Kathleen Cox Quotations

Christmas can be a difficult time of year because it's all about this idea of the perfect family. And you look at your own and think, 'hmm, there's a bit of a difference here'.

People look at marriage through a romantic haze, but it's actually a business contract. Couples need to look beyond the big day and the meringue dress and the honeymoon in an exotic location. I think arranged marriages have a lot going for them because expectations aren't so high. There isn't the assumption that things will be automatically wonderful.

Don't try to achieve the impossible. Make sure that all plans are do-able. We'd all like Christmas to be perfect, but it's much better to aim for the achievable by being realistic, rather than being ridiculous and ending up with a disaster.