Halloween is out of the way and we are into November, which means that we can mention the C word without fear of too much reproach. Seeing your children’s eyes light up at Christmas keeps the magic of the season alive — but away from the tinsel and crackers, it can be a testing time.

So some of us are opting to spend our Crimbo cash on a sun-kissed break rather than presents and party food — according to a British Airways survey, 45 per cent of Brits would rather head for the horizon than spend big on gifts.

If you’re tempted to get away from it all, here are five reasons why a festive break is the best Christmas present.

1.       Expense

Christmas figures from stats gurus Statista show that the average spend per British household was £821 in 2017.

And since many of us spend considerably more, perhaps this hard-earned cash would be better invested in a flight to take us on a revitalising winter break?

With bargains available in a range of destinations in Europe and beyond, no wonder we’re rejigging our festive priorities.

2.       Choice complexity

Choosing an appropriate gift for friends and loved ones feels tougher as we get older and research from US clothing brand Trunk Club suggests that this struggle is real.

Apparently, someone aged 55 or over is twice as likely as someone in their 20s or 30s to consider themselves poor at giving gifts and 26 per cent of all age groups find festive shopping frustrating.

So perhaps it’s worth abandoning those trips to source socks and soap-on-a-rope in order to stay calm and composed?

3.       Cheap holidays

Destinations like Tenerife and Lanzarote are perpetually popular with Brits looking for an affordable winter break to top up their tans and sink some sangria.

But according to info from travel experts Lonely Planet, Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia is the cheapest place to fly to this year for a Christmas adventure.

With a week-long break coming in at just £923, it’s not much more than the average household Christmas bill, and a reasonably small price to pay for experiencing an exciting culture.

4.       Disposable gifts

If you’re worried about waste and the environment at Christmas, cover your eyes — a study by retaildive.com last year revealed that a staggering 5 billion pounds of unwanted Christmas presents end up rotting away in landfill sites.

So if you want to save the planet and avoid wasting your cash, it might be appropriate to cut back or consider a charity donation as an alternative.

5.       Stress

Christmas is officially stressful — a survey from discount app Zeek reveals that 15 per cent of us find it worse than moving house and ten per cent report that it’s more nerve-wracking than a child’s first day at school.

So you’ve got to ask yourself if your time’s not better spent booking airport parking from comparison specialists Looking4.com and stashing your car at the terminal before sashaying to check-in for a chilled-out winter break.

There’s no reason this season should be nerve-shredding — perhaps a change of scenery’s all you need.

That’s our list! Are you flying abroad this Christmas? Share your thoughts in the comments section.

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I know that there are some parents that hear the world ‘Halloween’ and their stomach automatically fills with dread. Let’s be honest: PTFA school discos; the mad costume hunt; extreme YouTube face paint tutorials; B&M Bargain decoration battles; £30 trick or treat sweet shops… I could go on. That’s along with the doorbell going every minute on a Wednesday evening when you’re trying to enjoy a glass of vino and catch up on Tuesday’s Bake Off Final.

That is of course, unless you did successfully complete the £30 trick or treat sweet shop. Then you’ll have no one come to the door. Because. Sod’s. Law.

Sure, it’s a bind when it falls mid-week, but need we be such a Halloween Grinch? I say us adults milk it for all it’s worth. Sure, it’s commercialised. Sure, it’s full of tack and tat. Sure, it’s costing you a fortune in wear-once costumes and sugar. But, heck, let’s cut loose and live a little. Enjoy the sugar high. Here’s five reasons why Halloween isn’t only for kiddiwinks.

A good reason to dress up

Those costumes you’re complaining about? Don’t pretend you don’t like to dress up, too. Come on, get online, have a browse. Go full Morticia Addams. Channel your favourite retro horror characters from Freddy Kruger to Beetlejuice and all that’s in between.

Spooky cocktails

While the kids are getting their kicks on all the sugar-loaded 10p cartons, get creative and conjure up some spooky cocktails in the garden. Zombie Punch, Morgue-a-rita, Spooky Sunrise. Go on, let your hair down. See how things go. It could get really scary.

Eat sweets without feeling guilty

No matter how you try, if you just cannot persuade yourself to get into the spirit of things, at least take this one thing away from the evening. Get home, put your feet up and tuck into to some sweet treats minus the guilt. After all, all that leftover chocolate isn’t going to eat itself. It would be rude not to.

Socialising and getting to know your neighbours

Speak to strangers? Well, that’s sure to be the scariest thing you do this Halloween! But, seriously. In lots of places, there isn’t a sense of community on the street as there used to be once upon a time but we are fortunate to live in a secluded croft and we have a Sloane and Sloane garden bench under our kitchen window and the neighbours regularly sit and have a chat. So whether you’re new to the area or you just usually keep your head down, Halloween is an excellent opportunity to break the ice and be good neighbours. And, we all know, everybody needs good neighbours.

