Holiday Stress? Reduce it Now!

The Holiday season is fast approaching and for many it's a mixed blessing--Holiday Stress mixed with Holiday Cheer.

Who isn't charmed with dazzling store displays, eager children, and all the delicious cookies and candies everywhere? And a major highlight is organizing comfortable quality time with family and friends at Holiday dinners and gatherings. There are high hopes and multiple pressures to guarantee joyful celebrations.

However, the reality of the season can be quite different; it's a draining month, jam-packed with time-consuming activities and social commitments, stress with finances and gift giving, crowded stores with no parking, over-stimulated kids, and the challenge of maintaining emotional and physical health. At times, just the anticipation of the Holidays can be overwhelming.

Blended families have added tension that may involve spending time with ex-spouses and multiple sets of grandparents, visiting kids who may be lonely for the other parent, loneliness if your child is spending time with the other parent, step-sibling rivalry, competitive gift giving, and a group of kids who may be over-stimulated and over-indulged moving between households.

Everyone is exhausted and spread too thin, preparing, cooking, working around conflicting family schedules, and organizing transitioning kids. And this year, because financial worries are a critical concern, there is even more stress around creating a firm budget and being inventive about gift giving.

The Holiday season can be an emotional period that can make pressures more intense; although everyone is supposed to be enjoying themselves and each other, tension and worry can take over and stress us out.

What is the secret to reducing Holiday stress and dealing with common issues and problems as blended families come together over the Holidays?

The experts advise several stress-reducing strategies including:

Planning ahead and prioritizing Keeping it simple Setting a budget and sticking to it, no matter what Asking friends and family for help and not being a martyr Agreeing on a Time Out for family issues and problems until after the Holidays Keeping kids on a schedule and minimizing sugar overload, over-tiredness and meltdowns Maintaining emotional and physical health by getting enough rest

We also recommend treating yourself to affordable, flexible Blended Family group coaching to help decrease holiday stress around any of the above issues or helping you prioritize and implement useful strategies to make this Holiday season your best ever.

Article Source: http://www.marketingarticlebank.com

Sheena Berg is a blended family coach with Blended-Families.com. Take a minute and check out their Holiday Survival Guide for Blended Families. WEB MASTERS: Use of this article requires links to remain intact.

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