Part 1. Drinking before you see your family

So we all know that the family Christmas day can be fraught with anxiety; what will your brother’s new lawyer girlfriend think of your sisters ex-con husband? Will your parents fall asleep on the couch and crush a baby? Will Granddad drop dead from too much ham on a hot day? It’s enough to keep you up at night, drinking rum. For me to cope with these issues I have usually just started my Christmas day with very strong Eggnogs, followed by a champagne breakfast and a mid morning margarita to help with the potato salad prep. Unfortunately for me, my family are all very late, a 12pm start means they are all fighting each other for a park out the front at 2pm and by this stage I’ve already tucked in to the case of ‘coping’ Chardonnay.

So if you find yourself in this situation, don’t forget that the Turkey is in the oven or that you could have left your sister’s newborn baby with your 100 year old Granddad.

Or better still, don’t drink until at least your whole family has arrived