Episode 19: Tips For A Less Stressful Holiday

The holidays can be a stressful time, especially for your children who are used to their routines. We want a perfect holiday, but sometimes we need to adjust our expectations of how that looks. Here are some tips on helping you enjoy the holidays a little bit more. 

Tips for a less stressful holiday:

• Adjust your expectations of how the holidays should look.
• Don’t force the thank you. They do not understand why.
• Let them know why they should be thankful, and model it for them.
• Tips on how you can say thank you after the fact.
• Consider where and what you are saying yes to.
• Check in with yourself on what really matters, not trying to have everything perfect. Make a list of have-to’s and then what you tell yourself has to be done but doesn’t. 
• Try to stick to a schedule. It’s ok if you can’t. Don’t beat yourself up. 
• Have a grounding practice to help stay calm. Check out Episode 7 for more tips on this from my friend Harmony Slater.
• Don’t add more to your plate; look to simplify things. Even a 2 min meditation can help. Whatever works best for you. 
• Starfish breathing benefits kids when they need to relax or start the day. 
• At the end of the day, anchor yourself and look back at 3 things that were wins that day. They don't have to be big, just a simple smile from your child is a win!