December Challenges

Find yourself rushing around the shops Christmas Eve trying to buy gifts for the entire family with only five minutes until closing? Set yourself a challenge of finishing your present purchasing at least two weeks prior to Christmas. Come Christmas Eve, you’ll be able to curl up with a good book or watching movies with your family in anticipation of Santa’s arrival! Flossie has pulled together a great range of nearly 30 Christmas Gift Guides to make it super easy for you - click here to check them out!

 

Make some 'Me' time
With the Christmas holidays looming it’s often easy to get caught up in a hectic schedule with gift shopping, school holidays, spring cleaning and tidying up the yard before the potential mother-in-law arrives. Take time out, even just 10 minutes a day where you put your feet up, read a chapter of your book or soak in a hot bubble bath, it can save you from silly season stress.

Touch base with old friends
We all have friends we tend to neglect sometimes – not on purpose, but life sometimes get in the way. Christmas is an ideal time to make a list of the friends we’ve been meaning to catch up with. If you’re not sure where they live now – try googling or a search on one of the many social networks. Make an effort to give them a call and send a card or tweet to let them know you’re thinking of them.

Remember those not as fortunate
Not everyone this year will be tucking into a 3-course meal or opening loads of great pressies. Some families are lucky if they can even afford to pay their bills. You could make a child’s Christmas more memorable by placing a gift under the Wishing Tree at any Kmart. Gifts are then distributed to people in need via the Salvation Army and Barnados.

Steer Away from Pigging Out
Instead of including 'Lose Weight' on your New Year’s resolutions, challenge yourself to avoid having Christmas guts-athons. Don’t use the season as a reason to eat like there is no tomorrow. Try to remember portion control and limit yourself to a few choccies instead of the whole box. Given there’s always plenty of food and parties this time of year, this one will be particularly difficult.

Become a Santa’s Little Helper
Register your office and Auckland City Mission will send you a Santa sack for donations of food and presents, a piggy bank for gold coin donations, a poster to let everyone know what you’re trying to achieve and a heap of good ideas how to encourage involvement. www.aucklandcitymission.org.nz

If you’re not an Aucklander, contact your local city mission to find out how you can volunteer your services.