Tips for De-Stressing the Holidays

by Carleton Kendrick Ed.M., LCSW

1. Keep cherished childhood traditions and consider establishing new ones for your family. Involve everyone, including your children, when creating new traditions. Sometimes traditions lose their importance for a family. Recognize when it's time to let them go.
2. Plan, organize, and prioritize to avoid burnout, disappointment and fatigue. Create a holiday-planning task schedule. Ask others to share the responsibilities and assign tasks to family members.
3. Create some time alone for yourself. Reflect on what is precious to you about the holidays and reconnect with your spirit.
4. Examine the differences between your holiday expectations and what is really possible. Establish realistic holiday goals. Share with family and friends any worries about meeting your holiday expectations.
5. Before getting together with family or relatives, anticipate and prepare for any difficulties. Don't expect your family or relatives to change their personalities because they are visiting your home. Don't bring up old family quarrels during the holidays.
6. Don't feed into the commercialism of the holidays. Plan free or low-cost activities and celebrations. Create and practice a holiday family tradition that helps those in need.
7. Don't spend money beyond your means. Consider gifts of help or special times together rather than gifts of things. Discuss gift-giving costs and realistic expectations with all family members well before the holidays.
8. Create a new family tradition to keep the post-holiday blahs at bay. Talk about the fun you've had and what the holidays mean to your family, then think about what you might do differently next year.