Tis the Season to be Stressed Out!

There are a lot of expectations

when it comes to the holidays.
We feel obligations.

We compare ourselves to

notions of perfect holidays

from the past or standards

society holds us to.

The holidays might not even be part of your cultural tradition, but you feel pressure to celebrate them.
Perhaps they’re part of a tradition you reject but still get caught up in participating in.

Give yourself the gift of freedom to create time and a space that makes your heart happy -however that looks.

Here’s a few things to consider:
• Recognize if you feel oppressed by your own traditions. If you do, take the space and reinvent. Maybe that’s saying no
(“I can’t come this year”) or setting other boundaries (“I’m coming for dinner but I can’t stay the night”).

• Don’t be ruled by holidays of the past.  They’re your holidays-you can take them back and transform them.

• Ask yourself what you love about the holidays. What do you dislike, or even hate? Now choose to do
what you love! Don’t let your—or anybody else’s—traditions dictate how and if you celebrate.

• Involve your kiddos with the holiday tasks; it can help make good memories, get things ticked off your to do list
and feel connected. Have them:
Pick out or make presents
Decorate cookies
Make their own wrapping paper
Practice being patient

And remember that cookies, presents, and all the other home things do not have to be perfect; especially during the holidays and especially if a child helped with these things!