning.
I buy the “ special” cards in the sales eg husband, Mum & Dad etc along with some presents, wrapping paper etc. Boots is great as their gifts end up reduced by 70%.

Oh and decorating - dump a load of ivy from the garden on mantelpieces with some fairy lights - takes about 10 minutes. A big tree with a lot of lights (all delegated to DH so not taking up my time) and then only glass white silver and gold decorations so it looks coherent and is easy to do. When DC were little they had their own tree for their own tat so now they think it is a huge privilege to be allowed to decorate the big one so even less of my time wasted.

Drawstring bags and fabric stockings to put presents in so no need for paper or faffing around wrapping stuff. I have made my own over the years but you can buy nice ones too. Adults (other than DH and a couple of v good friends) only get booze or food so I can do one M&S or Waitrose shop for all of that.

When DC were little I made them each a stocking - its big enough to get a hand in easily for filling but not big enough to require much in the way of contents. Now they are in their 20s most of the contents can be bought in Boots or Superdrug so one delivery there and the occasional scroll of £10 Tuesday.

Dinner is late afternoon so no need to cook two meals - pot of soup and some nice bread in kitchen for those who are hungry to help themselves.

A lot of champagne....................

Just do the bits that we like ! So it is entirely un stressful and enjoyable.
One of my children is ever my disabled and unable to sit down for a long meal so we sacked that off a while ago. Honestly, no regrets!

Don't fall for all the hype!
Shop online - I have a rule of "no shops in December
Remember it is only one day - just 24 hours.
Don't start too early - Christmas trees should go up on 24th December
Don't faff around with food nobody likes - have pizza for Christmas dinner, or an Indian/Chinese takeaway
Ideally, go on holiday and ignore the whole thing!

In our house:

Cut cards down to the absolute minimum

Presents - 1 present for immediate family adults. 3 presents for immediate family kids. Kids’ stockings - 6 items (no tat). But throughout the year as you think of or see things.

Decorating: moderate-sized tree, wreath on front door, fairy lights scattered around.

Food:
Christmas Eve - go out
Christmas Day - buy it all from M&S
Boxing Day - cold turkey, ham, jacket potatoes, salad, coleslaw. Buy a meringue roulade for pudding.

I start shopping early already started I also book a couple of days of work in the middle of December to get everything wrapped. I put the decorations up early in December before everything gets to hectic. Iv stopped sending Christmas cards. Some years we have Christmas dinner on Christmas eve so that we can spend Christmas day just enjoying the day without spending to much time in the kitchen.

Spreadsheet of presents so I keep a track of spending and not duplicate too much from previous years, only do the bits I enjoy, have a husband who willingly shares the tasks and has no expectation of me buying cards and presents on his behalf. Being veggie helps as I don’t need to worry about roasting giant turkeys.

Don’t over think or over do it.

Christmas is utterly ridiculous now.

I do it all online, avoid shops and every year cull something from the food, drink and present list. Only buy a few useful and consumable stocking fillers. Don’t buy the tree too early and literally just buy presents, food and drinks none of the other crap.

I’m going to cut food down further this year and will wrap well before so Xmas Eve I can do nothing. Not allowing myself to get sucked into stupid Xmas projects either or expensive Xmas days out just a few walks . Did zilch last year and didn’t miss any of it.

Going to go by the it’s only a roast mantra and the environment doesn’t need yet more landfill.

This, 100%.

I got the Santas Bag app to keep track of what presents I’ve bought/want to buy, and where I’ve hidden them!
I don’t do Elf on the Shelf or whatever. That’s extra work I don’t need.
i tend to start shopping beginning of September - usually the stocking fillers, or presents for adults that don’t tend to randomly change their mind about what they want every 5 minutes! Nieces/nephews get vouchers now which I wrap up with some chocolates. PIL get a theatre voucher - they regularly go to shows to they get to choose the date and show that way.
Christmas dinner is now always from M&S - so easy and means nobody is slaving away in the kitchen. I mean, I pop in to “check the turkey” every so often as that’s where I stash the Prosecco….
i decided it’s only as complicated and stressful as I make it so I simply won’t do that.

@Toastandbutterand what is Santa butter?

If you buy gifts throughout the year you run the risk of getting them something they already have, or in the case of children, they change their minds about what they want. I think starting shopping early means the beginning of November!

We all have separate jobs.

So whoever's house it is that year always gets decorations.
Someone else does food.
Table, cleaning, checking off the lists etc etc. it becomes a lot more manageable.

My mum gets desserts every year as she has a compulsion to buy a £50 cake from m&s. We leave her to it, oooo and ahh over it and noone else has to even vaguely consider it.
She also gets Santa butter and she does Christmas crackers.
I usually do food delivery booking and cooking the main.
Oldest childs family is doing car runs and decorations,
Youngest is games and recycling.

This is our fourth year doing it and it's been marvelous!

Cut everything back to the minimum. Only do the things I want. Only see people I actually want to see.

I love Christmas but it’s probably because I am quite ruthless about spending it to suit myself.