Holiday laughter tips for relationships
- Play laughter tapes or CDs on the stereo so laughter rings through the house.--It's contagious.
- Decorate the Christmas tree with smiley faces.
- Make Scrooge cookies and eat one every time you feel grouchy.
- Go shopping together and make it a merry scavenger hunt. Split the list and the first one to finish gets to do nothing for one whole day leading up to Christmas.
- Greet each other every evening with a HO, HO, HO and a hug.
- Turn getting the kid's gifts ready into a party.--Have cheese, wine, and cake while you wrap and put things together.
- Hang gobs of mistletoe around the house and remember to kiss each other every time you're under it.
- When watching football, body paint your upper torsos with Christmas symbols like Santa, holly, or wreaths.
- Give the gift of help with a great big laugh and a positive attitude.
- Make a Santa's Bag with all the Christmas chores gift-wrapped inside. Each partner draws a gift a day and does the chore with uproarious laughter.
- List the dysfunctional characteristics of each partners family of origin (also known as a FOO) and think of ways to enjoy all those points of irritation.
- Make up characteristics of a schizophrenic couple which must split it's personality between two families (FOOs). "Two for FOOand FOO for two...."
- Prepare eggnog laced with tranquilizers for you and your children. If you don't laugh, you won't miss it.
- Make up a Christmas carol that playfully speaks to the headaches of the holidays, ie., "Jingle bells, Jingle bells, Jingle all the way. Oh what fun it is to do a thousand things a day."
- Every time you say holidays or Christmas to each other--laugh.
- Make little clay figures of the relatives and vent your frustrations together on the clay.
- Every morning laugh together for five minutes. Fake it till you make it.
- When being affectionate or passionate with each other pretend to be Santa and Mrs. Claus and laugh a lot.
- Tell each other the good, warm, funny things about Christmases past.
- Tell each other embarrassing stories about Christmas or the holidays.
- Sing Christmas carols loudly and with exaggerations and embellishments like falsetto voices.
- Go to the mall together and count smiling faces.
- Start a holidays support group for recovering Scrooges.
- Practice being a little child with each other so when you visit your FOO, you'll remember how to act.
- Give each other gifts which are things you want and aren't practical. Show great appreciation.
- Stick cheery Christmas love notes in surprising places for each other to find.
- Wear funny, crazy Christmas hats like antlers or holly wreaths.
- Revel together in the materialism of Christmas and make a list of the good things about being broke.
- Tell each other every day, "Its the holidays and I still love you, doodah, doodah."
- Go to the mall and tell Santa what you each want for Christmas. Don't forget to sit in his lap. Be silly. Enjoy it.
- On New Year's Eve, watch the ball drop in Time Square while looking upside down. That way the ball goes up, not down and will portend a "up" year.
© Enda Junkins, LCSW, LMFT, BCD
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