Articles
Happy
Holidays
By:
Carol C. Craven, M.S., LPC
Happy
Holidays! The words evoke wonderful and sometimes painful memories for
some of us. Familiar songs, favorite smells, beautiful decorations
remind us of times past. A sense of wanting to do something for others
results in opening our hearts, homes, and purses to fulfill the
expectations of the season. Most of us long to create beautiful
memories for our families and the special people in our lives. It is a
season of expectancy!
But,
it can also be a season of great stress and unmet expectations. To
eliminate some of the stressful moments associated with the holidays
create a strategy. It requires the skills of a CEO: the ability to
create, plan, organize, budget, mediate, delegate, and execute a plan.
It
is a formidable task: finding the perfect gift, scheduling family
time, planning for extended family visits, preparing menus and meals,
baking cookies, sending cards, attending musicals, extending
hospitality, socializing, and celebrating according to custom and
tradition.
All
families face these challenges. Single family and stepfamily
households face even more. Planning requires patience and skill to
make sure each person does not feel neglected throughout the season.
