The Holidays have arrived, and I am sure most are in a tizzy over shopping, baking, house cleaning, work, family rearing and trying to hold onto that last shred of sanity that is threatening to leave at any moment. Don't worry, though, it means you are one hundred percent normal! Over the last couple of months family emergencies and personal health issues have assaulted my own sanity to the point of oblivion. Yet, here I am striving onwards and upwards in this cataclysmic hurricane called the Holidays. Now, don't get me wrong! I absolutely love the Holidays and everything that they stand for. It is the hustle and bustle that threatens to derail even the most competent at time management, and it is with this that I focus on today.
It is well known that this time of year brings up thoughts of Holiday songs, pumpkin pies, presents galore, and turkey, ham or seafood depending on family tradition and location in the world, but it is also a well known time for stress leading to fatigue, the blues and even illness. It is with the later that I am all to familiar with and strive to keep at bay at all costs, and this year is no different. Stress is inherent in any family occasion especially when we cram a year's worth of memories into a day, a few days or even a week, and stress can and does cause our immune systems to become overloaded making it impossible to fight off even the slightest of colds. So, this year is going to be different! At least that is what I keep telling myself.
So, how do I plan on keeping this year's Holiday stress in check? Great question and one that I am still struggling with, but I have kept the stress to a bare minimum so far, and I hope to cruise through the New Year's with a smile on my face this year by sticking to my plan. The plan, so to speak, is to prepare ahead. It seems so simple, but it is something that I have not mastered. Yet. This year I have almost all the presents ordered or purchased. The hubbie has been tasked to finish all the kiddo shopping that I was unable to do which is not a lot since I made a list that fit within our budget which we have thus far followed. Over the last several weeks, we have purchased a few extra items for the Holiday meals on each trip to the grocery store in order to absorb some of the cost over a couple months versus a week. Yes, this did mean that we had to come up with a list of stuff well before the event or events in our case, but it has saved us a ton of stress and money!
The biggest issue that our family is tackling, though, is travel. We have always traveled on the Holidays. Even if it meant traveling a couple of blocks, we have packed our kiddos up and gone to visit each set of Grandparents and subsequent Aunts and Uncles at said homes on the same day. However, we have noticed that our kiddos have not and are not into so much traveling. One side would inevitably get tired, fussy kids, and it has not been fun for Grandparents, kids nor parents alike. It became an even trickier issue when one set of Grandparents moved about 14 hours away, and we ended up moving away from the other set of Grandparents due to work opportunities. So, it was definitely time for a change, and change is difficult for anybody. It was with great deliberation that we decided to stay home for Christmas this year. Our kiddos had asked in the past if we were going to stay home, and when we told them this year we were, you should have heard the joy! They will be able to play in their pajamas all day if they want, and they couldn't be happier. Of course, we have made other arrangements to have Christmas with both sides at different times, and it will work out well for everyone making the stress level decrease by a fraction and maybe prevent a flare or other infection from causing ruckus this year.
Another area of stress relief this year was exercise. My friends there is nothing better than exercise to reduce stress. A simple fifteen minute walk, ride on the bike or yoga helps tremendously. Of course, my body had another idea in mind as my back has preceded to go out on me. So, I have had to resort to meditation which is another great technique to reduce stress even if you can not get out of bed. When life throws you lemons, it is my policy to throw them right back!
Life means joys and sorrows, and unfortunately most of the time we can not pick when stress will hit us full force in the face, but we can decide how to handle it. Preparing ahead by cleaning a room a day til family comes over, or adding on extra items on the weekly grocery list, exercising or just doing a five minute meditation will reduce stress in a big way, and I hope that everyone has as stress free of a Holiday season that you really deserve!
The best thing to hold onto in life is each other. -Audrey Hepburn
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Happy Holidays to all!
Katrin
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