The holidays are a joyous time of year, but they are also a stressful time! 

As moms, we tend to place a lot of pressure upon ourselves to make the holidays perfect, to ensure that every family event runs smoothly and that every wish list gets fulfilled. But we also need to take care of ourselves!  Read on to find five helpful tips to make the holidays a little less stressful this year.

1. Map out your plans/obligations far in advance.

It's easier to see what we have to get done when its staring us right in the face! Keeping a calendar where you can easily view it or allowing the one on your phone to send you notifications will keep you on top of things. With that, its also important to sit down as early in the month as possible so that you can familiarize yourself with any plans or obligations you might have. By doing so, you'll be able to gather an idea of how your month will play out, allowing you to be more mentally prepared and at ease with the weeks ahead!

2. Team up.

Many of the the things we need to get done this holiday season can be done with the help of another person! Whether that be asking your kids to help you bake or asking one of your friends to come along shopping with you, having someone by your side can lift your spirits immensely. In a season where we are supposed to feel surrounded by the people we love, we can actually sometimes feel isolated by our chores and obligations. By asking for help, even if its just in the form of the company of another human being, you can help ease tension and make things a little more fun!

3. Don't fear messing up.

As moms, we tend to feel this immense pressure to have things be perfect and to have things constantly run smoothy-- but that isn't reality! Sometimes cookies get burnt and sometimes we can't gather all our family members together to pose for the perfect holiday card-- and that's okay. Allowing yourself to realize that there will be mistakes and there will be things that don't go as planned will keep you from feeling overwhelmed when they do happen. 

4. Drop the expectations.

We are all victims to the desire to have a perfect holiday season; we want those picture perfect moments with our families and our friends, we want to be able to feel like we are stuck in a Hallmark holiday movie, but life isn't like that! By paying too much attention to creating the perfect setting or moment and allowing ourselves to feel down when they don't end up being so, we can blind ourselves to the magic that exists in the 'imperfect' ones. By having no expectations, we are able to see the beauty in the unfiltered and realistic moments happening around us. 

5. Gift yourself with some 'Me Time'.

Sometimes in the season to be selfless, we have to step aside and give ourselves a few moments to be selfish. We spend so much time doing things for other people during the holiday season that sometimes we can run ourselves dry. We have to be able to carve some time away for a bit of 'me time'-- taking care of other people is a beautiful thing to do, but we also can't forget to take care of ourselves! Allowing ourselves some time to relax will keep stress to a minimum and help to keep us in the spirits of the holidays.

Wishing you all a happy and healthy holiday season.

xoxo,

MomsBeyond