{"id":1049,"date":"2013-12-14T15:53:10","date_gmt":"2013-12-14T20:53:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mymindfulwayoflife.com\/blog4\/?p=1049"},"modified":"2014-01-02T23:14:30","modified_gmt":"2014-01-03T04:14:30","slug":"how-to-avoid-holiday-stress-tips-from-a-busy-doctor-mom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/mymindfulwayoflife.com\/blog4\/how-to-avoid-holiday-stress-tips-from-a-busy-doctor-mom\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Avoid Holiday Stress: Tips From A Busy Doctor – Mom"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Holiday<\/a><\/p>\n

-by Debbie Reagan, A Better Times Magazine<\/span><\/p>\n

The stresses we feel during holiday times are universal, regardless of the religious holidays or celebrations we embrace. Most of the busyness of the holidays falls on mothers, many of whom work full time and\/or shoulder a great deal of the family caretaking responsibility. I recently sat down with Dr. Urszula I. Klich, a Clinical Psychologist at Shepherd Pain Institute in Atlanta, Georgia to discuss how women, in particular, can avoid holiday burnout. Even before she became a mom herself she designed a program for busy moms. Now, with a 14 year old and a 2 year old there is never a dull moment in this busy doctor\u2019s life! <\/span><\/p>\n

Dr. Klich shared with me that while it can be easy to get caught up in our lack of time, especially during the holidays, it is amazing how creative we can become when we set intentional focus on the important things that make the holidays meaningful. <\/span><\/p>\n

Moms, who most often shoulder the burden of how the holidays play out, need to balance the pressure of meeting the expectations of her family, friends and religious community (and the expectations she places upon herself) during the busy holiday season. \u00a0<\/span>I learned from Dr. Klich, that often times, we have develop idealized images of what the holidays should be like based on past experiences and pictures presented by the media. She noted that shopping, cooking, family, and travel obligations, often leave us more stressed than joyous. Dwindling support resources due to both of the parents working, the increase of single parent and blended families, and our tendency for extended families to be spread out geographically multiplies the burdens we feel during the holidays.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>\u201cMoms\u2019 cooking is best\u201d is a saying that Dr. Klich finds women adapting as truth during the holidays. \u00a0<\/span>She finds women have often adapted many unrealistic expectations as some type of truth that they absolutely must follow. She finds this can result in a tremendous amount of pressure, often involving self-talk related to what we think things \u201cshould\u201d be like. She often sees women on automatic pilot attempting to play out these expectations to the point of their own exhaustion and aggravation.\u00a0 <\/span>Many who become prey to this situation secretly (or not so secretly) proclaim \u201cI can\u2019t wait until the holidays are over!\u201d\u00a0 <\/span>Sadly, in those times the personal importance and spiritual meaning of the holidays is missed.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

I asked her how we might manage all of these expectations and responsibilities early in the process before we begin feeling so overwhelmed and out-of-control. Her response was timely and insightful: \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The problems around the holidays most often stem from three big issues: Time, Money and\u00a0Habits. And all of them are impacted by our expectations. I suggest that we start paying attention to our self-talk and what we tell ourselves \u201cshould\u2019 or \u201cneeds to be\u201d done in certain ways.<\/span><\/p>\n

Time<\/strong><\/strong>: The common complaint of not having enough time in the day becomes more frequent around the holidays.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n