5 Tips for Managing Holiday Stress
Hooray for the holidays! Three cheers for family gatherings and school vacations! Woohoo for … an overpacked schedule and feelings of stress?
Why Are the Holidays So Stressful?
While the positives of this festive season usually outweigh the negatives, managing holiday stressors can be a real grinch. In addition to your usual parenting duties, you’ve got:
- Food to cook
- Gifts to wrap
- Travels to embark upon
- Guests to entertain
It’s sometimes a wonder we’re able to hold things together till January!
5 Tips for Relieving Holiday Stress
This year, let’s toss the tension and bring the wonder back to winter with these 5 powerful ways to reduce stress at the holidays.
Set your family’s special traditions
We all know that kids love routine, and that extends to even once-a-year holiday celebrations. Setting family traditions gives kids something to look forward to, and helps minimize stress by eliminating the burden of coming up with imaginative ways to celebrate every year.
“As a parent, traditions are brilliant,” says Armann Fenger, an Atlanta-based licensed professional counselor. “You have the power to create whatever you want. They can be classic or new, but traditions are always something we remember and cherish.”
Manage expectations
Parents often put pressure on themselves to create a stress-free holiday that matches the glossy perfection served up on social media. Resist the urge to scroll and give yourself grace. Those little shiny touches aren’t the things that will be remembered, anyway.
“Do the things you cherish and love and want to do, and don’t be pressured by what everyone else does,” Fenger emphasizes. “Think about what traditions you want to have and stick to those.”
Set boundaries
Traditions can also help relieve holiday stress from extended family who have other ideas for celebrating. “It’s easy to rein in other overwhelming asks and set up the plan you want by saying, ‘This is what we do as a family,’” Fenger says.
Don’t be afraid to also set rules with your own children, even as you work together with them to plan your yearly traditions. “Kids like boundaries and will seek them until they’re given to them,” Fenger says. “Let kids have choices but make boundaries that you’re okay with.”
For example, ask your kids: Would you like to go ice skating today or tomorrow? Or, would you like chocolate chip cookies or sugar cookies? “Otherwise,” Fenger adds, “if they decide on something you don’t like, you’ll have to talk them out of it.”
Be flexible
Easier said than done, right? Extended family can be persuasive about doing things their way, and events can pop up that interfere with your usual schedule. Don’t fret about trying something new. If you and your family feel like switching things up — go for it!
“Kids have so many memories because of traditions, [but] they can be moved to a different day,” Fenger says. While holidays and eves are certainly special, in the long term, kids won’t remember which day of the week you celebrated. They’ll just remember the fun.
Be present and find joy
Perhaps the most important way to avoid stress at the holidays is to recognize that the little moments are usually the most memorable.
Even if your big plans fail to come to fruition, take a break to enjoy the fireside snuggles, the hot chocolate giggles and the paper-ripping cheers that are the essence of the holiday spirit. Then — as we do every day as parents — get up and carry on.
After all, Fenger says, “the more we can be calm, relaxed and in charge, the better.”