Couldn’t resist. Sorry.

Absolute film fest

Everyone’s got a TV subscription these days, whether it’s Sky Box Office, Netflix, Prime, whatever. You may not like horror, but that doesn’t detract from greats such as Hocus Pocus, Addams Family, Ghostbusters, Rocky Horror… light an orange clove scented candle, grab a blanket, grab some Halloween treats, and go wild. Rock and roll.

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It can’t just be me, can it? When the weather gets cold, the evenings are shorter, and the mornings are dark, it sure can take the spring out of your step. I definitely feel it. You likely do, too. And for some folk, autumn and winter can be absolutely awful. With reduced sunlight, hectic school timetables, and all the additional monetary and social pressures of the festive season, these upcoming months can be darn difficult.

Those who have it really rough may suffer from SAD, that is, Seasonal Affective Disorder. Yeah, it’s a real thing. If you’ve been feeling gloomy, find some peace of mind in the fact that you’re not alone right now. Us humans need all the good stuff you get from sunlight and fresh air – ie. Increased serotonin levels – to boost our moods. Without it, we can feel down in the dumps, tired, lethargic, even depressed.

Now, there’s plenty of advice out there on the Internet for anyone who’s really struggles with this. I’m no professional. That said, do we actually need to be to help? As part of various communities, including blogging, social networks, actual work, towns, and social groups, we can each do our little bit to help people feel just a tad better.

What your Nan always said was true all along: a smile can work wonders.

Of course, we’re not talking fixing huge mental health epidemics here. Rather, offering a glance of appreciation, friendship, warmth, that could turn someone’s day around. It may be momentary, it might last merely seconds, but by offering your smile more often to more people, you could well be the highlight that gets some people through their day. If you’re struggling, someone being kind towards you is often enough.

So many people struggle with a smile, whether it is because they don't feel comfortable expressing themselves like that or feel self conscious of their teeth. You don't even have to go to a dentists anymore as you can get a free dental consultation online. My husband hadn't been to the dentist for years but after ecouraging him to go back, he genuinely now smiles with confidence. I personally had my teeth whitened for our wedding, I didn't want to feel self conscious about my teeth and having the confidence to smile can be infectious.

It sounds simple, but it’s oh-so hard. After all, we’re all busy people! Reading school letters at swimming lessons, not looking up from your printed memo as you walk through the office, zoning out while you take the Tube across the city. It’s so easy to be wrapped up in what we have to do, meeting demanding deadlines, attending activities and appointments, that we can forget to look up and truly take in what’s going on in the world around us.

For others, and for yourself, let’s try to be mindful as we go about our day. Make the effort to turn that frown upside down and, who knows, smiling may just becoming a mood-enhancing habit.

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No act of kindness, however small, is ever wasted’ Aesop

A random act of kindness is basically an act of kindness for no particular reason or reward. You can do these for people you do or don't know.

It is a brilliant idea to involve children in random acts of kindness as it teaches them so much about giving and how absolutely wonderful giving is for both the giver and receiver.

Here are lots of lovely ideas for random acts of kindness. Why not encourage your child to pick ones they would like to have a go at or help them come up with an idea of their own. Maybe this could be a Friday thing, a project for each day of the holidays or just, perhaps, an occasional activity for when the mood takes them:

• Take flowers from your garden (or the shop!) to a local older person care home
• Donate your pocket money to a charity
• Feed the birds
• Tell someone a joke
• Say something lovely to your teacher
• Ask your grown up if you can do some chores for them
• Leave a book on a park bench with a note inside saying ‘Enjoy this book and once finished pls place it back on this bench’
• Make your grown up breakfast in bed
• Put enough money in a vending machine so they next person gets a freebie
• Put together a little photo album for a relative
• Smile and say good morning to someone new
• Litter pick for 15 minutes in your local park
• Read a story to someone
• Offer to make everyone tea
• Start a collection for your local food bank at school or on your street
• Make a bookmark and leave it in a library book
• Give someone (you know) a big hug
• Paint rocks with kind messages and leave them hidden in your local park
• Make a handmade gift for someone
• Take some pet food to your local animal shelter
• Run a second hand stall and donate the money to charity
• Ask someone new to you if they want to play

They could also keep a little journal documenting how their acts of kindness went if they wanted too to record their kindness journey.

If you have any ideas of your own for random acts of kindness kids could do please leave them in the comments below so we can all learn from each other about the joy of giving.

This is an extract from Create Your Own Happy – an interactive book filled with happiness boosting activities for kids age 7-12 written by Becky Goddard-Hill and Penny Alexander (Harper Collins, 2018)

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