How to enjoy a stress-free family Christmas

Christmas is such a busy time of year and sometimes the holidays seem to bring more stress than joy but it doesn’t have to be that way.

With the right approach you can reduce your level of stress and enjoy a relaxing and peaceful holiday with your loved ones.

Following are some of tried and true ways of making the most of the holiday season.

Don’t Try And Do It All Yourself

The more you throw yourself excessively into holiday preparations and don’t give up any of the responsibility, the more resentful and left out your family members will feel. Family togetherness is far more important than creating the perfect’ Christmas.

Accept The Results

Let your spouse and kids chose which holiday task they’d like to take on. Accept the results. Don’t stress out if it isn’t exactly the way you would have done it but instead smile and say good job’.

Learn To Say No

Don’t allow requests from outside your family to push you to the breaking point.

When your plate is already full, learn to say NO! Although you may be tempted to do it all, recognize your limitations and stick to them. Don’t feel bad about saying no, instead realize that you’re doing yourself and your family a favor by not overextending yourself.

Share The Load

If your calendar is jam packed with recitals and school plays that overlap, share the duties with your spouse or your children’s grandparents. Where possible, videotape the activity for missing family members.

Untidy Rooms Getting You Down?

Get in the habit of closing doors and hanging festive decorations on them. Out of sight equals out of mind.

Go Potluck

Tired of all the preparations involved with hosting a Christmas dinner party? Take the stress out of the dinner by hosting a potluck. Planning such an event can be done with a minimum amount of effort and stress. And surprise, you may even have time to enjoy yourself.

Please stay tuned to my next family post for more tips on how to enjoy a stress-free Christmas.