Our favourite Christmas Things
Five things you might want to add to your list this Christmas, and some tips on how you can tick them off...
Christmas is always a fun time to add things to your list. They don’t need to be big, and some of them might be able to be done at other times of the year, but Christmas is too good an excuse to miss. So here are some of our favourite activities for you to add to your list over Christmas. Tell us if there are others we should add to the list! Survive Whamagedon https://www.42thingstodo.net/activity/153d810e-e289-4b25-9377-24a160fe10d3 If you don’t know what Whamageddon is, then you’re probably already out. Starting on 1 December every year, the aim of the game is to avoid hearing the song Last Christmas by Wham! It’s simple as a concept, but fiendishly hard to win as the song is so legendary that it gets played EVERYWHERE at this time of year. Top tips: double check your own Christmas playlists so you don’t accidentally wham yourself, and never leave the house without headphones in. And avoid going out in Central London: not only do the cycle taxi things blare it out over loudspeakers, it would also mean you're out in Central London at the busiest time of the year, which would be a mad thing to do. Watch the 12 best Christmas movies at Christmas https://www.42thingstodo.net/activity/e554852b-70cb-4c98-af05-400e63329d01 Okay, okay, there might be some debate on what the actual list of the twelve best Christmas movies of all time actually contains (though we can ALL agree on the Muppets Christmas Carol, right?!), but there are a lot of them out there to choose from. Simply pick your top twelve, even if some of them are sloppy Hallmark rubbish, and watch one a day in the lead up to Christmas. Though if you have Christmas with the Kranks on your list it’s probably a better opportunity to take a long, hard look at yourself and reevaluate your life choices. Cut down my own Christmas tree https://www.42thingstodo.net/activity/d084b1f2-9e8e-4a84-80e3-075b1f4b6d3b Once you’ve been inspired by the start of National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation you’ll want to grab your axe or chainsaw and head out to cut down your own Christmas tree rather than grabbing a weedy looking thing from the back of B&Q. There are plenty of places which offer this service - just make sure you use an official one and don’t just chop down a random tree in someone’s front garden. Cook Christmas Dinner https://www.42thingstodo.net/activity/eb6c2fc1-e204-4889-9586-d26c4b6b0072 Personally I’m never sure what all the fuss is about Christmas Day dinner - it’s just a roast dinner with a few extra ingredients, right?! But some people have somehow survived without ever cooking Christmas dinner themselves, relying on their partner to do it for them (and yes, I’m looking at most men here…). How about you give them the year off this year and you head to the kitchen yourself to show off those culinary skills you always claim you have. You can prep a lot of it the night before, maybe even cook the meat overnight, leaving you more time to go to town on the veg and really show the family you’re more than a sprout-eating fart machine. This year (like every other year) I’m avoiding the turkey and cooking venison instead - how might you want to mix it up? Make a will https://www.42thingstodo.net/activity/7bd526aa-7975-4f81-8f6f-7857f110628d No, this isn’t being morbid, though if the kids don’t stop demanding more sugar than Willy Wonka produces in a year then at least one member of my household won’t make it through the winter. Writing a will at this time of year is actually a gift to those you love that hopefully they won’t unwrap for a long, long time. So many people don’t have one and think they’ll “get round to it one day”, and then never do. You’ve got some time off at Christmas, so take an hour or two and write it all out. There are loads of online services that can help out, often for free, and you just need to get it all witnessed properly and stored safely. If your life is complex enough that you’ve got loads to give away and loads of people involved then definitely get some legal advice, but even a bit of official paper which says “I’m leaving everything to my brother” will make life infinitely easier for the people you leave behind. What’ve we missed? And what things do you think you’ll be able to tick off before the end of the year?