Part 1 of 5—Creating a Meaningful Holiday Season

Are you stressed out about the holiday season?

“Kathy found herself dreading the holiday season. Life was busy enough with work and two young teenagers who had busy schedules of their own. Then ‘the holidays’–and everything that meant–arrived. She was so stressed and overwhelmed she did not know where to begin with the additional To Do’s. Even the FUN wasn’t fun.”

Discussion:
This story is actually about me ten years ago when I had a 13- and 15-year-old and was turning into a complaining, “bah-humbug” Scrooge right before my own eyes. When I decided to do something about it, I knew the stressful habits I had allowed into our lives could not be reversed overnight. I committed to “doing it differently” one step at a time. I focused first on how to make it less stressful. I “let go” wherever I could, especially lowering my standards for cooking and cleaning. Macaroni and cheese with a salad was a perfectly OK meal now and then. No one seemed to notice that the house was a little less clean. Every day I focused on staying calm and made sure I took care of myself. I made coffee dates with girlfriends, and I put daily exercise and relaxing time on the schedule right along with every other important “To Do.” The endorphins from exercise relaxed me and had the double impact of helping me retain a healthy weight over the holidays.

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If I knew then what I know now, I would have …
realized earlier that I could let go of a lot of “rules” I had imposed on myself.
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With admiration for all you do,

Dr. Kathy

Kathy Masarie, MD
Pediatrician, Parent, and Life Coach
Author of the Parenting Guide’s Raising Our Daughters and Raising Our Sons

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