6 Tips to Curb your Holiday Stress
It is now November and the holidays are fast approaching. Thanksgiving and Christmas is a busy time for our family. We seem to have many parties to attend, food to buy and presents to purchase. It can become so stressful, especially when you add having kids into the mix! I am going to give you all 6 tips on how to make this holiday season less stressful for you.
1.Use your phone calendar to keep track of where you need to go and what you need to do.
The first stressful part of the holidays is all the events that you have to remember. I used to be invited to something when I was out and about and had no calendar on hand. This meant I couldn’t let people know if I was able to attend, let alone write down the date to remember it because my calendar was at home.
This year I finally started using my iPhone calendar and my regular calendar at home. I also hook my husband’s calendar to my calendar as well, that way he knows exactly what is going on too. It has stopped most of the questions from my husband about what we are doing on certain days. An added benefit to using your phone calendar is you can make pop up alerts for when the event starts and even 1 week beforehand!
2. Use recipes you know and love for events.
With all the events and gatherings we are invited to during the holiday season I’ve learned that many of them ask to bring a dish or dessert with you. I try keeping a folder of easy go-to dishes. You know, the ones that you can throw into a crock pot or something that you can cook the night before, especially great if it’s a brunch type event.
I wouldn’t recommend starting something new, unless you have the extra time to do so. I always go for a tried and true recipe. This keeps me from adding on the extra stress of worrying that someone might or might not like it. One of my new go to desserts are Sugared Pecans which is a party favorite! I will add the recipe to the bottom of this post if anyone would like to try it.
3. Give yourself a break when you need it.
Last year was the first year we had two kids for the holidays a 9 month old and a 3 year old was a lot to deal with, so I actually let myself off the hook and said no to a few holiday events. Really we didn’t need to go to all of the holiday parties or check out all the parades and such going on. We decided just to do the ones that were the most important to us. At first I was afraid my kids would miss out a lot of the fun but that wasn’t the case, the small handful of events we did go to were very fun and they didn’t miss out on anything.
4. DIY Gifts
The most stressful part of it holidays, well Christmas anyway, is shopping for presents for family and friends. We have a small budget to actually buy things for the holidays. I decided to make as many gifts as I can to be budget friendly AND so no one feels left out. A handmade gift is more thoughtful and means more than something you could buy anyways!
The year before last I went to a local thrift shop (Savers) and purchased some white mugs and then got some sharpie type markers and wrote their names on it and gave them that and hot chocolate with a cute card saying Merry Christmas. This year I am going to make coffee cozies for everyone with some of the fabric I have picked up this year that I know my friends will like.
5. Create a budget for every person you are giving a gift to.
Set a budget for each person in your family and/or friends. It is even more helpful if you let those friends/family know your present budget and that they should not for you either.
A couple years ago I talked to my older brother before we started getting presents for each other and told him I was sticking to no more that $30 for each niece or nephew and parents. It helps because we both agreed that this was a good price to put on it and no one feels like they got jipped or feel bad that they couldn’t spend as much of the others did.
6. Ask friends and family to gift experiences INSTEAD of toys.
If your family is anything like mine they like to spoil the kids with TOO MANY TOYS. Honestly my kids do not need that many toys, so we try telling our friends and loved ones to purchase experiences instead. An example of that is my 4 year old loves her ballet classes and it is $50 every 2 months, we are asked my mother-in-law to get her gift cards to pay for a session. Another example is my father buys our Imagination Station family membership each year for the girls’ present.
Some examples you could use for experiences versus toys would be: a local zoo membership, dinner and a movie tickets, play tickets, musical tickets, and even sport tickets. Get creative with your experiences and they truly last longer than any toy would!
I hope these tips will help you get through the holidays easier! If you have any tips that I did not mention feel free to comment below with your go to tips! ❤
Happy Holidays!
Rochelle
Sugared Pecans Recipe:
Ingredients:
1 egg white
1 Tablespoon water
1 lb. Nuts (I use pecans but almonds work also)
1 Cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon Cinnamon
Directions:
Heat oven to 250 degree Fahrenheit. In large bowl beat egg white and water until peaks form. Stir in nuts, sugar, cinnamon and salt till the nuts are covered well. Spread nuts onto a lightly buttered cookie sheet and bake for 1 hour and stir every 15 minutes. Let cool and enjoy!
Read more from Rochelle on her blog, Adventures of a Girl Mom. You can also follow Rochelle on Instagram for her daily adventures in Motherhood.
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