14 days to go and the big day will be here! However you spend your Christmas Day there is probably a sense of relief on your part that all the planning and preparation is finally over? Every year we tell ourselves not to get drawn into all the Christmas hype and hysteria …. but every year we end up doing just that!
Advent Calendars
For children the Christmas countdown is often just as much a part of the fun as the day itself. Many children use an Advent Calendar to mark the days left until Christmas. The tradition of Advent calendars is thought to date back to mid-19th century Germany, when Lutherans used either candles or chalk marks on doors to count the days leading up to Christmas. This then evolved into printed Advent calendars which began to appear in the early 1900s, with Gerhard Lang then producing the first printed calendar with doors to open.
More than just chocolate!
Advent calendars have come a long way since then. From the original cardboard doors with pictures behind them, there then appeared calendars with chocolate behind the doors – and there are now advent calendars available with every type of gift imaginable. Whether you like candles or cosmetics or jewellery or beer, there is an advent calendar just right for you! There are even calendars available for pets!
Random acts of kindness
With the growth of social media there are also various “Random Acts of Kindness” advent calendars circulating round too. The idea is that instead of opening a door and getting a gift, you commit to do something nice for someone else. But wouldn’t it be wonderful to have the equivalent of this kind of advent calendar for yourself all year round? In the daily grind of life it would make such a difference to have something special to look forward to each day with a sense of anticipation: just a little treat to get your day off to a good start. Perhaps one of your New Year resolutions for 2017 should be just that, to include some little act of kindness to yourself every day?
Be kind to yourself in 2017
One of the easiest ways to bring something special into your everyday routine is to have a bathroom that you want to spend time in. Given that it is an essential part of your daily life anyway, then why not make 2017 the year when you upgrade your existing bathroom – or even install a new one – to make it the bathroom of your dreams? Imagine the difference it could make being able to spend time in a bathroom like one of those below rather than whatever you have now. It would be like all your Christmases come at once!
Giving yourself a little extra time in the bathroom not only gives you some peace and quiet – and shelter from whatever storms are going on around you – but helps you to clear your head and recharge your batteries so that you are better equipped to go back and face those very storms with renewed energy and purpose. You will also find that taking more time and care over your bathroom routines can give you a physical boost. Particularly after a vigorous steam shower, or a relaxing soak in a whirlpool bath, your circulation will be stimulated and your body will be stronger to fight infection and aches and pains.
At Stone and Chrome we’d be more than happy to help you to be kind to yourself in 2017. Do come and visit us at our Camberley showroom, and you can see some of our beautiful bathroom designs for yourself and imagine how well they would fit in your home. If you manage to visit us before Christmas then you can even enjoy some chocolate coins! But hurry, the Christmas countdown clock is ticking!!
