Drinking During the Holidays

September 30th, 2008

Having a Christmas party is a lot of fun but you have to be sure to take proper care of your guests. There are many reasons for this and they include the liability, you don’t want anyone to get hurt, and more. You should do several things to ensure total safety of your guests if you are serving alcoholic beverages at your party.

The last thing you want to happen is to have a fabulous party sitting around the artificial Christmas trees opening gifts and having fun and then to find out your best friend or family member was in an accident. This could completely ruin the holiday for you and many other people. Everyone needs to be safe when they are out during the holiday season. If you have a party and you are serving drinks to your guests, it is your responsibility to take care of your guests properly.

Many states have a law that if you serve the guests alcohol at your home and they are too drunk to drive, you are liable. This means that if your guest leaves your home after opening gifts from the artificial Christmas tree and they kill someone while behind the wheel, you could be going to jail. You need to take care of your guests and be sure everyone has a safe ride home. If someone is too drunk to drive they should be able to stay the night at your house or you are responsible for getting them a ride home.

One of the best ways to coordinate a party when you are serving alcohol is to have everyone give you their keys at the beginning of the party. Let everyone know in advance so there are no questions about the issue and no one is insulted. Those people who choose not to drink don’t have to hand over their keys. You should opt not to drink or your spouse. If you do drink it needs to be limited. This is because if the party gets too loud and the authorities are called you need to be sober and responsible when you talk to them. You also have to be in a position where you can evaluate your friends as they leave the party so they can have their keys when they are ready to go home.

When you have a party and you serve alcohol it creates a situation you need to be aware of. You might be distracted by the lights of the prelit Christmas trees and have friends leaving the party who are too drunk to drive. This can be dangerous and you will be responsible. You need to have a plan how you will handle the alcohol or don’t serve any alcohol at the party. Also, you can have drinks that are not as potent also. If your friends are thinking of doing shots of liquor, be sure they are not driving home. You don’t want someone to get hurt at your expense. It could be devastating if a serious accident occurred because you served them too much to drink.

Article source: http://www.treesornaments.com/blog/drinking-during-the-holidays/

Teach Your Children about the Christmas Spirit

August 24th, 2008

Christmas can be very overrated and it is common for children to forget about what the holiday is all about. Whether you have a religion or not, you should instill the Christmas spirit into your children and teach them how to share. There are many things you can do with your children to teach them about the spirit of giving. Many of these things include sponsoring a poor family, donate your time at the local food shelter together, give a gift of food, and more.

Christmas is about giving and many children are so engrossed in receiving their own gifts they don’t think about those people who are less fortunate. Some people don’t have artificial Christmas trees to decorate this year. They don’t have a tree at all. It is important to show your children they should be grateful for what they have and for everything they are about to receive. The last thing you want is your children to pout because they didn’t get what they wanted on Christmas morning. In addition, you might have fewer funds this year to do for them as you normally do. This often creates an expectation in children that you will be doing for them as you normally do every year.

One of the best ways to share your spirit during the holiday and teach your children is to sponsor a family. You might ask the local shelter about a family who has children or even a local church. They can get you the ages, clothing sizes, and hopes for gifts for a family. This will allow you to be able to buy gifts for the family. You can give them to the family anonymously or you can meet the family you are giving to. This is a good idea because your children will see how grateful they really are to receive something this year for the holiday. In addition, your gifts may be the only gifts under the artificial Christmas tree this year.

Another thing you can do is donate your time feeding the hungry at the local shelter. Many people come and have dinner with the hungry and donate their time. You can spend a day with the homeless. This is a very good learning lesson for children to see that they really are more fortunate than they think they are. There may not even be any Christmas trees at the location either. Your family could come with a tree and decorate it for everyone there. Your kids will be amazed when they see how appreciative all of the people are.

Christmas is about the spirit of giving and it is important to instill this in your children as well. They should understand about giving to people in need and that they can make a difference in someone’s life. This is one of the best gifts you can give to your children because it will teach them to have a big heart when they are older. You don’t want your children to be selfish during the holiday and scoff at you for not getting them enough.

Article source: http://www.treesornaments.com/blog/teach-your-children-about-the-christmas-spirit/