The psychological trick to having a truly restful Christmas (that works every time!)

Know what not to waste your time on, says Helen Kirwan-Taylor who picked up the art of ‘learned helplessness’ from her father... and finds it’s a festive lifesaver

There’s one way to guarantee having a relaxing Christmas, and that’s not knowing how to help in the first place (Supplied)

Christmas dinner, what can I say? Our turkey normally arrives with an instruction booklet aimed at graduate-level engineers. There’s volume to be multiplied by temperature to be divided by metaphysical time. With 14 settings on our brand-new oven (in cryptic visual code that I really can’t decipher), sticking a bird in is no simple feat. Yes, I could spend a few hours trying to work it all out with Prof Google, or I could throw up my arms in front of the person closest to me and wait to be dismissed from the task at hand.

“Let me do that” is the answer I am looking for. I don’t mind the condescending voice or the shaking of the head. I am well-rehearsed in the art of “learned helplessness” which I was taught by my very own father (he wouldn’t have had the wherewithal to order a turkey, let alone cook it).

Helen with a turkey that needs to be stuffed – just don’t ask her to do it (Supplied)