5 ways to treat yourself this Christmas – you deserve it!

5 ways to treat yourself this Christmas – you deserve it!

*collaborative post*

It’s December, the festive season is now in full swing and if you’re not getting bombarded with Christmas joy when you’re out at the shops, it’s sparkling and twinkling all over our phones on social media too. Amongst all the photos of everyone’s decorated Christmas trees and smiling faces at Christmas markets, I saw a post on my Facebook feed the other day that I can’t stop thinking about. To power phrase, the post was saying that it’s not Santa who brings the magic at Christmas, it’s us, all the mums and dads of the world. You know what? It’s so true. Kids may get most excited about a visit from the main man in red when they think about Christmas but is it us parents who make the whole season special for our little ones. Who brings the magic for us though? While you’re busy building ginger bread houses, creating Christmas crafts, going to pantomimes and braving the ice rink, remember to make some time to treat yourself this Christmas too and make sure you do so without the Mum guilt. Christmas is undoubtedly about the kids and their happiness is most important but make sure you do something for you this December too. You mama, you bring the magic, you are the one who creates a Christmas full of joy and magical moments so do something for yourself today, ignore the to do list for a while and just say a big ‘Merry Christmas to me’. You deserve to reward yourself for all your hard work, here’s a list of ideas of how you can do so without suffering with stupid Mum guilt too – merry Christmas you wonderful people.

5 ways to treat yourself this Christmas – you deserve it!

1. Pamper yourself – Getting ready for Christmas is fun but it also can be very stressful. There’s so much to do and it’s no surprise we can all feel exhausted by the time Boxing Day arrives. Book yourself in for a massage, a spa day with a friend or a festive manicure. Don’t worry about spending money on yourself, I bet it’s a drop in the ocean compared to all the cash you spent on everyone else.

Save money and avoid the Mum guilt tip – Check out websites like lastminute.com that regularly offer amazing discounts on spa days and beauty treatments. A rested parent is a happier and more relaxed parent, just remind yourself of that whenever the mum guilt tries to spoil your relaxing time.

2. Watch your favourite Christmas film – Kids love watching Christmas films. Snuggling up on the sofa whilst cuddled together under a blanket watching a festive movie is a lovely way to spend quality family time over the Christmas holidays. Watching Arthur Christmas or Elf twenty times in a week though can get boring pretty fast and drain all the fun out of the festivities, make sure you make time for your favourite festive flick too amongst all the viewings of The Grinch and The Santa Clause. Maybe you love The Holiday, Love Actually or Scrooged, whatever is your Christmas film of choice, make the time to sit back, relax and watch it.

Save money and avoid the Mum guilt tip – Don’t go shedding out money on DVDs, if you have a Sky subscription, Amazon Video or Netflix account you can find loads of Christmas films just waiting for you to enjoy free of charge. Feel like you should be doing something else? If you can’t shift that feeling then wrap presents while you watch, it makes the wrapping experiencing way more enjoyable when there’s a Christmas film on in the background anyway.

christmas cookies treat yourself at christmas

3. Eat the treats – I don’t care if you’re on a diet, Christmas is not the time to be denying yourself the goodies that are gracing the shelves of all the shops this time of the year. If your kids want a gingerbread man and you happily let them, then why not have a treat yourself? A luxurious hot chocolate or a mince pie, just do it, we all deserve a treat, especially when we’re working so hard to make Christmas extra special for the kids.

Save money and avoid the Mum guilt tip – Buying Christmassy sweets and treats from the shops can be quite expensive and the truth is, if you can follow a recipe you can make lots of them at home for much less money. Worried baking in the kitchen stops you doing fun things with the kids? Get your little ones involved in baking all your yummy festive goodies. Baking is a great activity for kids and is really exciting at Christmas time when you can use lots of seasonal cookie cutters.

4. Buy yourself a present – Yup, I went there. Yes, you’ll be getting presents off friends and family and you’re more than likely to love them all but why not treat yourself to a little something you 100% know you want? I’m not saying break the bank by buying yourself a new designer bag or whatever, but if you’ve been buying presents for everyone else for weeks and you fall in love with a jumper and it’s calling your name from the rail in the shop then just buy it. It’s the end of the year, you’re an amazing Mum and always put your family first, for once just think about yourself and buy the jumper. There is nothing wrong with giving yourself a Christmas present.

Save money and avoid the Mum guilt tip – If you like shopping online, you can find discount codes for loads of online shops using websites like dealsdaddy and dealsplanet. To avoid feeling bad for spending money on yourself, get your present once you’ve bought everyone else’s so you can’t talk yourself out of it by thinking ‘I should really be spending this money on the mother in law’ for example.

christmas drinks treat yourself at christmas

5. Have a night off – Christmas really is the best time to make family memories and go on exciting days out with the kids. There’s lots of fun to be had at winter wonderland, watching the pantomime, going ice skating and going on Christmas trails at National trust properties with the kids. Make some time to enjoy some grown up fun this festive period too though. Have an evening of eating cheese, pate and other festive dishes with your friends while drinking wine and enjoying good company. Get a babysitter in and enjoy some late night Christmas shopping, taking in the beauty of the shining Christmas lights and revel in the ease of walking around the shops without a pushchair. You could go out for drinks with friends, all dressed in sparkly dresses or cheesy Christmas jumpers. The to do list can feel never ending at Christmas and it’s important to take some time out to enjoy yourself, happy Mum equals happy kids equals amazing Christmas for all!

Save money and avoid the Mum guilt tip – If you want to go out for a Christmas meal with friends, check out local restaurants that may have special offers running throughout December. You can save lots of money by having a bring your own bottle style Christmas gathering at your house or everyone bringing a different plate of Christmas goodies over. Don’t let Mum guilt get you down, write a list of all the kid centred days out you’ve got planned for December and you’ll soon realise why you more than deserve one night off from doing the Mum thing.

There you have it, it’s easy to create a little bit of magic for yourself this Christmas as well as for the kids. Remember, you’re the Christmas shopper, the expert present wrapper, the deliverer of gifts, the baker of Christmas cookies, the tree decorator, the Christmas dinner chef, the traditions maker, the assembler of toys and the person who brings all the magic on the 25th. Parents, you deserve to treat yourselves this Christmas. After all, if Santa gets all those cookies and cheeky glasses of sherry on Christmas eve, we definitely deserve a little something too!

Will you be treating yourself this Christmas? Or do you think parents should just focus on the kids and their enjoyment over the festive period?

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5 ways to treat yourself this christmas

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Disclaimer: This post is written in collaboration with Deals Daddy and Deals Planet.

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9 Comments

  1. December 5, 2018 / 7:05 pm

    Ooooo i would love to go for a pampering session!! And I am always first to eat the treats so I’m on top of that one!

  2. December 5, 2018 / 9:34 pm

    These are such great suggestions. I have a little Christmas budget left and I won’t lie, I’m tempted to buy myself a little something. I’ve been feeling guilty about it but you’re right. I deserve it.

  3. December 6, 2018 / 6:57 am

    Love your tips. I always buy myself a present and always treat myself to something nice and don’t wait on anybody.

  4. December 6, 2018 / 11:47 am

    we love watching christms movies as a run up to Christmas , it always puts us in a very good mood

  5. December 6, 2018 / 4:12 pm

    Ah I love all of these ideas. I so need to find more time to pamper myself, I am terrible at neglecting myself this time of year!