Happy for the Holidays

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Lisa here. We’re well into the holiday season. Are you enjoying it or are you surviving it? If you’re enjoying it, great! Tell us in the comments what you love about the holidays. If you find that you’re just trying to survive the holidays, keep reading for some tips to bring in the joy. 
 
As a parent, a lot of your focus is on making sure your kids are enjoying this time of year. Also, winter break is coming up and you may be trying to figure out how to keep your kids occupied until they go back to school. Trying to balance family gatherings, keeping your kids, partner, and other family members happy, and managing your usual everyday duties can be exhausting. Many parents find themselves dreading this time of year, feeling stressed out and overwhelmed. 
 
But you don’t have to. What if you could enjoy the holiday season without all the stress? While we aren’t promising a completely stress-free holiday, here are a few tips to help you minimize the holiday overwhelm: 

• First, ask yourself, when the holidays are over, what do you want to be able to say about them? Do you want to talk about how stressed you were and how hard it was to juggle everything you committed to, or do you want to talk about the memories you made and the things that you loved doing the most? The answer to this question will help you figure out where to place your focus, time, and energy during this holiday season.

• Figure out what is most important to you about the holidays. Is it spending time with your kids, is it finding the perfect gifts for your loved ones, is it attending family gatherings? It’s important for you to know the parts of this time of year that you truly value the most (not what you think you should value). Once you know what’s important to you, it makes it easier to make and stick to decisions about how you will spend your time. Of course, there will be some compromise with your kids and partner, if you have one, based on what they value most about the holidays, but your values will guide you in figuring out where you will and will not compromise. 
• Identify the things that absolutely must happen during this season and get those things planned/scheduled so you don’t have to figure them out at the last minute (e.g., what days you’re taking off from work, who will take care of your kids while they’re out of school, what events you’re attending, etc.). 

 
Once you answer the above questions, you can set some intentions for the holiday season that will allow you to experience the holidays in the way that feels right and authentic to you and will allow you to continue to be the kind of parent you want to be throughout the holidays. Your kids will still have a great time even if you don’t do everything on their list. In fact, they’ll enjoy the season more if they have a parent who is relaxed and enjoying the moment instead of stressed and focusing on what’s next on the To Do list. So, take a few moments to visualize being happy during this holiday season and then let yourself have joy. 

Let us know in the comments what you love most about the holiday season. Happy holidays!

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