Being a parent is hard enough. But when the holiday season is upon you, it can feel like your to-do list triples in length. You spend your time shuttling your family from one holiday event to another. Your budget is stretched thinner than ever. And your usual family routines are completely disrupted. Meanwhile, while your stress levels skyrocket, you’re trying your best to create holiday magic for your children.
How can you keep your calm this holiday season? You don’t have to struggle just to say afloat. Instead, you can find ways to better manage your time and energy throughout the holiday season. Here are a few strategies that might benefit your household.
Don’t Try to Do Everything
First, it’s time to re-evaluate your scheduling commitments from years past. Do you need to attend every holiday event that you’re invited to with your family? Not necessarily! If you know that you simply do not have the time to RSVP “Yes” to everything, let people know early.
Choose your commitments carefully. This is particularly important when it comes to events or gatherings that require you to travel long distances with your young children, which can be incredibly taxing for parents. While some people may not understand why you can’t make it to their event, it’s okay to be direct and set boundaries.
Start Delegating
You might feel like you’re under pressure to do everything during the holidays, especially if your spouse works while you care for your children at home. But if you’ve taken on the vast majority of holiday planning to your detriment in the past, it’s time to start asking for help, or even outsourcing certain tasks.
Figure out what you need to do to prepare for the holidays, and then talk to your spouse about how you can more evenly distribute the workload. If your children are old enough to contribute to some of these responsibilities, ask them for a hand! For instance, older kids could help you decorate, bake, clean, and set up for family parties or tidy up afterward.
Finally, if you have room in your budget, don’t be afraid to spend a little to make your life easier. Hire a cleaning service to spruce up your home the day before a family gathering, buy store-bought cookies instead of baking them, or use a catering service if you’re hosting a holiday dinner and simply don’t have time to cook a multi-course meal.
Ask People to Come to You
Traveling during the holiday season can be exceptionally tough for parents. If you have young children or a baby, it can be downright awful. If traveling is challenging for your family, it can drain all the joy out of the holidays.
Instead of flying or driving long distances to stay with your relatives, it might be time to start asking people to come to you instead. Hosting can be a lot of work. However, you’ll have far more control over your environment and schedule than if you were traveling.
Stick to Healthy Routines
Keeping your household on a predictable schedule can feel impossible during the holidays! But when you’re home, and you don’t have any special events going on, try to keep your schedule as “normal” as possible so that your kids don’t get cranky or stressed. For example, your kids may want to stay up to watch Christmas movies, but you can still stick to their usual bedtime.
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Are you struggling to balance your parenting responsibilities with a busy holiday schedule? Talking to a therapist can help. Reach out to us today to discuss your options for scheduling your first session for anxiety therapy.