Stress at Christmas Time...

The holiday season is one we anticipate and appreciate, but it can also bring stress along with the joy! There is the extra busyness, buying gifts, family responsibilities, traffic, etc. Children can feel our stress and that only adds to the craziness.

Some keys to remember during the hustle and bustle of the season are:

Practice positive discipline - this is a great tool to use all the time with children but especially at stressful times. The easiest thing is to fly off the handle - the more challenging, intentional thing is to think through how you can spin something in a positive way. For example, we talk about making good choices rather than poor choices and we must never imply the child is bad. Separate the child from the behavior.

Stay cool under pressure - children are watching us all the time and they will react or respond as we do. Whether we choose to or not, we are teaching and training in our daily walk.

Lastly, try to make healthy choices even at Christmas time. This may mean more preparation on your part, but it will pay off in the long run. We are what we eat and eating healthy can actually help eliminate stress.