Christmas time can be hectic. With the added family and friends, the long hours of cooking and the sudden job of peacemaker it could seem impossible to pull off a great Christmas. Being prepared can be a great start to combat an often hectic day.

Keep people out of your kitchen. I know that like me you just put up with it and in their own way they think that their helping. Just be honest and let them know it’s easier for you to do everything on your own.

Remove all of the cd’s out of sight. If you have a group of individuals I can promise you their music taste will be just that, individual. Make a random play list with several musical interest in mind. It keeps it fair and prevents early bickering.

Remove gameplay. Take the XBOX, PlayStation or Wii into your bedroom and shut the door. Gaming though it can be entertaining, it can also be disruptive for other guest, this can add to unnecessary anxiety on an already overwhelming busy day.

Hold back the sweets. With Christmas usually comes a lot of decadent sweets. Try to keep Christmas treats out of the way until after everyone eats. For one thing small children are hyper, they are crazy hyper when loaded with sugar. The other thing to consider is that as young children reach sugar overload, their parents tend reach anxiety overload as they try to control their children to no avail.

Hopefully taking these steps to prevent holiday battles will improve your Christmas dinner. After all if more Christmas dinners were as peaceful as possible then less people would remember last year’s holiday with dread. I hope everyone has a great Christmas dinner this year.