Stress Relief Strategies For Better Holidays | Sandy Fowler | Episode 95

Whether you mark the beginning of the holidays with Halloween or Thanksgiving, chances are you’ll be feeling some stress about getting through the season. Finances, family, and packed calendars all add to holiday stress. Let Sandy Fowler show you a way out. In this episode of the Mighty Parenting podcast, Sandy shares insights and tips for managing the biggest stressors of Christmas and the holiday season while keeping in mind your relationship with your teen.

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A Favorite Quote from the Show: 

“Family friction rears its ugly head during the holiday season. But we can have better interactions with family and then have better holidays with a few simple sentences.”

High Points of Our Conversation on Stress Relief Strategies for Better Holidays:

The holiday season packs our calendars and makes us overly busy.

We can reduce the daily stress we feel around the busyness of the season by having a family planning session. Gather the family along with their calendars and information about upcoming events and activities. Write everything on one master calendar. Make adjustments as needed.

Finances are one of the biggest holiday stressors. You can reduce the stress around money and avoid a financial holiday hangover by deciding right now how much you’ll spend on the holidays and where the money is coming from.

Before shopping for gifts, decide how much money you have to spend on each person.

Remember to factor in extra items like holiday travel, tree or light purchases, and entertaining.

You may need to account for increases in regular expenses. Will you use more gas driving to additional events and for holiday travel? Does your food budget increase as you eat out more or buy more convenience items to balance out the busyness?

Family friction rears its ugly head during the holiday season. When we have better interactions with family we have better holidays.

When attending family functions and dealing with extended family, remember why you’re really there. Focusing on the positive reasons for showing up can put you in a better frame of mind.

Remember that you can set boundaries with people and choose how you interact with them. If Uncle Bill is asking irritating questions or making annoying comments about your lifestyle, parenting, etc, you can use a deflecting question or comment:

• • Why do you want to know that?
  • I really appreciate your concern.
  • It means so much to me that you care.
  • Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
  • That’s so kind of you but I’ve got this.
  • You have a unique perspective on that.

Remember that you can nod your head or say something like, “That’s an interesting viewpoint” or “I’ve never heard anyone express it quite that way before”. You aren’t agreeing with them, you’re just choosing to not confront them

You can always remove yourself from a conversation or situation.

Avoid friction with your teen and immediate family by having a conversation up front about how you’ll spend the holidays. Be sure to discuss each family member’s responsibilities and give your teen as much say as possible in all of this.

Remember, you can’t please everyone all the time. AND it’s not your responsibility to make anyone else happy. You simply need to be kind and considerate. Breathe. Enjoy!

Resources Mentioned in Show:

Christmas Magic: Using the Advent Season to Strengthen Family Bonds and Create a Meaningful Christmas

The Christmas Secret: Why the Holiday Season is so hard and how to fix it

Our Host Sandy Fowler:

Sandy Fowler is a coach, speaker, and podcast host who is passionate about helping people make powerful choices that impact their lives in the best possible way. Whether she is speaking to a group, hosting a podcast, coaching a client, or guiding a Divine Sleep® session, she is always helping busy women and parents find simple ways to make life better. Her natural curiosity paired with her down-to-earth, practical approach to living, working, and prospering, allows her to help them reduce stress, create emotional wellness, and take their lives back from the busyness of modern-day living. 

To learn more or connect with our guest visit https://sandyfowler.com

Our Sponsor Ecree:

Ecree is the only AI virtual writing tool that provides unlimited, immediate, and consistent teach-quality feedback on essay organization, argumentation, evidence, and analysis. To learn more or connect with our sponsor visit ecree.com.