Q. May I pass on a tip to anyone facing large family house parties at Christmas? I always used to find Christmas exhausting as we are joined by approximately 14 children and grandchildren every year for lunch and dinner over five days. Last year, however, my son devised a rota system. He drew up the rota and paired up individuals so that each pair took on the full responsibility for a lunch or dinner, including menu planning, shopping, cooking and washing up. It was great fun and the element of competition meant that the standards were ridiculously high as well.
— L.G., Fosbury, Wiltshire
A. Thank you for sharing this genuinely useful tip.
Q. We have just had a wedding and quite a few of the thank-you letters have said ‘we know it is not the thing to do to thank for weddings…’ Is this true? If so, I have obviously been doing the wrong thing all my life by writing.
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